Make the time to cuddle your children
Take time to cuddle your children. As parents so much time is spent teaching, reprimanding, hurrying them up, rushing with a busy life that we forget to show the most simple love act of all, touch. Take five minutes every day to sit and say nothing just hold your children.
Babies are born with personalities; some are placid and some are cranky, some are intense and some are busy and alert. Some cry a lot and some hardly ever cry. If your baby is clean, comfortable, well-cuddled and well-fed and still cries, this is not a reflection on what kind of parent you are. It also doesn’t mean he/she will always be this way. For any advice go to jennisays.com
To give a dummy or not is a question every new parent asks themselves. Dummies are a huge help in pacifying a baby particularly in the first few weeks when the cycle of feeding seems relentless. A cheap cherry dummy works very well as baby’s first pacifier as it is small. Move onto an orthodontic one by the time your little one is 2 months old and restrict dummy use to falling asleep times only.
If you are having a planned caesarean I urge you to still do antenatal classes. Antenatal care doesn’t only teach you about the birth of your child. Classes also teach about how to feel confident feeding your little one and will help alleviate any anxiety about the first weeks at home. If groups are not for you please go to jennisays.com and send an enquiry about joining a smaller group or having one-on-one classes.
Rolling develops the left and right side of the brain and this is why baby needs to roll in both directions. One sided rolling means more one sided brain development. The one side of the brain is more verbal and the other side is more about underlying emotion. Baby needs 2 strong sides to develop speech and language so do lots of rolling games with baby.
* Catch Jenni on-air every day just after 10am with her tip of the day.
Jenni Johnson, our resident ‘Baby Whisperer’, has been a practicing child-care practitioner for 15 years, and owns a busy ante and post natal clinic in Durban.
At Jenni’s ante and post natal clinic in Durban, parents are taught a system that gives them structure and routine to the baby and childhood years. Jenni has a nursing background. She’s a registered nurse, midwife, psychiatric nurse and a practicing child-care practitioner for the past 15 years. Jenni’s online clinic, can be accessed online via www.jennisays.com. For appointments, e-mail [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @JenniSays or on Facebook by 'liking' The Berea Baby Clinic.