During these balance-training exercises, notice how baby uses his arms to maintain balance. Watch baby pivot around to get hearer the toy. This actually a collection of blood beneath the superficial layer of gum tissue.Here's how you can participate in baby's developing skills. Gently wipe excess drool off the skin with lukewarm water and pat (don't rub) dry.When should we first take our baby to a dentist?Sometime between baby's first tooth and third birthday, schedule baby's first dental checkup.Sensitive skin and excessive saliva don't sit well together, especially when the skin is rubbing against a drool-soaked bed sheet.As baby progresses from the sit-and-play stage to the move-and-explore stage, pack up the pen and put it in its rightful place (perhaps even next to the crib) at your next garage sale and baby proof the whole house.Place an enticing toy just beyond the floor-baby-s reach. Some medical studies, at odds with mother's observations, claim teething discomforts are overrated. Plopping baby in a pen while you answer the phone or remove dinner from the oven is often a safety saver for the busy parent. They get lost, get dirty, and wear out quickly.Refusing to feed.
These painful swellings are best treated by cool compresses (for example, popsicles), which soothe the swelling. Teeth marks on crib rails and clicking gums on silver spoons are telltale signs of sore gums needing relief. Cold mucus is think and yellow. Now she can push her tummy off the ground almost as far as her belly button. Especially blacklist honey-dipped pacifiers.While a baby likes to play on his tummy, frequent push-ups can tire the young athlete.Next come pivoting. In many cases the tooth decay would have occurred with or without the night nursing. Change brushes when the bristles get bent. In the sixth month, then, baby begins learning to sit and move about, and it is these major milestones that we focus on in the next few pages.Besides brushing, what else can we do to help our baby's teeth?Here are suggestions for your own home-dental program for cavity-free kids. But if you help your baby enjoy the early sitting experiences, he will realize the increasing views he has in this position and will better enjoy developing his skill. Lubricate with a mild emollient such as Nature's Second Skin or cold-pressed coconut, almond, or safflower oil.If you are still night nursing and it's working for you, consult a pediatric dentist knowledgeable about the benefits of breastfeeding and oral development. Better early than late.The inflammation caused by hard teeth pushing through soft tissue may produce a low fever ((101 degree F/38.Drool cough. Apparently the unique sucking action of breastfeeding helps prevent malocclusion.
These primary teeth hold the right spaces for the secondary, or permanent, teeth, Healthy first teeth also contribute to proper alignment of the jawbones and eventual bite. Some pediatric dentists ask parents to assist by sitting knee to knee with the child's head resting on the dentist's lap. Repeat the dose four hours later if needed. Around five to six months, parents become interested in teething.* A pea-size dab of fluoride-containing tooth-paste is all that bay needs." Teeth slowly slide and twist their way through gum tissue. Tooth decay begins with the formation of plaque -- a sticky film that forms on the teeth and provides a residence for decay-promoting germs."Nursing caries" does happen to breastfed babies, but buffer in human milk allow it to be tolerated in the mouth, so that tooth decay is much less likely than with bottles of juice or formula.What about fluoride?
How can I tell if my baby is getting enough?Here's what every parent should know about fluoride:* Fluoride helps teeth in two ways: The fluoride that baby ingests (in food or water) enter the bloodstream and gets into the teeth, strengthening the developing enamel, making it more resistant to decay.Tooth brushing and toddlers. There's nothing like a fall on a hard surface to scare baby and dampen his motivation to sit. The jury is still out on whether predominantly breastfed babies need fluoride supplements.Teething rarely causes a fever higher than 101 degrees F (38.
As a finale, the rocker can pivot on her weighty abdomen by the sheer momentum of her wiggling legs and waving arms -- playing airplane. But here are some general ways to tell the difference between teething and an illness such as an ear infection. And don't discount the healthy vanity of a smiling preschooler. (Babies are more likely to accept Baby High Feeding Chair a finger probing into their mouth than to allow a look. Once he masters sitting, a six-month-old becomes less of a lap baby and carried baby and more of a high-chair and floor baby. (Possibly a Nurse Mate pillow purchased as a breastfeeding aid for the early months -- a good example of extending the usefulness of an item!)* For the summer sitter, hollow out an area in the sand. Considering the overall medical and dental health-promoting benefits and the emotional and developmental advantages of long-term breastfeeding, a more prudent approach would be frequent dental checkups and after-nursing brushing.

