CONGRATULATIONS! With the addition of your new baby to your family, you are experiencing a period of transition. Your baby is an active, developing new person. Each baby has her or his particular needs and wants. Each parent has her or his particular abilities and expectations. Hopefully, the information offered here will assist during this period of transition by helping you and your new baby to learn about each other and to be comfortable with each other.

INFANT BEHAVIOR

There is a wide range of normal behavior for infants in the first few months of life:

1. Sneezing is the way infants clear their noses of irritating materials such as dust, lint, or mucus; most babies sneeze several times a day.

2. Hiccupping is always a normal behavior; this will not harm your baby, and no treatment is needed.

3. Straining with bowel movements, passing gas, stomach rumblings, and spitting up small amounts after feedings are all common infant behaviors.

4. Chin trembling, lower lip quivering, and startling are due to an immature nervous system.

5. Irregular breathing and short pauses in your baby’s breathing is normal. If your baby is content, the respiratory rate is less than 60 breaths per minute, a pause is less than 15 seconds, and your baby doesn’t turn blue, you need not be concerned about your baby’s breathing.

6. Babies often make throat clearing or gurgling sounds and make noises during sleep.

7. Trembling of an infant’s arms and legs during crying. (Note: Jittery babies are common. Convulsions are rare. During convulsions, babies have jerking or blinking of the eyes, rhythmic sucking of the mouth, and they don’t cry.)

Activity

Infants have their own inner clock which tells them when to wake, when to sleep, and when to eat. Let your baby sleep and eat when your baby wants to. Newborns eat and sleep with an occasional wakeful or fussy period. As infant’s nervous systems mature they become more aware of people and objects in the environment and want to spend more time watching and listening than sleeping.

Your baby will develop feelings of security and settle into your daily routine if you organize the baby’s daily activities and do the same thing in the same order each day. For example, try to get your baby up and down for naps and bedtime, and give them their bath about the same time each day. This is not to suggest a strict schedule according to clock hours. Rather, when your baby learns to expect that certain procedures (such as changing diapers or getting ready for bed) will be carried out in a consistent manner, they will feel more comfortable with you.

Sleeping

You can reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by putting your healthy  baby on the baby’s back to sleep. Do this whether your baby is being put down for a nap or to bed for the night. Sleeping on the back seems to reduce the risk of SIDS.

There are certain health conditions that might require an alternative sleeping position. If your baby was born with a birth defect, was born prematurely, spits up after every feeding or has a breathing, lung, or heart problem, be sure to ask the pediatrician about which sleeping position to use.

It is also recommended that you do not place the baby to sleep on a soft surface such as a water bed, pillow, or soft mattress. . Do not put pillows or toys in your newborn’s crib, to avoid suffocation. To prevent overheating and/or constriction of your baby’s movement during sleep, do not over bundle your baby at nap or bedtime.

Your newborn’s day and night activities may be different than your family’s day and night schedule your infant’s first few weeks at home. Most babies begin sleeping through the night between six weeks and three months of age, but this can vary. Ways that you can encourage your baby to sleep well at night are:

1. Try not to let your baby nap for more than 4 or 5 consecutive hours during the day.

2. Bedtime might be a good time for bath time. Your baby might find the warm water and massaging to be relaxing and prepare them to settle down to sleep.

3. Place your baby in the crib when drowsy but awake. Your baby’s last waking memory should be of being in the crib, not of you, or of being fed, or sucking on a pacifier.

4. Make middle-of-the-night feedings brief and boring. Feed your newborn according to their hunger cues.

5. Ease separation anxiety which may disrupt your baby’s sleep by using one favorite soft toy as a "companion" at night.

Crying

Crying has been described as an important "signaling" behavior for an infant. It is the only way babies have to let others know of their needs. The only way babies can learn to trust that there are parents who love and care for them is to receive a response to their cries and to have their needs cared for.

1. HUNGER is the most common cause of crying. The stomach contracts and causes the same kind of "hunger pains" that a hungry adult feels. If the baby is crying but ate well an hour earlier, you can assume that your infant’s stomach is not yet empty. If the baby was fed two or three hours earlier and you are breast-feeding, your infant may be hungry, because breast milk is more quickly digested than formula. In the early weeks, your baby will need frequent feedings. If you are not breast-feeding, think about how much formula was taken during the last feeding and how long the feeding took. If your infant took less than usual or if the feeding process was not a lengthy one, your baby may be hungry.

2. TEMPERATURE of the room, either too hot or too cold, can cause the baby to cry. A good rule of thumb is to dress the baby as warmly as you would dress yourself.

3. THE NEED TO SUCK is naturally strong in infancy. Sucking reduces tension and soothes the baby. Often a restless, agitated baby will settle down when a pacifier is offered. As an infant reaches three to four months of age, the need to suck will be reduced and parents can gradually decrease the use of the pacifier.  PLEASE NOTE: If you are breast-feeding, the use of a pacifier may interfere with nursing.

4. COLIC - A baby is colicky if their crying continues three or more hours per day, beginning usually at the age of one week to three weeks. A colicky baby’s most piercing screams tend to occur in the evening, but may also occur at other times of the day. Nothing seems to calm a colicky baby for more than a few minutes. This excessive crying may last until the third or fourth month. Some babies get relief by holding, cuddling, rocking, swaddling, rubbing and stroking the tummy and back, short car rides, time spent in an infant swing, or listening to recording of "womb sounds" or their parents’ voice. If your baby is still crying a great deal after you have exhausted all means to make your baby more comfortable, consult the office.

5. THE NEED TO BE HELD - Sometimes just picking the baby up to hold or rock them will cause the crying to cease. Because of this some people mistakenly believe that picking up a baby will teach them that crying "pays off." It is important to remember that the first few weeks outside the uterus are insecure ones for the newborn infant. Being held against the parent’s body provides a sense of security for the baby at a time when the development of trust between parents and infant is important. Carrying your baby in a papoose style front infant carrier may give your baby extra security and comfort. Wrapping snugly is another way to console your baby.

6. OVERSTIMULATION - Sometimes babies cry because they need rest or sleep. Place your baby on your baby’s back in the crib, reduce the unnecessary noise and light, talk gently and soothingly, and then quietly leave the room.

7. BOREDOM - Sometimes a simple change of position can relieve boredom. Interesting sights and sounds will distract a baby if the infant is close enough to see and hear. Babies can’t see very well out of the corner of their eyes and have to turn their heads to see something beside them. Even newborns can see color and motion. Sights and sounds your baby might enjoy are:

*Infants prefer interesting, colorful shapes rather than gray blobs.

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