Breastfeeding as a SIDS preventor

 
I heard this week that the SIDS organisation have recently announced that breastfeeding definitely is a protective factor against  SIDS.

For those who work with infants particularly, this is a long suspected fact however there has been no definitive announcement until recently.

The SIDS organisation was commenced in the mid 1980’s and since its inception, has significantly reduced the number of SIDS deaths in Australia and around the world.

The statistics since it’s inception are available on their website if you are interested. SIDS and Kids has over 20 years of research on infants and unexplained deaths.  The highest risk time for SIDS is between 2-4 months, continuing till 6 months at a high rate and on to 18 months at a lower rate.

From their research and statistics they have recently reviewed and come up with the recommendation that you breastfeed for as long as possible.

This is nothing startling to anyone I know, however from a safe sleep point of view it is a new statement.

I am guessing it is to do with the fact that breastfed babies tend to stir more frequently and so not get into such a deep sleep for as long.   Their research suggests the risk is reduced by half when you breastfeed for as long as possible.

All their previous recommendations apply. Their updated recommendations are as follows.

The six ways to sleep baby safely and reduce the risk of sudden and unexpected death in infancy:   

1.Sleep baby on the back from birth, not on the tummy or side   

 2.Sleep baby with head and face uncovered   

 3.Keep baby smoke free before birth and after   

 4.Provide a safe sleeping environment night and day   

 5.Sleep baby in their own safe sleeping place in the same room as an adult care-giver for the first six to twelve months   

 6.Breastfeed baby if you can.

In the times when breastfeeding is interrupted prematurely, implementing the additional recommendations about safe sleeping will continue to offer steps to reduce the risk of SIDS.

The link to their website-   http://www.sidsandkids.org/category/news/

Sleep Builds Sleep

 
Sleep , sleep and more sleep.  Those of you who know me and my philosophy on sleep which I learned from learning, observation and helping 100’s of families with this topic, know that I see that sleep builds sleep.

It becomes clear that as a baby or toddler and even children and adults manage to get more sleep, they find it easier to go to sleep  each time.  My theory is that they learn what to do, they learn that they feel better after good sleep, and they are no longer overtired which makes it harder to get to sleep for all of us because we are too wound up and find it hard to relax and switch off.

That is all very well and good but how do you get the sleep in the first place.

Starting the process is the most challenging part and does required understanding of sleep and consistency in what you teach your baby or toddler for sleep.

Routines are very helpful to help sleep grow.  They work by giving your baby or toddler consistent signals and habits in what to do.  Babies, toddlers and children thrive with consistent habits or routines because they can predict what will happen and so they feel safe and secure.  When their world is predictable, they know what to expect.

When you change what they know, they will protest initially because they want what they know.  With consistency and working in with how they are thinking, it can be achieved relatively painlessly.

Starting helpful sleep habits and routines early can be a great benefit to helping your baby sleep adequately.  When babies get plenty of sleep they are happier and enjoy their world much more, they are more interactive and responsive.

Parents consistently comment on how happy their baby is when they have managed to help them develop helpful sleep habits to get more sleep.

 

Nipple shields and Breastfeeding

A quick overview about nipple shields. Giving you the basics:
 

Generational allergy

 
I thought I’d share more interesting learnings from this weeks’ conferences. I have learned a few things to tweak my beliefs about breastfeeding, food, formula , allergy and more.

One of them is about the generational effects of formula. Even though I had learned of this previously, I now understand it much more clearly.

Basically, we are affected in part, by what our grandmothers ate and were exposed to as well as our mothers and of course our own exposure. It is widely accepted that it takes at least 3 generations to fix what has become problematic. Some of these unfortunate outcomes were forced upon our predecessors such as war, famine, government and clever marketing campaigns, to dupe people into believing untruths because it suited someone else’ interests (think Hitler for an extreme case).

Allergy is an interesting, upsetting and confusing topic. Breastfeeding is the number one element in addressing this out of control issue. It is a complex issue and I am not suggesting that addressing it from only one angle will fix it.

As I understand it, if we can support and educate families to breastfeed babies exclusively for as long as possible (up to 6-9 months), avoid giving anything artificial for as long as possible (including formula), over a number of generations we can reduce the number of people with reactions.

There are a number of hurdles to achieving this, but it is up to us to be committed and make change for the better. This includes being sensitive to those who dearly wish to breastfeed but cannot for whatever reason.

I think in time, human milk sharing will return as an accepted and necessary part of life.

