The social behavior of the baby

If you ask yourself what the social behavior of the baby means, you must know that this is the way that your baby responds to the people that are around him, and the way that he tries to take contact with them. Most of the times we pass over some problems, relational difficulties and in some years the psychiatrist or the psychologist will inform you that your baby has Aspenger syndrome or autism.

With the social behavior is related the socialization too. The socialization is that process when the little one becomes independent and he adapts himself to the social environment where he lives.

These steps don’t happen since 12 months, they happen later and they consist of self-service skills like: eating alone, drinking alone, dress up him alone, put on his shoes and control his excretory functions. The bases of these skills must be built in the first year of the baby’s life. At 12 months the baby can explore his gained abilities to create his own independence.

The new-born child: establishes contact with the world especially by his skin. That’s why, with a lovely touch on the baby’s skin, the little one calm down. This happen especially when he is carried or his mother touches his skin. If the baby is healthy, he will come down every time in contact with the arm of his mother. Another way to be acquainted to the environment is the breastfeeding, that is the way of feeding and the way of getting security, peace and equilibrium.

The first month of life: The baby sees pretty well the face of his mother while sucking and his face is turned to the one who gave him life. The contact of the skin is completed by the visual contact that is full of love. This moment should be dedicated only to the baby.

The second month: the baby is able to make another step to his socialization: the smile.

The third month: the little one realizes what the magic power of his smile is: how mommy becomes happier, how everybody is astonished when sees his smile. This special gesture, the social smile is the way to intensify the social relationships and gives the baby the power to control the other ones.

The forth month: a healthy and satisfied baby smiles often and makes another discovery: he laughs. This is the loveliest laugh, because as the baby grows up, he becomes more and more “serious”.

The fifth month: the baby starts to think properly about the adult emotions- he becomes helpless and he is scared if someone talks to him on a rough tone. Now the baby understands the different modes of behavior: he notices, he thinks and he reacts.

The sixth month: the baby notices that he often sees some people. He studies the ones he doesn’t know and he chooses how to behave: he cries, he rejects them or he smiles.

The seventh month: the baby has his favorite games with the adult or the other kids.

The eighth month: this is the month when curiosity is very big for everything.

The ninth month: the baby has a lot to do: to rummage the wardrobe, to play”find mommy”.

The tenth month: the baby sees the other’s gestures and he tries to imitate them, with a lot of interest. The baby likes to be appreciated and he is very happy when he is flattered. He knows to bring what is asked for to bring and he says some words.

The eleventh month: some of the babies walk and this fact gives them a lot of trust in themselves. This is a impulse to eat or drink alone.

The twelfth month: the baby is prepared to do things when his parents ask him, to play more with the condition that his parents make time for him.

The close relationship with your baby gives him the chance to be a emotionally and intellectually equilibrated child.

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The Basics to Breastfeeding Your Baby

After coming out of your womb, your baby’s next move would be to announce his hunger and demand for instant attention. Here comes your chance to put to actual application all the theories you’ve learned during your child birth classes and tips from friends and family.

Basic Positions In Breastfeeding

There are many positions that you can use when you are breastfeeding your baby and switching positions from time to time helps you in more ways than you know. Using different positions can help prevent sore muscles and make you comfortable when nursing your baby.

The most common and popular position in breastfeeding your baby is the cradle hold. This is the position where your baby lies across your body with his head in the crook of your arm. You should support his body with your right or left forearm and hand, depending upon which side the baby will be nursing on. The next thing to do is to cup your breast with your other arm and bring the baby’s body close to your nipple. If you are breastfeeding your baby on your left breast, switch position later and let him breastfeed on your right breast. This will prevent milk from clogging up on your breasts.

The football or clutch hold is another breastfeeding position. Here, your baby is tucked under your armpit on your side and the baby rests his body on a pillow. You should hold the baby’s head with your hand on the side he is nursing on and you can switch to the other side later.

The football or clutch hold provides you more control and you can easily guide your baby’s mouth to your nipple. This is an ideal position especially if you are recovering from a cesarean operation.

The reclining position is the most comfortable for breastfeeding your baby. Here, you can lie on your side on the bed and your baby lies alongside with you. This position is most ideal when you are about to sleep.

Latching On

Teaching your baby to latch on to your nipple for breastfeeding is a very tricky part of nursing, and this could be painful and uncomfortable at the start. In the proper way of breastfeeding, your baby’s mouth should cover the part of the underside of your nipple. If your baby is not interested in latching on, you can try the trick of stroking his chin or cheek to encourage the rooting reflex of your baby. If you are a first time mother, this makes learning the techniques doubly difficult but with proper guidance and practice, you and your baby will learn the tricks of breastfeeding.

