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The role of the Registered Nurse or Newborn Care Provider is to feed, soothe, bathe, change & provide all other gentle care to baby through the night.

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12 Holiday Activities to Do with Baby

You’ve been to Target to look at toys, decided if you’re going to be an “elf on the shelf” family and started cooking traditional holiday foods. Here are 12 Holiday Activities to Do with Baby to keep the holidays going that you may not have thought of!

1)   Make a Child-Sized Holiday Light Display! All you need is a large box and some LED lights that can’t get too hot! diyjoy.com calls this a Cave of Stars! We love this because it’s a great activity for siblings to do together and you probably have all the items on hand already!

happy infant playing in a cardboard box
Cave of Stars via diyjoy.com

2)   Read holiday themed board books: Whatever holiday you celebrate, there is a board book about it! And the holidays are the perfect time to learn about other cultural traditions too! Babies are never too young for books or learning about the world!

3)   Drive or stroll around to view decorations and lights:  Babies love to look at lights! Whether you go to an organized festival of lights or simply stroll or drive around your neighborhood, the light show will fascinate baby! Many towns have holiday light shows where you never leave the car too. Let baby experience the magic of lights BONUS: time your ride for an hour or so before bedtime for an easy wind-down!

4)   Sing holiday songs to your baby: Baby doesn’t care that you’re not a finalist on The Voice.  Belt out some traditional tunes. If baby is old enough, add some instruments and shakers and have baby play along.

5)   Buy special holiday or winter themed pajamas: Get cute and cozy with seasonal pj’s for your little one. Bonus points if the whole family has matching pajamas!

6)   Create a keepsake such as a plate or ornament: Commemorate this special milestone by capture his/her little handprint or footprint on a plate or ornament. Many paint-your-own pottery places offer these in studio or buy a take-home kit at a craft store, baby store, or online. 

7)   Use edible finger-paints to make a holiday craft: Crafts and holidays go hand in hand, but many of the materials on the market are not safe when digested.  We are huge fans of natural, edible fingerpaints which contain ingredients that are baby-safe, organic, vegan and have no wheat, sugar, or preservatives. Plus, they are made with real fruits and vegetables!

8)   Create a holiday themed sensory table/tub: Place wrapping paper, bows, a soft snowman in a big tub, and let baby touch, rub, shake, and play with the items to build tactile development and fine motor skills.

9)   Make a holiday felt board: Make or buy a felt Christmas Tree, Snowman, Menorah, or other holiday themed feltboard, and baby can safely “decorate the tree” or “light” some candles. There are a lot of fun options on Amazon! Bonus: Play, sing, and talk to baby using a holiday-themed puppet!

10) Have an indoor snowball fight! That’s right…a bucket of plush white “snowballs” can’t hurt anyone or anything in the house. At less than $20 this fun toy is a great investment in laughs and memories for years to come.

11)  Start the tradition of giving: Even though baby is too young for an American Express card, give special gifts in baby’s honor to friends and family members.  Teach your infant the joy of giving.

12)   Facetime/Zoom relatives and friends that are far away. Looking at pictures on Facebook is nice, but those who are far away really want to see baby in action.  Set up a computer date and share some special conversation!

12 Holiday Activities to Do with Baby

The Four Month Sleep Regression Explained

Registered Nurse Pam Jones has been helping new babies and parents since 2009. We collaborated with Pam on The Four Month Sleep Regression Explained, to help parents and nannies understand how to help baby sleep peacefully during and after this milestone.

In order to understand what’s happening to your baby during this stage, we first need talk about sleep in general:

The 4 Stages of the Sleep Cycle

Many of us just think of sleep as an on-or-off situation. You’re either asleep or you’re not. But sleep actually has a number of different stages, and they make up the “sleep cycle,” which we go through several times a night.