The gag reflex persists throughout life, but the tongue-thrusting part of the reflex disappears around six months. The nine-month-old, for example, raises her arms in anticipation that daddy will pick her up and recalls the mental pick-up-and-play flash card that she expects.When playing with your newborn, notice the spring like feel to the muscles. As you and baby practice this cue-response connection, you both settle into a state of harmony. If you play the face-preference game, dad may win. Babies are selective about what they give their attention to. Within minutes to an hour after birth most newborns show a wide-open, interested-in-the-world look. Relief smiles occur after being rescued from a colicky period, after a satisfying feeding, or after being picked up and rocked
During face-to-face games is another time to catch a smile. Parents also grow at an amazing rate at this stage, progressing from "I have no idea what he want" to "I finally understand his signals. Baby gets into the mother's mind, and mother gets into the baby's mind. Baby appears to be contemplating the environment. Most are curiosities, some are protective, and a few serve some additional purpose. It is as if each time baby gives a cue, a flash card appears in his mind, and he previews what's going to happen. Hold him in front of your face, making eye-to-eye connection around eight to ten inches away. Loud fretful complaints are accompanied by flailing, uncoordinated limb movements. If you have to shout over the noise, it's too loud. They calm best to soothing sounds with a slowly rising and falling rhythm, like classical music. Put yourself in the mind of your newborn. Shine a penlight into your baby's eyes (or take a flash photo), Notice the location of the light reflex, the white dot on baby's eyes. This protective reflex is a clinging response in which baby is giving the message, "I need a person between these embracing little arms.Enjoying Your Newborn's SmileWith baby's first smile, you swoon and forget the sleepless nights and constant holding.Babies are more likely to become bored with visual games when lying on their back and become more attentive when placed in the upright position. Notice that your baby automatically sucks when you stimulate (in order of decreasing sensitivity), the soft palate, the interior of the mouth and lips, and the cheek and chin, A relative to the suck reflex is the rooting (or search) reflex. Because baby has not learned to trust that cues will be read, she does not learn to cue better.
Researchers showed four different diagrams to forty newborns at a mean age of nine minutes.* Light sleep. These normal newborn shakes usually subside by the end of the first month. This reflex both helps and hinders baby's muscle development. This binocular vision starts to develop around six weeks and is well established by four months. Inside smiles, occurring in the first few weeks, are beautiful reflection of an inner feeling of rightness. He acts before he thinks.These reflexes help a baby find the source of food and ingest it.Tips For Holding Baby's Visual Attention * Sit or hold baby upright. Try this eye-opener: Hold your baby in front of you with one hand supporting his head and the other under his bottom, between eight and ten inches (twenty and twenty-five centimeters) from your eyes. When your baby cries and you pick him up and he continues crying, you simply go through a trial-and-error checklist until you click into the need that needs filling."
After years of watching newborns smile, we wish to deflate the gas bubble.When hearing the same sounds newborns become habituated, infant-stimulator jargon for becoming bared. I cry again when I'm lonesome, and I get held more.Tonic neck reflex (fencer's reflex).Mental picturesMost of a newborn's early learning is directed toward comfort and satisfaction., irregular breathing, spurts of movement.You don't have to tiptoe and whisper around a sleeping newborn. * Use animated facial gestures (wide open mouth and eyes) while speaking in a slow, rhythmic, exaggerated tone.Mouthing reflexes. Is he wet? Is he manipulating me? Probably!? As you overcome these worrisome mental gymnastics, you learn to respond more intuitively, Plastic Hair Washing Chair almost by reflex.
That's the music they're used to. She doesn't know what response to expect and doesn't develop a mental picture of what to anticipate." And the brain sends the message to the muscles, instructing them to grab the rattle.) For another demonstration of the grasp reflex, place a rattle in your baby's hands; notice how difficult it is to pry the rattle way from little Hercules. This state is most conducive to interaction and learning.Stoke the palm of your baby's hand with your fingertip or place your finger into the palm from the pinkie finger side and notice how your baby's fingers wrap tenaciously around yours. Because newborns do not use both eye together, images do not fall at the same point on the retina in each eye. I keep crying, I get fed. When he awakens, gaze at him face to face. I'm tuning out.Opening MovesWatch your tiny bundle curled up in the bassinet. Mother becomes less comfortable reading her baby's cues