Frequency of Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding during the first few weeks after you gave birth to your baby, breastfeeding is as frequent as 8-12 times a day because you will be nursing your baby on demand. This is no cause to worry that you will run of milk because your milk supply is dependent upon how much you nurse. This means that the more you breastfeed your baby, the more milk your breasts will produce. An average breastfeeding session could last from 12-15 minutes on each breast.

Breastfeeding Diet

When you are breastfeeding your baby, you need to eat a healthy, well balanced diet because again, you are eating for two people. You must continue to take your vitamins and other food supplements. Like when you are still pregnant, you should limit your intake of caffeine but stay away from alcohol because alcohol finds its way into breast milk. You would not want to feed your baby with alcohol, wouldn’t you? When it comes to taking medicines while you are breastfeeding, it is important that you consult your doctor regardless of whether the medicine is prescribed or over the counter.

Breastfeeding Complications

Breastfeeding does not come automatically for you and your baby, especially if you are a first time mother. You have to learn the art but although you learn all the techniques, minor problems will still arise.

One breastfeeding problem is the pain of engorgement which happens when your breasts get so full of milk. If you are unable to nurse your baby immediately, you might feel feverish. A shower or cool compress can help you.

Thrush, which is a fungal infection, is another problem in breastfeeding which you may encounter. This is often a complicated problem to get rid of because you and your baby will often pass it back and forth.

When your nipples get sore or irritated, do not use soaps of creams to treat it while you are still breastfeeding your baby. Doing so presents the risk of mastitis which is an infection of the milk ducts. Once you develop mastitis, your breasts would get swollen, hard, hot to the touch and painful. This can be treated with moist heat and antibiotics.

If you still find breastfeeding your baby difficult despite all these tips, you can seek medical advice from your doctor. You can also find help by browsing through the internet or going to a lactation consultant in your community. Whatever position you use in breastfeeding your baby, it should be a pleasant experience since it is one of the best gifts you can offer.

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Early Pregnancy Signs, Early Signs of Pregnancy, Very Early Pregnancy Signs

There are some key signs in the earlier stages of pregnancy, which can alert you to the fact you have conceived. It is very important to identify whether you are pregnant or not as early as possible, especially if you are not actively planning for a baby, as you may have an existing medical condition and need to adjust your medication, or a history of miscarriage or eptopic pregnancy which will need to be monitored carefully in the first stages of pregnancy. Pregnancy is a major change in both you and your partners lives, so the earlier you identify a pregnancy, the more chance you will have to prepare and make important choices and decisions about the future.

If you have regular periods, then a key sign of conception will be a missed monthly cycle, or in some cases an unusually light period. As soon as an egg is fertilised and begins to make its way to the uterus the normal menstruation cycle will cease, so if you are normally regular and miss a period then you should take a pregnancy test first to rule this out, before you start to worry about any other health implications. However many women do not have regular periods, or are on oral contraception, so other signs of pregnancy may need to be looked for as well.

As the fertilised egg embeds into the wall of the uterus you may experience slight lower abdominal pains and a little light bleeding. When the pregnancy hormones begin to flood your body you will also experience the first signs of morning sickness in feelings of fatigue, nausea, or even vomiting and your breast will begin to change, becoming swollen and tender. The nipples and veins in your breasts may also appear darker, and you make experience tingling sensations in this area. It is also common to experience some vaginal discharge as your cervix changes in preparation for the foetus, which will not be accompanied by any soreness or irritation that normally marks vaginal discharge.

Many women also feel the need to urinate more frequently from early pregnancy onwards, and you may even have to get up in the night. This can also be combined with some other digestive changes, such as constipation, food cravings, aversions to foods you previously enjoyed (especially fatty foods, coffee and milk) and also you may experience a strange metallic taste in your mouth.

If you do experience any of these symptoms then you can buy very accurate home pregnancy test kits these days from pharmacies and supermarkets. Make sure you follow the instructions on the packet correctly to ensure a true result, and avoid carrying out the test after you have drunk a lot of liquid, as this can sometimes dilute the urine sample and prevent an accurate reading from being taken.

If you are concerned with the results from a home test, or would simply prefer your doctor to confirm it for you then you can make an appointment to have a blood test performed at your local surgery, which can be used to determine whether you are pregnant or not. Local maternity services and midwifes will also perform a test for you, which are usually free but may in some cases be covered by a small fee.

Avoid making any plans until you have confirmed you are pregnant, as some of the symptoms listed above can relate to other medical conditions, and make sure you give yourself plenty of time to adjust. Pregnancy is a major life change, even if you already have children, and it may take a little while for the news to sink in. It is natural to feel anxious or unsettled to begin with, and there is plenty of support available from a variety of sources such as maternity services, books, magazines and the Internet, which can help you and your partner through the pregnancy, and advise you of your choices for the future.

