Baby Trenton was a full term baby who is now four weeks old. He is asleep when I arrive. Mom expresses concern that when Trenton is put on the breast he falls asleep after only a short time . She explaines that she tries to wake him up to eat and he does not seem satisfied with her milk.
I am able to talk to Mom about the different Zones a baby has. In addition, I explain the different types of sleep. Right before my eyes,Trenton demonstrates the active/light sleep Zone. I explain that the baby needs to get to the Ready Zone before attempting to feed. As our visit continued Trenton begins to stir. I encourage Mom to wait and watch Trenton a minute. He stretches and opens his eyes and moves all by himself to the Ready Zone. Mom is then able to put Trenton to the breast to feed successfully.
Baby Zoey also was a full term baby who is now eight weeks old. Zoey's Mom states that her crying seems to be increasing and she is hard to comfort. I explain that it is normal for a baby to increase crying between the ages of 2 - 8 weeks and slowly decrease crying by about 12 weeks of age. Then we discuss a baby's self calming behaviors. I demonstrate swaddling and gently rock the child to help calm her down. Mom calls a few days latter and says that the swaddling seemes to work well and that she is now able to comfort Zoey. The crying seemes to happen less often.
Mom is delighted that The HUG training helps her read Zoey's SOS's and helps her learn to read her child's Zones.
"Though I am new to the HUG Your Baby program I have already found it helpful with the families I work with. As I go through this training I find the ideas about newborn Zones and SOS’s to be especially interesting. The young parents I serve have become experts on reading their babies Zones and consequently are better able to respond to the needs of their newborn."