  • Stage 1 is that initial stage we’re all familiar with where you can just feel yourself drifting off, but don’t really feel like you’ve fallen asleep. Anyone who has ever seen their partner nod off in front of the TV, told them to go to bed, and gotten the response of, “I wasn’t sleeping!” knows exactly what this looks like.
  • Stage 2, considered the first “true sleep” stage. This is where people tend to realize, once woken up, that they actually were sleeping.
  • Stage 3 is deep and regenerative. Also known as “slow wave” sleep, this is where the body starts repairing and rejuvenating the immune system, muscles tissue, energy stores, and sparks growth and development.
  • Stage 4 is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is where the brain starts to kick in and consolidates information and memories from the day before. It’s also the stage where we do most of our dreaming.

Once we’ve gone through all of the stages, we either wake up or come close to waking up, and then start over again until morning.

The Four Month Sleep Regression Explained for newborns and infants
The Four Month Sleep Regression Explained

The Four Month Sleep Regression Explained

Newborn babies only have 2 stages of sleep; stage 3 and REM, and they spend about half their sleep in each stage. At around the third or fourth month, there’s a reorganization of sleep, as they embrace the 4-stage method of sleep described above. Here is the Four Month Sleep Regression Explained.

  • REM and Waking Up – When the change to the 4 stage method of sleep takes place, baby moves from 50% REM sleep to 25% in order to make room for those first two stages. Although REM sleep is light, it’s not as light as the 2 new stages of sleep they’re getting used to. With more time spent in lighter sleep, there’s more of a chance that baby will wake up.

Waking up is absolutely natural, and we continue to wake up three, four, five times a night into adulthood. As adults however, we’re able to recognize that we’re in bed and safe and we go back to sleep. This usually happens so quickly that we don’t even remember these brief encounters with consciousness.

A four month old baby, of course, lacks these critical thinking skills, and to a baby who’s fallen asleep at the breast for example, waking up alone in a different location can be jarring! Baby most likely will not go back to sleep without a significant amount of reassurance that everything is OK.

What About Pacifiers?

  • Pacifiers and Soothing – The other major contributor to this 4 month regression, is that up until this point, baby is used to going to to sleep with a pacifier, or by being rocked or breastfed. These are all perfectly appropriate for newborns. At 4 months however, baby may need new ways to get back to sleep after the initial nodding off because more time is spent in light sleep with higher probability of waking up. Pacifiers and the like are appropriate in the newborn stage and in helping baby initially nod-off, but the lack of a pacifier or being rocked when they wake up means that baby’s not able to get back to sleep again without this “outside help”. Cue the fight-or-flight, the crying, and the adrenaline…

The good news for anyone experiencing Four Month Sleep Regression is that it’s not, in fact, a regression at all. Regression is defined as “reversion to an earlier mental or behavioral level,” and that’s actually the opposite of what your baby is experiencing! This would be much more aptly titled the “Four Month Sleep Progression

Pam Jones, RN

What you can do to help your little one through the Four Month Regression

  • Baby’s room should be dark… – Newborns and infants are not afraid of the dark. They are, however, responsive to light. Light tells their brains that it’s time for activity and alertness, and the brain secretes hormones accordingly, so we want to keep that nursery absolutely pitch black during naps and bedtime.
  • And quiet – The other nemesis of sleep is noise. With more time spent in lighter sleep, noises can startle baby awake so white noise is a great addition to your nursery.
  • Instill a Bedtime Routine – Bedtime routines should be about 20 – 30 minutes long, and baby should go into their crib while they’re still awake. Feeding should happen first with songs, story (or whatever calm activity baby likes!) and getting into PJs at the end. Feeding shouldn’t happen at the end of the bedtime routine because baby might nod off at the breast or bottle. This creates an association with feeding in order to sleep that parents can’t continue to do every time baby wakes up.

Four month old infants typically go about two hours between snoozes, with bedtime between 7 and 8 at night. Once babies graduate from the four month sleep progression, they follow the sleep patterns they’ll have for the rest of their lives…four glorious stages repeated multiple times a night!

