Can I Spoil My Newborn?

Written By Jennifer Shaer MD, FAAP, FABM, IBCL

Photo Courtesy – http://blog.kidsfunplaza.com/

Parents of newborns often ask me if holding their baby too much will spoil him or her. The answer to this question is a resounding “No”.

Newborn babies are accustomed to being held 24/7. This was their existence during their entire gestation. Any amount of time that a newborn is not being held can be stressful. An infant does not need to learn and cannot learn to be independent immediately after birth. Newborns do not have the capacity to be lazy or manipulative at this stage.

The best way to comfort and care for a newborn is to imagine recreating the feeling of being in utero. If your baby falls asleep on your chest, enjoy it. Newborns regulate body temperature, heart rate and breathing best when lying chest to chest with mother or father.

Because of this, baby wearing has become popular of late and is a great way to nurture your baby hands free while taking care of yourself and even your other kids.

However, this does not mean that you need to be a slave to your baby. If you need to put your baby down and he cries, it will not harm him in the long run.

My advise is to follow your instincts. Hold your baby whenever you want to without the guilt that you are spoiling him.

Cherish this time. All too soon he will be grown up. On the other hand, do not fret if you have to or want to put him down to take care of something. Consider using a sling which will allow you to multitask.

As babies grow up, this advice changes. Older babies do benefit from learning how to self soothe. For now, enjoy those first few months. Forget the laundry, cooking, entertaining and other chores unless critically important. Spend this time bonding with your newborn and enjoy every moment while it lasts.

 

Dr. Shaer is a pediatrician and a board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC). She is director of the Breastfeeding Medicine Center of Allied Pediatrics of New York.

Why Feeding Your Child With A Spoon Is Better For Her Development

Written by Jesse Hackell MD

Growing up in the sixties, outer space was truly the final frontier. We greedily devoured all sorts of arcane facts about the nascent space program, from the rigors of pre-flight training to the seemingly more mundane details of how, exactly, one managed to eat and drink in the zero-gravity confines of outer space.

We knew that the astronauts drank Tang, which no self-respecting parent today would ever mistake for fresh-squeezed, locally sourced, organic and pesticide-free orange juice.

And astronaut foods were freeze-dried, and provided in pouches. When water was added to the pouches, the food was rehydrated and reconstituted, and the space explorers “ate” by sucking the resulting slurry out of the mouthpiece of the pouch.

Fast forward fifty years, and pouches aren’t just for astronauts any more. All sorts of fruits, vegetables and combinations thereof, in flavors which would certainly have thrilled early spacemen, are now seemingly the food deliver mechanism of choice for today’s on the move infants and toddlers.

No longer does feeding your baby on the go require a high chair, bib, bowl, spoon and yards of paper towels for clean-up.

Just pop off the top (don’t hand the top to the baby, although the caps are ingeniously designed to prevent choking should the little one happen to get hold of it and have it lodge in the airway), hand the pouch to your child, and–slurp–4 ounces of highest quality, organic produce goes down the hatch.

That’s progress, no? One prediction of the future made in the sixties actually coming true in the twenty-first century!

But I am not so sure that this new feeding mechanism actually represents progress for babies. They are born knowing how to suck nutrition out of a “container”–breast or bottle.

Progress in feeding, for an infant, comes not only in learning about new tastes and textures, but also in learning about new, more mature means of getting their comestibles out of the container and into their mouths.

These pouches (along with so called “sippy cups” with spouts) are really just bottles in disguise. (They are also a whole lot more expensive than either store-bought jars or homemade baby foods.) We do not generally recommend putting puréed foods in baby’s bottle, so why create a new bottle substitute?

Let me make a plea for a return to the older, admittedly messier, mealtime, with the baby sitting upright, wearing a bib, and being fed with a spoon. It will encourage the baby to learn new mouth movements and new positions for eating. And it will provide lots of opportunities for those adorable, messy face baby photographs!

Dr. Hackell is a founding member of Pomona Pediatrics PC, a division of Children’s and Women’s Physicians of Westchester. He practices in the lower Hudson River Valley just north of New York City.

What is a diaper rash and is it serious?

Written by Joanna E. Betancourt MD FAAP

A diaper rash is any rash that develops inside the diaper area.

In mild cases, the skin might be red. In more severe cases, there may be painful open sores.

It is usually seen around the groin and inside the folds of the upper thighs and buttocks. Miles cases clear up within 3 to 4 days with treatment.

What causes diaper rash?

Over the years diaper rash has been blamed on many causes, such as teething, diet, and ammonia in the urine. However, we now believe it is caused by any of the following:

• Too much moisture
• Chafing or rubbing
• When urine, stools, or both touch the skin for long period of time
• Yeast infections
• Bacterial infection
• Allergic reaction to diaper material

When skin stays wet for too long, it starts to break down.

When wet skin is rubbed, it also damages more easily. Moisture from the soiled diaper can harm you baby’s skin and make it more prone to chafing. When this happens, a diaper rash may develop.

More than half of babies between 4 and 15 months of age develop diaper rash at least once in a 2-month period.

Diaper rash occurs more often when:

• Babies get older-mostly between 8 to 10 months of age.
• Babies are not kept clean and dry.
• Babies have frequent stools, especially when the stool stay in their diaper overnight.
• Babies have diarrhea
• Babies begin to eat solid foods
• Babies are taking antibiotics or in nursing babies whose mothers are taking antibiotics.

When to call the pediatrician?

Sometimes a diaper rashes need medical attention. Talk with your pediatrician if:

• The rash does not look like it’s going away or gets worse 2 to 3 days after treatment.
• The rash includes blisters or pus-filled sores.
• Your baby is taking antibiotic and has a bright red rash with red spots at its edges. This might be a yeast infection.
• Your baby has a fever along with a rash.
• The rash is very painful. Your baby might have a skin condition called cellulitis.
• What can I do if my baby gets diaper rash?

If your baby has a diaper rash (and to prevent future diaper rashes)

1. It’s important to keep the area as clean and dry as possible. Change wet or soiled diaper right away. This helps cut down how much moisture is on the skin.
2. Gently clean the diaper with water and a soft washcloth. Disposable diaper wipes may also be used. Avoid wipes that contain alcohol and fragrance.
3. Use soap and water only if the stool does not come off easily. If the rash is severe, use a squirt bottle of water so you can clean and rinse without rubbing.
4. Pat dry; do not rub. Allow the area to air-dry fully.
5. Apply a thick layer of protective ointment or cream (such as on that contains zinc a oxide or petroleum jelly). These ointments are usually are usually thick and pasty and do not have to be completely removed at the next diaper change.
6. Remember, heavy scrubbing or burring will only damage the skin more.
7. Do not put the diaper on too tight, especially overnight. Keep the diaper loose so that the wet and soiled part does not rub against the skin as much.
8. Use cream with steroids only if your pediatrician recommends them. They are rarely needed and may be harmful.
9. Check with your pediatrician if the rash a) has blisters or pus-filled sores; does not go away within 2 to 3 days; Gets worse.

Many parents ask me if a cloth diaper is better than disposable diapers. Research suggests that diaper rashes are less common with the use of disposable diapers.

However, what is more important than the type of diaper is how often it is changed. Whether you use cloth diapers, disposables, or both, always change diapers as needed to keep your baby clean, dry, and healthy.

Hopefully, this little bit of background on diaper rashes give you some good insight about this condition that many babies have.

Dr. Betancourt is a board certified pediatricians and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She has 3 kids and gets a little grumpy when she doesn’t get a chance to workout at the gym at least 3-times a week.