Blog
December 01, 2011
Babies have many ways of communicating with us. They have distinctive cries to tell us when they’re hungry, tired, or gassy, and when they’ve soiled their diaper.
The cry of a baby who has colic, however, does not fit into any of these categories. I will never forget the first time a baby who had true colic was placed into my hands. Her cry was piercing and relentless, and none of her parents’ attempts to soothe her were working. It was obvious that she was in extreme discomfort.
Her body was rigid and her abdomen was hardened with gas. Her legs and feet were flexed, her back was arched, and her fingers were clenched into tiny fists. Her crying seemed to come from the depths of her being. It is said that when a baby has true colic, their uncontrollable and inconsolable crying lasts for more than three hours a day, at least three days a week, and continues for more than three weeks. Dr. Morris Wessel proposed this widely used definition of baby colic over fifty years ago.
Since
December 01, 2011
Sometimes, whatever you do it is not going to work, and sometimes, doing nothing is what works best. This is true of a lot of things in life, from curing a headache to fixing a drain, but is never more obvious than when trying to stop a baby from crying.
This morning, I was taking my usual walk. It’s a 2.2-mile loop that takes me about 40 minutes. It is a great part of my day, and I always see an interesting cross section of people in the neighborhood walking, running, biking and pushing baby strollers. Today, while I was about half-way around, I saw a young couple walking towards me with their baby screaming at the top of her lungs in her stroller. They looked so tired, so utterly exhausted, that I had to say something to them. “Rough night?” I asked. After rolling their eyes and nodding their heads in agreement, they said, “You know it!” We chatted for a moment, and I commiserated with them about their struggle. “Sometimes just taking
December 01, 2011
There is little that is more upsetting to parents of a newborn than his inconsolable wails and cries. To parents of a baby with colic, these bouts are all too common, and can cause turmoil and disharmony in even the most solid, happy families.
As the mother of three, I am well aware of the challenges of being a parent to a new being. Each baby is distinctly unique and different from his siblings. My first child had a lovely disposition – cheerful, happy, and content. I thought I had parenting completely figured out, and I wondered about parents who seemed frazzled or stressed by their newborn. What was so difficult about having an infant?
Enter child number two: born two weeks before his predicted due date, he was small and incredibly sensitive. His skin reacted to any fabric, with angry bumps. He rarely slept, except in increments of about ten minutes, from which he awoke shrieking. At around six p.m. each night, he descended into a furious fit of wailing that lasted for about an
November 02, 2011
One of the salient features of a well-designed baby carrier is that it keeps the carried baby in a correct ergonomic position. The obvious question which follows from such a statement is what constitutes a correct ergonomic carrying position for a newborn baby?
A minimum requirement for an ergonomically correct position is that it should ideally promote a healthy development of the baby’s hips and spine.
One of the conditions which pediatricians will normally investigate in a newborn child and in subsequent well-baby check-ups is that of developmental dysplasia of the hips (DDH).
Hip Dysplasia definition and occurrence
DDH is a disorder related to what is commonly known as the hip joint. The hip joint is where the head of the thigh bone (the femur) meets with the hip socket (the acetabulum). Hip dysplasia is diagnosed when there is either a complete or partial dislocation of the head of the thigh bone, so it no longer fits
November 02, 2011
Author Betsy Miller was successfully treated for hip dysplasia as an infant, and was able to walk, run, jump and play in her youth. As an adult, she experienced an unusual problem with her hips that lead her to search for answers that were not readily available except in medical journals. Being a professional technical writer, she was inclined to seize the subject and dive into research to find her own answers. She shares the depth and details of what she found, the most helpful and clear information, to allow parents to care for their children with hip issues with less confusion and more confidence.