Of course, some kids are going to take to this process like a fish to water, and some are going to be a little more resistant. If yours falls into the former category, count yourself lucky! For those of you in the latter camp, Pam Jones, RN is here to help. You can contact Pam at www.sweetdreamslittleones.com or 708-822-0059 for a personalized program for your little one.

6 Easy Tips to Help Your Reflux Baby

updated, November 12, 2023 – To help newborns and infants with reflux, we need to first understand what reflux is and then find comfort techniques.  Reflux is a backward flow of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus that causes heartburn. Our team of night nannies presents advice to help here, with 6 Easy Tips to Help Your Reflux Baby.

  1. Keep baby elevated
  2. Burp frequently
  3. Small feeds
  4. Try paced feeding
  5. Coleif drops
  6. Wear your Baby

Reflux is one of the most common conditions newborns face and is often caused by the esophageal sphincter valve not being fully developed. This causes milk to come back up the esophagus through the throat and causes baby to spit up and vomit. Reflux can be upsetting, alarming, and painful to our babies! When the contents of the stomach come back up, it is usually mixed with some stomach acid, which creates a burning sensation.

While the only true remedy for reflux is time, there are some techniques to help keep your baby comfortable during and after feeding.

6 Easy Tips to Help Your Reflux Baby

6 Easy Tips to Help Your Reflux Baby:

1. Keep your baby elevated while feeding. Whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, use a position that keeps baby’s head higher than their stomach. Gravity helps hold contents in the belly, and reduces the amount of spit up. Also, be sure not to place your baby in a spot where they can easily slide down because this could put pressure on the belly and force contents back up.

2. Burp frequently during feeding.  As you might have guessed, burping helps keep air out of the belly so try to minimize those air bubbles. Air or gas can force milk back up the esophagus, causing pain and discomfort.

3. Have smaller and more frequent feedings.  When baby is too full, the full tummy can put pressure on the sphincter valve forcing baby to spit up. This can lead to pain and possibly choking, so slow, smaller feeding sessions are recommended.

If you’re breastfeeding, La Leche League recommends trying to have baby nurse at one breast only at each feeding. This avoids two strong milk ejections, therefore reducing overfeeding and excess swallowing of air. Also, leading sources in breastfeeding including LLL and KellyMom agree that in general spicy foods do not contribute to infant reflux.

4. Pace Feed.  For bottle fed babies, conventional thinking tells parents to keep the bottle nipple full of milk or formula. This way air doesn’t get into the nipple and then into your newborn or infants tummy. However, the technique of paced feeding has shown to be more effective in minimizing reflux and pain. As Jordan Stubblefield, CLC and owner of Let Mommy Sleep Central New Jersey says, It’s not so much air intake as it is pacing the baby! Pace feeding helps to not overfeed by allowing baby to take breaks when they want, and following babies cues.

Here’s how to pace-feed:

  • Keep baby in a slightly reclined position so that the bottle isn’t pouring down and your baby can control the flow of milk/formula.
  • Let baby pull the nipple into his mouth. Once latched, keep the bottle just above horizontal.
  • Continue feeding this way. This allows baby to control the flow of milk better without taking in air. This also helps your baby to feed at their own pace, which keeps them more comfortable.

5.  Try Coleif drops. Some babies have reflux not only due to immature sphincter valves, but because they have trouble digesting lactose in milk. This can lead to bloating, gas, discomfort, and a lot of crying.  Coleif is a natural lactase enzyme that helps to break down lactose in an infant’s breast milk or milk-based formula. (not sponsored, just like the product!)

6. Wear Your Baby! Carrying baby in an upright carrier helps gravity do its job by minimizing the amount of liquid flowing upwards. Less liquid = less pain. Baby wearing also reduces muscle tension in baby as they can completely relax when being snugly carried by you.

this is an artist’s rendering, it doesn’t show safe sleep

Is Reflux More Common in Preemies and Twins?

