TEACHING PATIENCE (2 of 3)

TEACHING PATIENCE (2 of 3)

2. Accept all offers of help.

Often times new parents feel like they “should” be able to manage everything that is associated with  coming home with a newborn baby.  They often see other parents who seemingly handle it all with ease,  grace and confidence.

An important fact is that all new parents feel like you.

Another important fact is that it takes a village to raise a child.  This is because caring for a baby particularly is a 24 hour a day job as we mentioned above

.

For this reason we ideally encourage you to have a relative or friend stay with you to help for at least the first 6 weeks.  Ideally the first 3 months of help would be even better.  Babies start to be less intensive from around the 12 weeks mark and new parents often find their parenting is becoming really enjoyable and easier around this time.

Accept all offers of help no matter how seemingly minor, even if it is from people you don’t know well, particularly, if they have been in your shoes.  It may be a neighbour, you don’t know well, who comes around with a lasagne for you out of the blue. Someone may offer to vacuum.

Accept any offers for them if not yourself. People feel good when they can help someone else. 

Look at the floods in recent years that were devastating in Brisbane & Bundaberg and the “mud army” that appeared.  People like to help.

The important point is that you aren’t expected to be able to do it all on your own in the beginning.

Go gently on yourself.  It will all fall into place in time.  Think of it as a brand new job with no manual, no boss and  no targets. 

 Ask for help and accept help. It may be hard to do in the beginning but it will get easier.

We all need help at some time with different things.

If you want to sound things past someone we are here to help insyncwithinfants.com

TEACHING PATIENCE (1 of 3)

TEACHING PATIENCE (1 of 3)

How to cope when nothing seems to be working!

Something I get asked often by new parents is how to cope with  a new baby when everyone is exhausted and crying. This is a normal situation for most new parents at some stage. 

 The good news is it doesn’t last long and soon you will have things down pat.

Take comfort in the knowledge that it is almost a rite of passage as a new parent.  You are not the only one to have felt like this. 

 It’s a fact- most new parents feel overwhelmed and lost when going home for the first time with their new baby.

And to make matters worse, they feel an overwhelming pressure to be perfect parents and get it “right”. This pressure will more than likely come up for you a number of times at different times as your baby grows. Remember it is all normal and working out what works for you is the key. Here is our first tips to help you stay calm and cope with those really difficult times. The next ones will follow over the next few weeks.

Here is the first tip to help you when things just don’t seem to be going your way.

1. Remember your self care- have time out just for you.

This is my number one rule – not even a tip, for new parents particularly but important no matter who you are.

Remember that you are a person too. Before you became a parent you had interests and hobbies. You did things just for yourself. It is healthy for everyone if you continue to do something for just yourself regularly. A baby is a 24 hour a day job. Imagine if you had to perform in your job 24 hours a day , 7 days a week, year in , year out. You would be exhausted and probably not very effective at your job. 

You will be a better parent if you take time out for yourself regularly. It may not be the same activities or the same amount of time that you spend on your activities  as before you became a parent.  

It is still important however that you do it. Even if it is only 5 mins a day, half an hour a week or once a month. It may be going for a walk around the block, going window shopping, having a coffee with a friend, reading a book from the library for 15 mins or just having a relaxing bath.

You will be a better more effective parent if you have time out from your baby and get some me time. You will probably enjoy your baby even more too and be able to think more clearly about what your baby needs from you and respond more calmly and appropriately. 

For more tips visit our website here insyncwithinfants.com.

One of our mantras to make life a little more calm.

Changing baby sleep habits

Changing baby sleep habits

How to help your baby change sleep habits or associations - for peaceful happy sleepers

Changing sleep associations

You rock your baby to sleep each nap and each night and you’re sick of it! Or your baby has outgrown the dummy. Or you’ve decided that it’s time to stop feeding to sleep. You need to change your baby’s sleep associations. Sleep associations are also called sleep aids, prompts, sleep routine, anything that says to your baby ‘it’s time for sleep’.  

Changing sleep associations is probably one of the most common difficulties parents struggle with in regard to their little ones’ sleep.

You can change your baby’s sleep associations! 

After all, no one rocks their teenager to sleep each night, do they? You need to plan, be prepared for some resistance, and have patience. Babies are adaptable and resilient.

1. Identify the sleep association or habit you need to change

2. Pick the best time to make changes.

3. Avoid changes while baby is ill or there are big upheavals at home

4. Decide on your approach, based on your baby’s temperament. Cold turkey? Change by degrees? Identify alternative ways to comfort your baby to ease the transition

5. Celebrate little wins and be prepared for setbacks as you take slow, baby steps towards better sleep! 

Babies and toddlers love routine or habit - changing sleep habits takes time

Habits make their world predictable. Habits help them judge what will happen and this gives them security and comfort. So when we want to change what they know, they will not like it initially even if it is in their best interests. A tired baby doesn’t know that making a change will mean better sleep. They just know that it is different to what they know and trust.

How long it takes to change a sleep association depends on many factors:

how the parents feel beliefs and values baby’s temperament how long the practice has been going on what the practice is. 

As your baby grows and develops there will be changes that you need to make to their sleep habits. These are in addition to changing any sleep associations that aren’t working for you (like rocking your baby to sleep all the time). Milestones include:

1. Learning to roll - it is safest to stop swaddling your baby with arms in when he or she learns to roll Learning to climb - once your baby starts climbing it’s time to move from a cot to a bed. 
   
   
   If sleep is a battleground for you and your baby or toddler then something needs to change. You and your baby deserve great sleep and awesome days. Our Toddler Tricks video series outlines lots of helpful sleep strategies and troubleshooting for common sleep issues.
    

To find out more about us visit our website insyncwithinfants.com