The Calm Baby RN

Sleep Rules for Daylight Savings!

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 09:34:00 -0500

Daylight Savings – Spring Forward!

WooHoo - Daylight Savings Starts Sunday, March 12, 2017 at 2:00am

The thought of something messing with a good thing is super duper stressful. If your babies and kids are good sleepers we, of course, want to keep it that way and not allow something like DAYLIGHT Savings ruin it. It doesn't take much, sometimes, to throw off a baby rhythm, and send us spiraling into an "OH NO NOW WHAT" situation. Here are Mimi's Rules for Daylight Savings.

Do not play around with bedtime on Sunday following SPRING FORWARD even though we are

losing an hour. If you’ve been putting child to bed at 6:30 still put child to bed 6:30 on Sunday night.

For children:

• For children older 2 years old you may be able to follow the adult directives of putting

them to bed earlier each night. For younger children make sure they are well napped on

Saturday and go to bed on the earlier side.

• When your child wakes up on Sunday morning (any time after 6am) make sure she gets

some sunlight first thing in the morning. Do this on Monday also – it will help her reset

her internal clock. This will help you too! “Spring forward” can help some children who

are having early rising struggles (waking before 6am) which is great news!

• Schedule your next day’s meals and activities according to the new clock time.

• Your bigger challenge will be to help your child get to the new (later) bedtime without

being overtired! That means you have to make naps an absolute priority. Watch sleep

windows, have a comforting pre-nap routine and get child down for a good, restorative

nap or two (depending on age). An earlier bedtime will help if you are not able to get

decent nap/naps.

For adults:

• Go to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual tonight.

• On Friday go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual (beginning to see the pattern?).

• On Saturday try to go to bed 45 minutes earlier than your usual bed time.

• Eliminate all caffeine before 1:30 p.m. this week in order to make it easier to go to bed

earlier.

• Avoid alcohol this weekend which negatively effects sleep.

Let me know what specific questions you have!

Speech Development Begins in the Womb!

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 08:00:00 -0400

I recently read about a study from 2013 in which researchers aimed to identify if a baby in utero would react to songs played during the last trimester and if those babies would also react to the same songs after birth. It is fascinating, they determined through an extensive study, that babies in the womb could not only hear and process the songs but that 4 months after they were born they had a continued increased reaction to the same songs. This study was conducted at the University of Helsinki. The main goal of the study was to map out associations with sounds in the womb as they may play into speech development as a baby grows.

Long story short, not only are they listening during your pregnancy but this listening may play a HUGE role in speech development later on. Just another example of how your baby is NOT born a blank slate and how the cause/effect relationships with babies are not always quick an easy to figure out. Have you ever chatted with a toddler who had an particularly extensive vocabulary for their young years? Maybe you've even had the awe inspiring experience of a conversation with a 3 year old who is clearly able to articulate well beyond his years. Perhaps, just maybe, these babies were exposed; either on purpose or quite by happen-stance, to music, songs and singing.

So I say...grab your karaoke machines, turn up the volume and sing to your baby who happens to be listening and learning!Read more about the study...

Basic Breastfeeding Supplies

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Thu, 2 Jul 2015 12:11:00 -0400

There truly isn't much you need to buy to be successful with breastfeeding, afterall, you were born with TWO of the most important pieces of the puzzle!! There are a handful of things that will help make the process a bit easier; things to have on hand in the event you have struggles. Join Alisa Underwood, RN, BSN, IBCLC as she reviews breastfeeding supplies.

Check out our latest episode!

Starting off Right - Breastfeeding Early Steps

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 21:02:00 -0400

Getting a strong foundation set early on with breastfeeding is the golden key to long term success. The good news is there are a few simple things you can do to help set that foundation off on the right start. Join Alisa Underwood, RN, BSN, IBCLC, Owner Calm Baby RN, LLC as she reviews her preferred Simple Step Plan to Early Breastfeeding!

Check out our latest episode!

Baby Summer Safety

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 2 Jun 2015 15:19:00 -0400

Getting outdoors in the nice weather helps the days seem not so long, refreshes our souls after a winter hibernation and gives us infusions of vitamin D but there are a few SAFETY points to be aware of.

Join Alisa, The Calm Baby RN, as she chats with us about ways to keep our babies safe, happy and comfortable in the summer months!

Check out our latest episode!

The Multitasking Mind Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 12 May 2015 20:06:00 -0400

In our fast paced lives it is so easy to let the baby days, weeks, months fly by in a blur. In this Calm Baby RN episode Alisa challenges our listeners to stop for a moment each day to savor the sweetness of your baby. Listen - Share - Subscribe

Check out our latest episode!

