Saw Sian Chin, a paediatrician from Malaysia, reflects on her HUG Your Baby training and certification.
I am a Paediatrician and certified lactation consultant. Jan's Hug Your Baby course simplified baby's behaviour in a simple three zones: resting, ready, and rebooting zones, which I use myself, and taught parents on learning about their new babies. Jan's tips on calming babies and interactions have helped me to interact with babies better, therefore able to perform physical examinations more efficiently, do developmental milestone assessments more meaningful, and help mothers to breastfeed in a joyful way.
Here is a description of a parent visit Saw Sian made as part of her certification process:
On arrival to clinic, Baby Q was in the “rebooting” zone- crying with jerky limbs, screwing up her face. I asked mother about baby's last feed, and checked her nappy. We established that the baby was clearly not hungry or needing nappy change. I advised mother to talk to her baby in a soft voice, swaddled her tightly, and embraced her closely in her arms. I showed mother how to hold both arms together in mid-line as shown by Jan in the teaching video.
To mother's surprise, the child calmed when mother started to sing to and sway baby in her arms. Her face showed clear relief when the baby stopped crying. Mother obviously has been struggling for the past few days. Since the baby is now calmer, I can examine baby's abdomen in more detailed and assure mother that there is no organic cause for her crying. Perhaps practicing these calming skills will decrease baby's crying and increases mother's confidence😊.