Keeping Newborn Oklahomans Whole

 
 
Picture
by Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC. Find original here, at Kellymom.com

You've made it through your first 24 hours as a new mom. Maybe you have other children, but you are a new mom all over again...and now it is your baby's second night.

All of a sudden, your little one discovers that he's no longer back in the warm and comfortable – albeit a bit crowded – womb where he has spent the last 8 ½ or 9 months – and it is SCARY out here! He isn't hearing your familiar heartbeat, the swooshing of the placental arteries, the soothing sound of your lungs or the comforting gurgling of your intestines. Instead, he's in a crib, swaddled in a diaper, a tee-shirt, a hat and a blanket. All sorts of people have been handling him, and he's not yet become accustomed to the new noises, lights, sounds and smells. He has found one thing though, and that's his voice....and you find that each time you take him off the breast where he comfortably drifted off to sleep, and put him in the bassinet – he protests, loudly!

In fact, each time you put him back on the breast he nurses for a little bit and then goes to sleep. As you take him off and put him back to bed – he cries again... and starts rooting around, looking for you. This goes on – seemingly for hours. A lot of moms are convinced it is because their milk isn't “in” yet, and the baby is starving. However, it isn't that, but the baby's sudden awakening to the fact that the most comforting and comfortable place for him to be is at the breast. It's the closest to “home” he can get. It seems that this is pretty universal among babies – lactation consultants all over the world have noticed the same thing.

So, what do you do? When he drifts off to sleep at the breast after a good feed, break the suction and slide your nipple gently out of his mouth. Don't move him except to pillow his head more comfortably on your breast. Don't try and burp him – just snuggle with him until he falls into a deep sleep where he won't be disturbed by being moved. Babies go into a light sleep state (REM) first, and then cycle in and out of REM and deep sleep about every ½ hour or so. If he starts to root and act as though he wants to go back to breast, that's fine...this is his way of settling and comforting.

Another helpful hint...his hands were his best friends in utero...he could suck on his thumb or his fingers anytime he was the slightest bit disturbed or uncomfortable. And all of a sudden he's had them taken away from him and someone has put mittens on him! He has no way of soothing himself with those mittens on. Babies need to touch – to feel – and even his touch on your breast will increase your oxytocin levels which will help boost your milk supply! So take the mittens off and loosen his blanket so he can get to his hands. He might scratch himself, but it will heal very rapidly – after all, he had fingernails when he was inside you, and no one put mittens on him then!

By the way – this might happen every once in a while at home too, particularly if you’ve changed his environment such as going to the doctor, to church, to the mall, or to the grandparents! Don't let it throw you – sometimes babies just need some extra snuggling at the breast, because for the baby, the breast is “home.”

 © 2003 / Jan Barger RN, MA, IBCLC / Lactation Education Consultants

 


Comments

Holly

Wed, 05 May 2010 5:58:29 pm

I love this article! Thank you so much for sharing it! It is COMPLETELY TRUE!!! :)

 

Bree

Wed, 05 May 2010 7:34:32 pm

Lovely.. A very simple explanation.

 

Naomi

Thu, 06 May 2010 1:43:19 am

beautiful and so true. It explains exactly how my little bubba has been, now 18months old and a very self assured, independent happy little man... Still with access to his safe haven and nourishment of my breasts.
Thank you for sharing :)

 

Allie

Thu, 06 May 2010 7:27:08 am

I LOVE this article! Thankyou for posting it....hopefully, when I pass it along, my family will understand what I have been trying to say about baby's need for closeness with mama. Soothers/pacifiers, extra-tight swaddling and scratch mitts (etc.) aren't comfortable for a newborn and it isn't fair to expect them to get used to so much fabric, rubber and plastic so soon after being born....nothing is as lovely as mama's skin:)

 

Tara

Thu, 06 May 2010 7:47:46 am

This is fabulous. I've been a labor nurse for 14 years and have seen this SO MANY TIMES! I also work in Africa where babies are practically skin-to-skin 24/7. They are very happy children! I do have to say, however, that every baby is an individual and I have seen babies who absolutely love to be swaddled. But... what's up with those annoying mittens?

 

Shawnie

Thu, 06 May 2010 10:31:58 am

I agree, momma's skin is the best and my baby was/is always so happy to be skin on skin, but most moms here in the US can’t have skin on skin 24/7. I also agree that most babies love the tight comfort of being swaddled when they can't be on momma. As for fingernails, I can only imagine they are soggy from being developed and living in fluid for 9 months, and some scratching can cause scaring on their delicate skin. Gloves aren’t a bad idea until you can clip their fingernails. Just take them off when you are there to assist them in not scratching themselves and direct their hands into their mouth rather than them flailing their arms allover - getting upset and smacking themselves up against the head, they don’t understand that it’s their hands hitting themselves and it can be very frightening - causing more upset.

 



Leave a Reply