Kristin Cottom is a Family Life and Childbirth Educator at Mercy Regional Health Center in Manhattan, KS. As the most recent Certified HUG Teacher, she is eager to share her HUG concepts with new moms and dads through both her "Newborn Basics" and Infant Massage classes at her hospital. As chair of a local community coalition focusing on child development and new families, she will reach out with HUG Your Baby classes to the wider community.
Here is one of Kristin's recent teaching opportunities:
"Carrie, two-time mom of Jack (age 3 ½) and Caleb (age 1 month), attended my most recent HUG class. Carrie arrived to class early and stated that she had heard from a friend that this class offers great advice on helping with babies sleep issues. She goes on to explain that when Jack was a baby she loved to hold him when he slept, and that led to him sleeping with her and her husband in their bed until he was over 2 years of age. She wants to help Caleb develop healthy sleep patterns on his own so that he will not be as dependent on her to get to sleep and stay asleep. I praise Carrie for taking the time to attend my class and confirm that we will discuss babies and their sleep patterns during the PowerPoint and video sections of the class. I encourage Carrie to stay after class so that we can discuss the HUG’s sleep concepts further.
During class, as we cover information on Active/Light Sleep and Still/Deep Sleep (see video clips), I notice Carrie taking notes and nodding her head as if the information was just clicking. She also seemed to like the information on preparing baby for nighttime sleep.
After class, Carrie does stay to talk, and we further discuss the different types of sleep and how to prepare baby for sleep. Carrie admits that she never understood the different states of sleep and that now she can see how important it is to prepare baby for nighttime sleep with a quiet, calming environment. I schedule a follow-up visit with Carrie for three days after class. I encourage her to call me if she has questions, but I want her to use the HUG methods on her own first, and see how things go. Carrie likes this plan and is thankful for the offer to follow up.
When I arrive for our follow-up visit, Carrie is excited to tell me how well Caleb has been sleeping, both during nap and at nighttime. She describes how Caleb will work through the different sleep patterns and now, when he wakes up, he is rested and ready to eat and play. She is also proud of how he is sleeping in his own bed and going to sleep on his own. This mom has become a believer in the HUG principles and feels grateful for the information she has attained."
Here are two other stories on helping babies sleep well (Sleep and a newborn & Sleep and a 7-month-old.