Sister Lilian’s Babycare Companion: Complimentary and traditional care. Lilian Paramor

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ under stretch towelling suits in winter to keep little feet warm

      4–5 receiving blankets (the ones with the pictures!)

      Fitted cot sheets

      2–3 covering blankets for the final cover up on a cold night

      Baby carrier pouch, sling or wrap (very useful to ‘abba’ in the front or on your back)

      Hardware

      Crib or cot (paint must be lead free)

      Changing table

      Baby bath

      Carry cot

      A camp cot is nice to have especially when visiting

      Three-in-one pram (these sometimes come with a carry cot)

      Nappy bucket if you are using towelling nappies

      Car seat (this must have an SABS stamp, be the correct size for the age and be used at all times)

      Remember that this list can be altered to suit your needs.

      COTS AS OPPOSED TO CAMP COTS

      It is not essential to have a cot but it can provide a secure and restraining environment for your baby. A camp cot has the advantage of being a ‘bed away from home’ when necessary, often making sleep issues easier when visiting. It is also transportable around the home and usually takes up less space. The ideal camp cot is one in which the mattress height is adjustable so that you can have Baby close to your bed at night, almost as an extension to your bed. A camp cot should be quite big to accommodate a growing baby, as you will probably be using it for quite a while, and also to prevent climbing-out accidents. Similarly, a cot should be roomy enough to deal with these challenges. A roomy cot will also mean that your baby does not need to move on to a bed too soon, which often heralds the end of going to bed easily at night. Of course, many babies often end up sleeping more in their parents’ beds at night than in their own. This is fine, as it often means more secure little ones and less hassles at night for the parents, especially moms!

      BABY OUTING BAG

      Your handbag might soon be replaced by a hold-all baby bag! Keep a list in Baby’s cupboard to check before each outing. Add to this anything you find makes your life easier:

      •3–4 nappies

      •wet wipes for cleaning bottoms away from home

      •buttock cream

      •baby skin lotion

      •waste disposal bag

      •a change of clothes

      •a hat or cap

      •something warm for Baby

      •dummy

      •breast pads in early weeks

      •formula feeding requirements like powder dispenser, bottle and accessories

      •medicine dispenser

      •a toy appropriate to age

      •a jar of food when Baby is older

      •beverage other than milk

      •feeding spoon

      •moist cloth in a plastic bag for face wiping

      Emotional Issues

      ‘Motherhood is not simply the organic process of giving birth . . . it is understanding the needs of the world.’ – Alexis De Veaux, mother and sponsor of MADRE, a Latin American relief organisation, as quoted in Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom: The Complete Guide to Women’s Health and Wellbeing by Dr Christiane Northrup, Great Britain, Piatkus, 1995.

      A profound comment indeed, but very true! As a mother, you have a vital role to play in shaping your child’s world and the destiny of the next generation.

      Babies and mothers have a very special relationship – they can almost be thought of as one entity. Like Siamese twins, they are inextricably linked to one another. While the baby is obviously more dependent on the mother, the father and child are also, though to a lesser extent, bound up in a complex play of emotions and even physical manifestations.

      It is only a snip of the umbilical cord that has separated you into two entities, but I believe that babies do not accept this physical separation as a reality until much later in their lives. It is a gradual process and it requires a mother to move with the times and to adapt her approach constantly. This theory helps us understand why a baby becomes especially fretful when Mom is coping badly or when family stresses are severe. At times such as these, your child’s sleep patterns might be disrupted or your baby might become ill more easily. In troubled times, close contact can supply the necessary security. You’ll be able to use this information to help you make your baby content in a variety of ways, to build sensible routines and to understand what is happening at any time.

      Along with the need to be one with their mothers for as long as is necessary, goes the inherently programmed need for love and respect which all children experience. They need to be bathed in a pervading sense of security. Security is obtained by your acceptance, as the mother of this baby, that you and your child are one. Like every other human being, they crave touch, and need tender and warm tactile contact to thrive. Take your child in your arms liberally, cuddle her often and massage her little body frequently.

      The other physical-emotional need is to suckle. We are taught that this is a reflex action, and certainly it is an instinctive, ingrained response. It helps ensure Baby’s physical survival, but I believe that it does much the same for his emotional survival too. This view is a serious challenge to a number of approaches still too common in South African maternity facilities – namely, the advocating of rigid feeding on schedule, the prejudice against dummies on principle, and the idea that breastfeeding is only about breastmilk.

      A final emotional need, as I see it, is that your baby needs a gentle introduction to the rigours of life and that means that you will need to ward off too much handling by others, be they excited friends and relatives or busy professionals. Ensure that an air of quiet and calmness surrounds you and your baby while you all adjust to the new circumstances. This will profit both parents and their newborn infants.

      I believe that it takes the formative first seven years for a child to become a truly separate being. This is a gradual process from total dependence, physically and emotionally, to complete independence. Bearing this in mind, I believe that parents should be encouraged to adopt a gentler approach with their children, rather than forcing them to become independent too quickly. Forcing a baby to sleep in his own bed and room, leaving him to cry for hours, and schedule feeding are all very harsh measures.

      It is many years of observing this most special of relationships which leads me to make such a categorical statement. When the intimacies of being the same entity are not fought against, parenting seems to sit more easily on one’s shoulders. Trying to make one’s baby ‘independent’ before the time is ripe, on the other hand, often leads to problems.

СКАЧАТЬ