SIDS or the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a mysterious malady affecting babies more than a month old.  This is more commonly known as “cot death” or “crib death” in some parts of the world.  It has been extensively studied and researched to identify its causes.  

Though there are speculated associations to this ailment, SIDS still remains without adequate medical explanation. Despite its lack of definite identifying causes, the good news is there are observed best practices that parents can do to prevent SIDS.

Back to Sleep Campaign

The Back to Sleep Campaign began in the late 80s through the 90s and is still being promoted today.  It has been reported that in the Chinese custom where the supine infant sleeping position (face up) is being practiced, SIDS is a very rare case.  Different countries followed suit since then and true enough, the incidence of SIDS lowered significantly.

How to Keep Baby in Back Sleeping Position

Back sleeping is the safest sleeping position for your baby and may be the best protection against SIDS.  You would like to make sure that your baby does not roll over unto his stomach during sleep.  There are a number of ways to do this.

• Put your baby to sleep in a firm mattress.  Soft mattresses, sofa cushions, waterbeds, and the like is a no-no.  Your baby can easily turn on his side and unto his stomach in soft surfaces.  Remove fluffy stuff such as pillows, stuffed toys, etc. from the crib.
• Be careful with the blanket.  If you use a blanket, position your baby with his feet at the end of the crib and place the blanket no higher than his chest, then tuck the ends of the blanket under the crib’s mattress to ensure safety. Be careful not to let your baby overheat during sleep.  The blanket being used must be appropriate to room temperature and weather conditions.
• Use a Baby Hammock.  More and more modern baby hammocks are made available in the market.  They promote sleep safety and reduction of the risks of SIDS.  
• Use Baby Sleep Positioners.   There are many types of baby sleep positioners used for different purposes.  A baby sleep positioner called “baby bolsters” is used to keep baby in a back sleeping position.  It is a mat with cylindrical cushions attached to either side of it.  This prevents the baby from rolling over and creates the feelings of snugness and comfort. Baby bolsters are comfortable and secure but it still allows your baby’s arms and legs to move freely.

Freelance Contributor: Hazel Zanoria

Swaddling is a term used when mothers snugly wrap their newborns with a blanket to provide the feeling of warmth and security. These aids especially if the baby is difficult to put to sleep. Baby swaddling has been very useful for a lot of mothers and archeological findings also records that mothers swaddled their babies throughout history.

Research also showed that swaddling your baby helps reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) since it keeps your baby sleeping comfortably on his back.  

How to Swaddle your Baby

Before swaddling your baby, make sure that room temperature is not too warm as this will make your baby uncomfortable.  Or you may use a thin, soft piece of cloth for swaddling during warm weather.

Lay a blanket out on any flat surface, a bed or probably a table, in a diamond shape. Then, fold down three to four (3-4) inches on the top corner of the diamond.

Place your baby in the middle of the blanket, her head on top of the folded corner. Then, tuck your baby’s right arm into the flap of the right-hand part of the blanket and pull it to the left.

Next, bring the bottom corner of the blanket to her chest and tuck it inside the blanket. Then tuck your baby’s left arm into the flap of the left-hand part blanket and pull it to the right tucking it behind the blanket on her back.  Make sure that the wrap is not too tight.

There are many commercial swaddling blankets available but if you are a resourceful mom, you may be also use a clean beach towel or tablecloth for swaddling.

When to Stop Swaddling your Baby   

Some babies tend to be fussy when being swaddled when they reach the age of one to two months. When you see signs that this makes your baby uncomfortable, you may now stop swaddling.

Mothers should also note that they should only swaddle babies during sleep and not during the baby’s playtime. This limits his or her movements and may delay the development of motor skills.

Stop swaddling once the baby learns how to roll over. If the baby is swaddled, and he rolls over with his arms tucked on the sides, he may not be able to roll back up and may suffer suffocation.

Alternatively, you can find ways to keep the baby warm and secure other than swaddling like warm pajamas, fleece sleepers, and blanket sleepers.

Freelance Contributor: Hazel Zanoria

If you’re a parent who experiences stress, exhaustion and less sleep at night because your baby is difficult to put to bed or wakes up at a seemingly unpredictable hour, then baby sleep training is for you.

Sleep training is also known as “sleep scheduling”.  This is the application of techniques to establish and manage your baby’s sleep habits.  There are many suggested methods of baby sleep training and, through the years, have been subject to continuous debate whether one is better than the other.  Each method is usually distinguished based on how involved the parents are in the sleep process.

The two most popular methods of sleep scheduling are the Ferber method (Cry-It-Out Method) and the Sears Method (No-Tears Method).  Before deciding any sleep training for your child, there are a number of factors to be examined and considered.