In The Parents’ Guide to Hip Dysplasia, Betsy Miller combines her experience and interest in hip dysplasia with her skills as a technical writer to bring parents answers to their questions about DDH and CDH. This 118-page book is written in simple every-day language and includes the practical and medical facts of developmental dysplasia of the hip, and congenital
November 02, 2011
Medical doctors mostly refer to hip dysplasia as DDH for developmental dysplasia of the hip. Earlier terminology was congenital dysplasia of the hip (CDH).[1] Generally it is a condition where the top of the thighbone does not fit properly in the hip socket or is unstable, dislocating to greater or lesser degrees. DDH covers a wide variety of problems with the hip joint.[2] You can visualize the hip socket as a cup and the femoral head of the thighbone as a ball. The ball needs to fit evenly in the cup and with enough room so it can rotate smoothly in multiple directions without slipping out of the cup.
“Approximately one out of every 100 children is born with DDH (in some form), and around 1 out of 1,000 children has a dislocated hip at birth.”[3] “Ninety percent of the hips of newborns with mild dysplasia identified by ultrasound resolved spontaneously between 6 weeks and 6 months.”[4] This is probably because the majority of infants with DDH are female and they have looser ligaments
November 02, 2011
What exactly is hip dysplasia?
As the name suggests, it’s a deformation or a misalignment of the hip joint. The cup-like-formed acetabulum of the pelvis (also called the hip socket) and the round femoral head facilitate the movement of the legs. Both are covered with cartilage and a layer of fluid, which ensure a frictionless movement of the joint. The formation of the joint begins in the third month of pregnancy, yet it will not fully develop until the end of the pregnancy.
By the time of birth, the newborn’s pelvis is almost entirely made out of cartilage. The ossification begins shortly after birth. The hip joint is reinforced by ligaments and the joint capsule. Muscles enable movement as well as supporting the hip joint.
The German term for hip dysplasia was first used in 1936 to refer to a delayed growth of the ossification of the hip socket. The generic term of “infantile dislocation of the hip joint” was created by Dr. Ewald Fettweis. It is one of the most common
November 02, 2011
Hip dysplasia, also referred to as developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), is widely believed to be developmental. I am not an expert on this subject, but thankfully there are those who are experts, and that is where I turned when I wanted to know more. The International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI), which started in Orlando, Florida is on a mission. Their board of doctors, researchers and supporters are committed to providing the best information and care for, “children and adults affected by neonatal hip instability and developmental dislocation of the hip.”[1] They are an international non-profit organization started to educate parents and physicians about hip dysplasia.
The exact cause(s) are not known; however, it is known to develop around the time of birth, after birth, or even during childhood. It is believed that infants are prone to hip dysplasia for a variety of reasons:
1. Hip dysplasia is approximately 30 times more likely when there is a family history.
October 06, 2011
As an ordinary woman, I have never used the word phenomenal to describe another woman until now. There is enough information on her to fill an encyclopedia. Some call her a Guardian Angel; some call her a Modern Day Medicine Woman. She is Jane Aronson, renowned pediatrician who gained worldwide attention when she treated Angelina Jolie's daughter, Zahara, for a life-threatening bacterial infection shortly after she arrived from Ethiopia. She has spent 20 years "travelling to orphanages all over the world, to see the conditions that these kids grow up in. So I know when they arrive here how hurt, sad and empty and how yearning they are to love. She has improved the lives of 20,000 children and she has learned to tell them "see you soon in six languages; "I never say goodbye. This woman makes me cry.
Here are her credentials:
She is part of a national network of adoption medicine specialists for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section for Adoption and Foster Care. She evaluates children
October 01, 2011
Recently, there has become a clear distinction between co-sleeping and what experts now refer to as bed-sharing. In order to decide what is best for your family, it is important to know the difference.
According to Attachment Parenting International (API), the definitions are as follows:
“Co-sleeping refers to sleeping in ‘close proximity,’ which means the child is on a separate sleep surface in the same room as the parents.” “Bed-sharing, also called the ‘family bed,’ describes a sleep arrangement where the family members sleep on the same surface.”
While new parents may feel pressured to have their baby “sleep through the night,” this scenario describes a myth. Frequent waking occurs for myriad reasons, and throughout most of the phases of a baby’s growth and development into childhood. Most parents find it less disruptive to sleep in close proximity to the baby, to accommodate for nighttime feeding and other needs with minimal interruption. In fact, babies often