Understanding how Bonding Works

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 5 May 2015 20:31:00 -0400

It is truly fascinating to understand how babies are born programmed for bonding with their Moms and Dads! Join us as Alisa discusses how bonding is established and a special story about her days as a Neonatal ICU nurse when Y2K happened and what it taught her about bonding!

Check out our latest episode!

The Truth Behind Breastfeeding Myths

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 19:57:00 -0400

It is NOT easy to be a calm breastfeeding Mommy especially with all of the conflicting pieces of advice! The truth is the myths, misconceptions and even the mainstream breastfeeding advice are all making new moms feel NUTS and certainly not calm. Join "Auntie Alisa" as she chats about The Truth Behind Breastfeeding Myths!

Check out our latest episode!

New Baby FAQ's

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 20:16:00 -0400

How many times have you heard that "If only babies came with a manual". Expectant and new parents have soooooo many questions and we are keeping track of them so that we can provide you with episodes of FAQs. Here is episode #1 Newborn FAQ's including diapering, skin care and more.

Check out our latest episode!

Vasoline & Gasoline - Baby Skin Care

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 7 Apr 2015 21:27:00 -0400

Eczema, Baby Acne, Diaper Rash, Cradle Cap....red irritated rashy baby skin is just oh so heart breaking. We, as parents, are willing to try just about any concoction of baby skin care products to relieve our sweet little bundles of common skin ailments and often find that the products do not work or possibly even worsen the condition. Join us for this episode of Calm Baby RN as we discuss baby skin care and treatments!

Check out our latest episode!

Having a Calm Baby - Transitioning from the Womb

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:30:00 -0400

One key component to having a Calm Baby is being aware of the transition from the womb environment to the house environment. Our babies truly need a slow gradual gentle transition and sleep, calming, feedings and really all aspects of newborn care depend on these environonmental variables. Join Alisa & Mimi as they discuss the womb environment and the best way of injecting familiarity to your band new baby's everyday!

Check out our latest episode!

Preparing for a Newborn Who Sleeps!

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 16:31:00 -0400

Did you know there are things you can do during pregnancy to help prepare to have a newborn baby who sleeps well from the beginning? Join Calm Baby RN founder, Alisa Underwood and Calm Baby RN Sleep Specialist, Mimi for a discussion about what to learn, what to buy and how to ensure you have silent nights with your newborn babies.

Check out our latest episode!

#5: Consultation Case Study

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 13:16:00 -0400

Alisa Underwood, Calm Baby RN, LLC Owner/Founder, talks about a common thing that can happen with breastfeeding moms. Symptoms in question include progressively worse pain when nursing the baby, shooting pains through feeding, and random shooting pain when not feeding.

Alisa worked with a mom who had these symptoms, was diagnosed with thrush, and was ready to give up. Alisa talks about her process with the mom and how they came up with a solution!

Check out our latest episode!

#4: My Baby Has Its Days And Nights Confused

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 12:13:00 -0400

Alisa Underwood, Calm Baby RN, LLC Owner/Founder, discusses the myths and misconceptions about babies getting their days and nights confused.

Check out our latest episode!

#3: Mommy Goes Back to Work

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Thu, 5 Mar 2015 09:01:00 -0500

Alisa Underwood, Calm Baby RN, LLC Owner/Founder, talks you through the emotional maternal issue of going back to work after having a baby. Topics include breastfeeding, pumping protocol, galactagogues, nutrition, and the 5-5-5 rule for storage of breast milk.

Check out our latest episode!

#2: Newborn Reflexes

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Wed, 4 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0500

Alisa Underwood, Calm Baby RN, LLC Owner/Founder, breaks down the different reflexes that “kick in” during your baby’s first few months.

Check out this episode!

#1: Cave Mommy

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Tue, 3 Mar 2015 11:06:00 -0500

Alisa Underwood, Calm Baby RN, LLC Owner/Founder, talks about the information overload that can overwhelm you when you have a new baby, and how bringing out your inner "Cave Mommy" (or "Cave Daddy") can help you through.

Check out this episode!

The Calm Baby RN Sleep Solutions with Mimi: PODCAST Episode

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:52:00 -0500

Newborn Sleep Part 1 : The Calm Baby RN Sleep Solutions with Mimi

Join us in our first episode of our Baby Sleep Solutions series and welcome Mimi, The Calm Baby RN Sleep Specialist. Mimi has helped countless families get on track with healthy sleep habits, troubleshooting some of the most challenging nap and nighttime dilemmas and all with a gentle approach, she is our "No Trauma Sleep Mama"!