Important Considerations before Deciding on a Sleep Training Method

Your child must be somewhere between three to six months of age.  Experts say that babies within this age range have often developed regular sleeping habits and are ready for sleep training.  Do not try to impose sleep training on infants below this age since they require regular feeding, usually every few hours, so it is healthy that they should wake at every few hours.

Make sure your child has not developed a conditioned fear of being left-alone to avoid a traumatic experience that would affect his development.  Also seek medical affirmation that your baby is free from any health problems that cause sleep interference.

Understand the sleep training approaches and how they are properly applied.  Decide on which approach you are most comfortable with and you feel is most fitting to your child’s temperament and personality.  Be consistent on your chosen approach until you think the sleep training method does not work for your baby and it’s time to move on to other alternatives.

The Ferber Method or the “Cry-It-Out” Method

The Ferber Method was developed by Dr. Richard Ferber, director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at the Children’s Hospital in Boston.  

This method advocates that it is okay to leave your baby to cry for prescribed periods of time so he will learn to soothe himself to sleep.  This does not involve leaving your child to cry endlessly. You have to check on him at certain intervals.

How to Effectively Apply the Ferber Method

Decide on a week and the particular early evening hour to start sleep training your baby.  Suggested hours are around 7 to 8 in the evening.  It is found that the earlier you put your baby to sleep, the longer he or she will sleep during the night. The following steps will guide you in the proper application of the Ferber method of sleep training:

1. For the first night, put your baby to bed while he or she is still awake after a relaxing bedtime routine, and then leave the room.
2. If he starts crying, let him be for about five minutes then comfort him for a short period without picking him up, rocking or feeding him.  Then leave the room again.
3. This time, wait for ten minutes before returning to comfort your baby.
4. The third time you leave the room, wait for fifteen minutes before checking back on him.
5. Repeat this process, waiting at fifteen-minute intervals throughout the night, until your baby falls asleep.  
6. For the second night, begin with a ten-minute interval, increasing it to fifteen minutes and then stay on a twenty-minute interval all night.
7. For the third night, begin with a fifteen-minute interval.  Repeat this process until baby adapts to the sleeping habit.

The Sears Method or the “No Tears” Method

This method was developed by Dr. William Sears, the assistant professor of pediatrics at USC.  This promotes a gentler approach to sleep training that involves creating a “sleep-inducing” environment that encourages the baby to go to sleep and stay asleep.

To effectively implement the Sears method, you need not only establish a relaxing bedtime routine but also a daytime routine that will consequently help your baby sleep easier when bedtime comes.

Keeping your baby active and busy all day and taking regular daytime naps will help your baby sleep better at night.  Though babies are different, the recommended nap times, in general, are mid-morning, mid-afternoon and early evening.

This method recommends sleep training activities that include sleeping in the same room with baby (if sleeping on the same bed, follow all safety measures), carrying and cuddling baby often, putting baby to bed only when he or she is already in a deep sleep (usually when limbs are limp and palms are open), and if baby cries and awakens, comfort, rock and nurse baby.

What Sleep Training Method is Best for my Baby?
   
No evidence suggests that one is better than the other.  Remember that every baby is different and the effectiveness of these methods may depend on your baby’s personality, the general environment of the household and how comfortable and resolved the parents are in implementing sleep training.  As always, do what works best for you and your baby.

Freelance Contributor: Hazel Zanoria

It is important for parents to know the sleep patterns of their newborn and how these patterns change gradually as your baby grows older.  Knowing what to expect will help you adjust and adapt to your baby’s needs.

Newborns not over 3 months

Newborns have little tummies and faster digestion which means they need to feed more often than older babies do.  This is why infants less than three months old have short-cycled sleep hours. During daytime, they have irregular number of naps totaling about 8-9 hours usually every after feeding.

Babies – 3 to 6 months

Baby sleep hours during the day lessen as they grow. They start to recognize that it is playtime during the day and sleep time at night. At this point, you will see improvements in the length of sleep they have at night.  This is no guarantee that it’s a good night’s sleep for you. Babies this age may be fussy during the night.  This is the stage when your baby’s physician will recommend sleep training.

Keep him in a habit of regular naptimes in the midmornings, mid-afternoons and early evenings.  This will help him sleep better at night

Babies – 6 months over

Babies over 6 months old normally sleep just for 12 to 14 hours day.  They become more active during the day when it is play time. You should still make sure that he has 1-2 naps during the day to give him a better sleep at night. There are even some doctors who advise mothers that they should not let their babies sleep after 3pm just enough to tire him for a good sleep at night.