The only cure for reflux is time, as newborns and infant systems may need a few months to fully develop. Because twins are often born prematurely they have a higher risk of experiencing GERD or reflux. Additonally, preemies who have spent time in the NICU may have other issues compounding digestive challenges.

For more tips on keeping baby comfortable check out 10 Ways to Calm a Fussy Baby. You can also ask our team of night nurses and postpartum doulas any questions on Instagram!

Baby Talk: Infant & Toddler Speech Milestones

Update, February 14, 2022 – As of February 8th, the CDC and AAP have expanded infant, toddler and early childhood development milestones. See the new guidance here.

Infant speech milestones and communication progress varies from child to child, but there are general guidelines parents can use to gauge their own baby’s development. In this blog, Baby Talk: Infant & Toddler Speech Milestones, parents can find a quick guide of communication milestones for babies age newborn to 18 months old.

Baby Talk: Infant & Toddler Speech Milestones

As always, you know your child best so if you ever feel that baby isn’t reaching their milestones on time or that there’s something wrong, don’t hesitate to contact your pediatrician. For a full breakdown of milestones, this chart from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry is very helpful! 

Birth to 5 Months Old

Cooing, vocal sighs and vowel sounds such as “ahhh”

Laughter, crying (obviously!) and fussing sounds

6 -11 Months Old

Begins gesturing or using actions to try to communicate

Babbles without meaning (to us, not to baby!) and attempts to say mama and dada

12- 17 months Old

Understands how to label objects and people. Mom is actually “Mama” or Dad is actually “Dada”

Repeats simple words

Has a vocabulary of 4-6 words 

Can respond non verbally

By 18 Months Old

Is adding more sounds, like animal sounds, to their repertoire

Is adding more vocabulary words 

Pointing and gesturing, is able to communicate answers to simple questions like “Are you hungry?”

Again, there is a wide range of typical behavior in babies and toddlers. For example, sometimes newborns with older siblings reach milestones later than their peers because the older kids “speak” for their younger sibling. In other cases the child may start communicating earlier than expected because they are exposed to older family members or peers modeling speech to them all day!  And of course twins and higher order multiples may even develop their own language which becomes part of their everyday communication.

Either way we hope this info is helpful and if you have more questions, you can visit our Parent Resource Center for evidence-based support.

speech milestones for infants and toddlers

ABC’s of Safe Sleep

Newborn and Infant Safe Sleep
ABC’s of Safe Sleep
ABC's of Safe Sleep
Alone Back Crib,

Since the Back to Sleep campaign began in 1994, it has become widely known that babies sleeping on their backs instead of their bellies helps reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). ABC’s of Safe Sleep is an easy way to remember how to help newborns and infants sleep safely.

ABC's of Safe Sleep

An example of what a safe sleep environment looks like can be seen here on the National Institute of Health’s website. A good summary however is to also remember the ABC’s of Safe Sleep: Alone, Back, Crib. Let’s break down each of the ABC’s:

Alone

  • It’s recommended that baby share a room but not a bed with parents for the first year of life.
  • No toys, pillows, blankets, crib bumpers or other loose items should be in baby’s crib.
  • Once baby is rolling over or taking off their swaddle blanket, it’s time to remove the swaddle blanket, or exchange it for a sleep suit that will keep baby warm.

Back

  • Put baby to sleep on their back, also called the supine position, for sleep.
  • If baby falls asleep in a carseat or stroller, it’s okay to stay there for short stretches. Place the carseat in an area where you can observe, or ideally put baby in the crib.

Crib

  • The terms “crib” and “bassinet” are regulated terms meaning that in order for a product to use those terms they must meet strict safety standards. Baby should not sleep in products called infant swings, beds, sleepers, napper or couch.
  • A crib with a flat, firm mattress should be used
  • Use a properly fitted sheet on the mattress.

And one last tip -as NationwideChildrens.org reminds us the “S” in ABC’S can stand for smoking…newborns “exposed to smoking, either while in the womb or after birth, have a higher risk of SIDS than infants who have not been exposed.”