Newborn Sleep Part One - Alisa & MiMi Podcast

The Burp Debacle: Podcast Episode 2

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 20:04:00 -0500

Do you need to be patted in order to burp? Of course not!

Your baby doesn’t either; in fact, many babies simply will not burp if they are being patted because they are either curled in a ball, crying or clenching down in anticipation of the pat trapping the air in the belly. If you have a gassy baby you may have done the typical routine of changing your diet, changing the baby’s formula, giving the baby gas drops or have tried bottle after bottle to find the one that is least likely to make the baby gassy! A baby will be less gassy if he is burped completely and thoroughly with each feeding… keep in mind if it doesn’t come out as a burp it's going to come out as a toot. In this episode of The Calm baby RN, I discuss the best method of burping a baby and why efficient burping is so important…. TheCalmBabyRN Episode 2

Newborn Lie #102: Your Baby has Days and Nights Confused [PODCAST]

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Fri, 7 Nov 2014 15:27:00 -0500

Are you being told your baby has her days and nights confused? Wondering if you should keep her up all day long so she crashes at night? Are you wondering why no one told you that your baby was a nocturnal little nugget?

I am here to tell you that there is absolutely NO such thing as day and night confusion, in fact there is NO such thing as days and nights to a little baby. Newborns should be sleeping 16 to 18 out of 24 hours! Sounds fab, right? Well it's also essential to proper development. In this episode we dicuss why a baby will seem to sleep all day and be awake and fussy all night...

TheCalmBabyRN Episode 1

Let's Talk Sleep: Change Your Clocks, Keep Your Schedules!

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Sat, 1 Nov 2014 12:13:00 -0400

In the fall, the clocks ‘fall’ back an hour. What used to be 7:00pm is now 6:00pm and baby/child is tired and ready to sleep earlier than ‘normal.’ While you may not be successful in helping your child make it to bedtime, the real problem comes in the morning because most children will wake early. Their normal 7:00am wake-up time now becomes 6:00am. Prepare to nap them a little earlier and allow them to ‘chill’ in the crib after waking from naps a bit longer.

Your best approach is to not worry about the plan and just go with what the clock is saying. If your child’s bedtime has been 7:00pm prior to turning your clocks back, still put your child down to sleep at the new clock time of 7:00pm. The reason you can ignore the time change is because a lot of our social cues like meals, bathing, leaving and returning from work and school, are all adjusted with the time change. Social cues help regulate a child’s sleep schedule. It is entirely possible that your baby will be tired before the 7:00 pm bedtime and you should absolutely read baby’s cues and put him down a little earlier if very fussy or obviously very tired. Remain strict adhering to usual bedtimes, wake times and nap times. This approach works best for good sleepers or those who have mellow personalities.

Adults as well as babies and children take a few days to a week or even longer to adjust to the time change. And, this is perfectly normal. Be patient with yourself and your children until your biological rhythms catch up with the clock. Being diligent with your schedule will help your child, and you, to make that adjustment more quickly. The day after the daylight savings time ends, Monday, November 3, 2014, your baby may wake up one hour earlier than usual (based on the clock). If this is the case, you will want to make your child’s nap time and bedtime 45 minutes earlier than his regular schedule the first day; 30 minutes earlier the second day; and 15 minutes earlier the third day.

The whole daily schedule adjusts to those changes accordingly. By doing this, your baby would be going to sleep and waking up at his regular times, based on the Standard Time, by Friday November 7th.

Look No Further! Don't Miss Out on the Wonders of Breast Milk

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 12:08:00 -0400

For centuries, chemists have spent countless hours in the lab and pharmaceutical companies have spent countless dollars concocting medicines, antibiotics, anti-virals, brain chemistry enhancers, chemotherapeutics and the list goes on and on and on. Pharmaceuticals are clearly big business, with big profits to gain for the companies in the lead with the latest and greatest chemical to cure disease, encourage cell rejuvenation and healing.

Historically, the process has been to look into molecular compounds, animal effects, plant-based remedies – exploring elements that may exist at the bottom of the ocean and deep in the amazon. The Amazing RACE to find miracle cures!

What I find so fascinating, is that breast milk has, in comparison, been so under-evaluated. Breast milk, a human made substance, biologically created specifically for the human race to be the very first substance given to our babies and yet its effect on disease and injury has barely been explored.

Here is what we know about breast milk; it contains potent antibodies, unique proteins, human growth factors, protective sugar compounds and a whole ton of elements not yet identified. We know that it will support the health of a critically premature infant, heal the intestine of a baby in suffering from diarrhea, clear a clogged tear duct within hours – this stuff has super powers and yet big pharma haven’t yet even scratched the surface on figuring out first what we can learn from breast milk and second how we can utilize it in medicine. Why??? Hmmmmm, good question however my assumption is that it may not be profitable since it is readily available.