Until then, supporting and educating people widely about the benefits of breastfeeding is our best chance . We can do the by supporting more people to consciously choose to breastfeed rather than formula. Many think choosing formula over breastfeeding is like making a choice of rice bubbles over cornflakes.

I could easily write for days on the benefits of breastfeeding not only for the baby, but for the mother, father, family and community.
Education and adequate support with sensitivity is the best way forward.

How is your baby sleeping with the arrival of colder weather?

 
Is your baby still sleeping soundly with this temperature change lately?? 

This time of year when the seasons and the temperatures change can be tricky. Knowing your baby is warm enough is a common thought of many parents at any time of year but particularly now.  Often it is still reasonably warm when they go to bed, but during the night and early hours of the morning , it all changes. The drop in temperature can be the single culprit for babies waking up pre dawn.

Even though they may seem warm enough, if this is happening and you can’t work out what it is, simply adding another layer of warmth may fix this and prevent or reduce the occurrence.  If it is warm when your baby goes to bed,  an option is to add a layer when you go to bed or at a night feed time.

A few tips for safety.

Always use breathable materials. Cotton is recommended because it is lighter.  A number of layers of thinner material is usually more efficient than one layer of thick artificial  material such as doonas.  Thicker doonas don’t breathe as much and can be the culprit of your baby over heating and becoming uncomfortable.

Always leave your baby’s head uncovered.  Your baby loses heat from their head.  It is a large surface area in comparison to their body and is useful to act as a little bit of a temperature control mechanism.  When they are up and about and outside and it is cold by all means put hats or beanies on their head, just not at night.  Hats can also move around at night in the cot and can be a suffocating hazard.

Sleeping bags are fantastic  for night time sleep  particularly when the temperature is dropping or is a bit changeable. When your baby is moving around in the cot, having a sleeping bag means that they will not kick off blankets and be cold and wake up. You may need to dress a few layers underneath the sleeping bag to help your baby’s comfort  level.  And there are a number of thicknesses of sleeping bag for different temperatures.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of trial and error to get the right one.   It is worth it for a good nights’ sleep for everyone.

Sleep builds Sleep

 
I’ve been helping a few people this week to help get their baby to sleep.  When we are discussing what is happening or not  happening for sleep so we can work out what steps to take, the knowledge that sleep builds sleep often takes people by surprise.

To get good quality sleep, you need to be relaxed.  When any of us are overtired, we tend to have more difficulty going off to sleep. The same is true for your baby and toddler.

When this idea is new to you , it can take a little while to get your head around.  For a lot of us it doesn’t seem to make to make sense.  Most people think that if any of us are over tired we will just go to sleep because we are exhausted.

At times this may appear true. Certainly there are many, many babies who do this every day.  They are so beyond overtired that they just crash, often after being awake for hours on end , beyond what they can cope with.  Most times, they are cranky and not  happy when awake.

When I am talking about babies and sleep  remember  that we need to feel relaxed to go to sleep and when your baby is not feeling relaxed,  they feel “yukky”, they need you to help them feel better so they can go to sleep. When your baby has not had quality sleep for an extended period of time, it can be harder for him or her to go to sleep easily because of feeling yukky.

The solution is to build good quality sleep first and then work through any other challenges with sleep and your baby.  Sleep builds sleep and has a positive effect on your baby as a result.  For all of us, we are much happier and calmer when we are feeling relaxed and well rested.

 

Who is in your community?

 
“It takes a community to bring up a child”.  This is repeated by so many.  I have heard it so often I don’t know where it originated from.  I think even my grandmother said it at some time in one of her moments of wisdom sharing.  She doesn’t say much of those things but having had 12 herself – she would know!! It is true though.  We do expect a lot from mothers, particularly new mothers.  Not only do they have to perform well in their new “job” of being a mother, they have to do it on interrupted  and often very little sleep.  What if you went to a new job and did this?  You probably wouldn’t last very long. Luckily you can’t get sacked from being a parent. Babies are very forgiving and as long as you are there  and trying they are pretty happy.  As things fall into place, you get more sleep and your baby gets more sleep, things start to come together.  Suddenly or most times, slowly, you can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or at least a glow of light. Okay, for some it is a glimmer for a while, however, for most it does work out and wha la- there is light!! Having a community to help you can bring the light quicker. Your community can be large or small, friends, family or even hired help. Even though we live in a privileged time in history particularly in western countries, we still need that support. That is one thing that will not change as long as we are human. Your community is important for sharing experience, listening ear, giving you a break and any number of practical things like food. Getting your needs met means your baby has a better chance of getting their needs met.  Particularly the big things like your baby getting more sleep  or even at all.

So who is in your community??