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Pregnancy Dos and Pregnancy Don’ts

Pregnancy is a wonderful experience for any woman, and yours is no exemption. Your body is undergoing several changes as you accommodate the baby inside your womb. Naturally, you will have to go through several alterations in your lifestyle and your life will be temporarily governed by the dos and don’ts of pregnancy. Here are techniques, tips and advice from women who had been there before you. You are not the first woman to get pregnant in the world, nor will you be the last. With this, it is not surprising if you get all sorts of recommendations and advice from other women that you may be confused.

Don’ts of pregnancy

Smoking

Smoking is a definite no-no and must be avoided when you are pregnant. Even if you don’t smoke, but your partner or other members of your family does, you should make way to avoid it because second hand smoke poses more risk for you and the baby. Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to birth defects and may even cause stillbirth for babies.

Caffeine

Pregnancy and caffeine do not work hand in hand for a pregnant woman. Studies have shown that caffeine, like smoking has increased the possibility of miscarriage and low birth weight in babies. Caffeine intake in excess of 300 milligrams a day can be regarded as excessive and can be a risk for the baby.

Food

When you are pregnant, there are certain foods you need to avoid. Some examples of this are some seafood, uncooked meats, milk that is not unpasteurized and soft cheeses. These are believed to be contributing factors that can cause miscarriages, birth defects and even stillbirth.

Alcohol and drugs

It goes without saying that when you are pregnant, you should stay clear of alcohol and drugs. There is no safe level of consumption recommended for both and these two pose as grave risks for your baby. Drugs and alcohol prove detrimental for you and may hinder the development of your baby inside your womb. This could also lead to birth defects so if you want to give your baby the best chance at having a good health, avoid drugs and alcohol altogether.

Dos of pregnancy

Eat a Healthy diet

A well balanced diet is one of the most important things you should pay attention to when you are pregnant. You must remember you are eating for two, not just for yourself so you need to see to it that you set a pregnancy diet to fit you and your baby’s needs. You are also advised to take prenatal vitamins regularly.

Body temperature

It is important for you to keep a moderate body temperature when you are pregnant, most especially during your first trimester because this can help prevent birth defects in your developing baby. You may have to forgo pampering yourself with saunas and hot baths during this time. You can go for this in the future, when you are no longer pregnant.

Exercise

Exercise is recommended when you are pregnant but there are limitations to it. If you are a woman who is into strenuous activities like weight lifting, mountain climbing, scuba diving or other sports before, you should have to set this aside during your pregnancy. You can opt for walking instead because this is recommended to prepare your body for the rigors of labor and delivery.

Safety in the house

Practicing safety in your house is important during your pregnancy. You should avoid hazards in the house and stay away from harmful substances like aerosol cans, fumes from paint, solvents and others. These are believed to link with possible birth defects and other complications. Take extreme care when you go up or down staircases in your house. A fall could prove fatal for your pregnancy.

Following certain do’s and don’ts of pregnancy is important because your safety and the safety of your baby is the top priority during this time.

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Early Pregnancy Tests, Very Early Pregnancy Tests

Pregnancy tests are very accurate these days, and some of the more sensitive ones can even pick up whether you are pregnant from as soon as 7 days after fertilisation has occurred. However testing this early can lead to false results, as sometimes the egg takes longer than 7 days to imbed properly in the uterus and you may get a inaccurate negative reading.

The most reliable time to take a home pregnancy test is after you have missed a period. Waiting until the normal term of a period is over can be a long time if you are desperate to find out if you are pregnant, but the longer you wait the more reliable the results will be. This is because the home tests work by detecting the presence of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in your urine, and this is only released in sufficient quantities after the fertilised egg has fully imbedded into the uterus lining, which can take between 6-8 days.

When you carry out a test a home you must ensure you follow the instructions carefully, and try to avoid taking the test after you have drunk a lot of fluids as this can dilute the urine sample and lead to a false reading. Tests are available from pharmacies and supermarkets, but do vary in sensitivity. If you want to test earlier, then look for a home test that states on the box it ranges from at least 20ml/U, which is the most sensitive option. These can be the most expensive tests, so if you are not testing early there is not need to buy this option, so you can get one of the cheaper tests that are around 150ml/U. Testing early with the cheaper tests is not a good idea, as they can fail to detect very low levels of hCG in your urine, and give you a false negative result. Home tests are very reliable if used correctly, with between 97-99% accuracy and make sure you always leave the test for the required length of time before reading, as reading too quickly or too late can give you a false test result. If you can’t wait and do test early, then it is a good idea to repeat the test a few days later, just to confirm the results.

If you are concerned with the results from any home tests, or would just prefer your doctor to confirm the pregnancy, then you can request a blood test. Like the home test this will look for the presence of hCG in your body and there are two main types of tests, a ‘qualitative hCG test’, this just detects whether hCG is in your blood and gives you a straight yes or no answer, or the ‘quantitative hCG test’ which will measure the amount of hCG in the blood, and can detect very low levels giving you results in the very early stages of pregnancy.

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