Here is a link to an article from Science News that goes deeper into exploring the benefits of breast milk not only for the new baby but its possibilities for all humans.

Three Parenthood Rules You Need to Abide By to Stay Sane

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 09:18:00 -0400

Perfect Kids require Imperfect Parents!

I can’t always say I was a perfectionist. For sure, once I started college, particularly nursing school, I surprisingly found myself determined to graduate with a 4.0 GPA, Summa Cum Laude, always wanting to be certain I received perfect grades on my papers and exams. But, that most definitely was not the type of high school student I was.

High school was more about social learning, figuring out who I was, and not as much about the ins-and-outs of calculus. I wanted to learn what it meant to be an adult, to make my own decisions and deal with the consequences.

Yet, as adults, we get into the habit of wanting perfection, of controlling our lives. We tend to like the routines we create and enjoy the simplicity of keeping things just so. Enter PARENTHOOD! It's as if we are suddenly catapulted back into the social experiment of high school. Where no mater what educational background we have, we all feel very out-of-sorts and the simple fact that we can no longer control all of the variables tends to send us into a spiral. Don't let that happen!

The perfect new parents are those that allow themselves to not be perfect! Trust this Mom of four when I tell you these rules:

Do NOT allow the perfectionist inside make you feel as if you are failing at your new parenthood role!
Enjoy the learning, understand there will be wins and losses. Trust your gut and enjoy the ride!
And most importantly remember, today is gonna be a totally different day than yesterday and stay flexible with what tomorrow will be!

Your Breastfed Baby Not Gaining Weight? Do This to Help...

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 21:20:00 -0400

It can be intensely frustrating to learn that your breastfed baby is not gaining weight. I meet new Moms who struggle with this all the time! It's so important to know that this can happen for so many reasons, and most importantly, keep in mind, that the AMOUNT of breast milk your baby is getting may not be the cause of low weight gain.

In order to gain weight a breastfed baby must get ample FAT in the milk.

You can help increase the amount of fat your baby gets by doing a few key things:

Make sure they are nursing on side #1 for a majority of the feeding to help ensure they are not only receiving foremilk (skim milk) but also getting full on the hindmilk (the fat). Ending too early will result in them not getting enough fat.
Do breast compressions throughout the feeding. By providing firm consistent pressure deep into the breast tissue, you assist your baby with emptying the fat.
Make sure you have adequate plant, nut and fish fats in YOUR diet. New research is showing that adding coconut and coconut oil into your diet can substantially increase the type of fats that are directly transferred into breast milk. AMAZING RIGHT??
Feed your baby on demand. New babies are programmed to feed often during a 24 hour period. We must respond to their feeding cues and allow them to feed frequently, every 2-3 hours.

When Cradle Cap Strikes, Strike Back!

noreply@blogger.com (TheCalmBabyRN - Alisa Underwood) — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 09:53:00 -0400

“Cradle Cap” - thick scales of yellow dried skin attacking your baby’s soft downy head. Oh no! Sometimes it even covers their forehead and eyelids and looks absolutely horrendous and uncomfortable. If you've seen cradle cap on your baby's head you probably started googling for answers.

Why does my baby have cradle cap? What is the best treatment for cradle cap?

Often time I've found parents buy sensitive skin creams, lotions and potions only to find the problem gets worse. New parents are told, it’s a normal baby skin finding and will eventually resolve on it s own. Months and Months go by with the issue looking better on some days and horrible on others. You start asking yourself, is it something I am eating? A food intolerance?

Here are my thoughts on cradle cap: it is the skin’s response to irritants, it is the body’s defense against insult, it is the scalp’s way of attempting to protect the new follicles developing. It is something that develops over time, babies are NOT born with it and so that tells me that it is developed due to exposure to something and most likely that “something” is products, and may even be the very products you are using to “fix” this issue.

A lot of marketing goes into the labels on products. Words like gentle, soothing, natural and hypoallergenic are all meant to convince us that we must buy that product to help soothe whatever issue our babies are experiencing. Those products that seem to have been around forever, even those still used today in the hospital, have changed throughout the years and the chemical makeup is more irritating, the preservatives more caustic and the product overall not what we want to use on fragile baby skin.

My advice, be meticulous with your product use. If you start to notice irritations on your baby’s head, face or body discontinue use of all products, washes, shampoos, lotions and creams and simply use warm water with coconut or olive oil.