There are still babies who don’t sleep through the night at this stage. Mothers may start discovering what causes these wakes to encourage a good night sleep. Some mothers who discover that their presence has a big role in the baby’s sleep used their own clothes or a piece of an article that babies can sleep with. This simple method of association helped a lot of mothers stay in their bedroom through the whole night.

Parenting is not simple but it sure is exciting, especially the process of discovering the uniqueness of your baby.

Freelance Contributor: Hazel Zanoria

There are no proven causes of colic although there are a number of possible causes which medical science has associated colic with.  

A popular belief links colic to digestive problems such as lactose intolerance, food allergies, and an immature digestive system.  Some experts, however, contend that colic is not necessarily associated with infant digestion but may be caused in different ways, by different factors, in different babies.  Infants with mothers who smoke, for example, has a greater risk of colic.

How to Give your Baby Colic Relief to Ease Discomfort

Since the causes are clearly unidentified which makes prevention less likely, it is best to take a holistic approach and focus on how to help ease your baby’s discomfort during an attack of colic and reduce the strain and stress in the family.

The following are useful tips to give your baby relief from colic:

• Turn your baby’s attention away from the discomfort.  Many moms can attest that continuous noise and vibrations from household appliances such as the dishwasher, washing machine or vacuum cleaner actually soothes the baby.  You can also try playing “white noise” or music that your baby seems to like on the stereo. 
• Give your baby a nice, warm bath.  A warm bath is comforting and calming.
• Swaddle your baby.  Wrap your baby firmly with a comfortable blanket. Swaddling is often done to help infants sleep.  This is very comforting and may help soothe colic.
• Keep your baby in some sort of motion.  This includes rocking or walking your baby around in a front-pouch style, like the way you carry grocery bags, with his legs drawn up and pressure off of the belly.
• Probiotics.  Recent studies showed that probiotics may help ease and reduce colic attacks.  These are dietary supplements that contain live bacteria used to aid digestion.  Always talk to your baby’s medical provider before using any type of medication.
• Stick to your baby’s feeding schedule.  Some parents, in their effort to stop the baby’s incessant crying, tend to overfeed the baby.  Avoid overfeeding!  This can worsen colic.
• If you are a breastfeeding mom, try to avoid milk products and gas-producing foods.  Examples of this type of foods are onions, celery, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, caffeine, etc.
• If your baby is formula-fed, try a low-allergy formula.  You can try trial milk formula packs to see if the formula you are currently using is contributing to colic.

Always keep a positive attitude.  When you feel that the situation is wearing down on you, have someone else watch the baby for a while, leave the house, take a walk, go for a swim or do whatever activity that helps you cope with stress.  Dealing with colic is a challenge but you can get through this with the right approach.

Freelance Contributor: Hazel Zanoria

Infant colic is a definite challenge to parents with babies having this condition.  This can put enormous strain to the family members and may result to feelings of desperation, helplessness, stress and parental guilt.  

It is important to understand that this is not anyone’s fault and that infant colic is simply a common case observed in a number of newborns.  To effectively cope with this situation, parents have to fully understand what infant colic is, to recognize the signs of colic and the first steps to be taken to help your baby.

Infant Colic Defined

Colic is the occurrence of loud, persistent crying encountered in infants and small children between two weeks and five months of age.  This usually begins suddenly, often after a feeding, during the late afternoon or early evening.  The bouts of crying can last up to several hours without any discernable reason.

Infant colic is not harmful to the baby but is very wearing and distressful to the parents.  Ten to twenty percent of healthy babies (10% to 20%) may encounter this condition. It often starts when the baby is two weeks old, reaches its peak at three months and slowly subsides when the baby approaches four months old.

Signs of Colic

As a rule of thumb, a baby is considered colicky if the spells of intense crying last for three hours or more, for more than three days in a week, and for more than three weeks in a month. This is not an absolute rule since different babies may show different behaviors.  Some babies with colic are simply fussy while others cry so hard their faces turn red.

A baby may demonstrate some of the following signs during an attack of colic:

• Irritable and fussy
• Loud continuous crying that may last for several hours and may occur anytime during the day or night but most often begin in the late afternoon or early evening.
• Demonstrates clenched fists and the legs are often flexed and extended straight out alternately
• Distended (bloated) or prominent belly
• The baby’s feet are often cold

What To Do if the Signs of Colic are Observed

Parents should not immediately assume that what their baby has is colic.  The first thing you need to do is consult your baby’s physician to rule out any other possible cause of this observed behavior.

Your physician will advise you if your baby is healthy.  In this case, your baby is experiencing colic.  When all other possible conditions are set aside, you can now focus on how you can give your baby colic relief and ease his or her discomfort until the condition goes away.

Freelance Contributor: Hazel Zanoria