Surely many agree with me that the baby's incessant crying is exhausting for some parents. Not being able to calm them more than in arms and not being able to leave them in their crib to do other tasks, can be frustrating and really tired.
Therefore, a woman from Massachusetts decided to resort to a simple and controversial trick to help reassure her daughter: a latex hand. On some occasions we have echoed technological inventions that help the child to calm down, such as hammocks that reproduce the voice of the parents or cushions they hug. But there is no doubt that nothing can match skin to skin contact for the benefits it brings to mother / father and baby.
A controversial and criticized trick
Abigail has two children of two and 16 months, both born prematurely. His second baby also suffers from reflux and cramping, so he cries very often and only calms in his arms.
Exhausted of being unable to do anything for the constant claim of her newborn, Abigail devised a simple trick that It helps you reassure her without her presence: an artificial hand. To do this, it occurred to him to fill a latex glove with rice and place it on his baby while in the crib.
This mother ensures that her daughter calms down when she notices the contact of the glove on her back and that this has allowed him to have a break to be able to do other things without being continuously with his baby in his arms.
Aware of how tired it is to attend to a child who cries incessantly, the woman decided to publish the trick on her Facebook account with the aim of helping other mothers who are going through the same.
The publication went viral immediately and although many thanked him for sharing the idea and assured that they would also prove it with their children, others criticized it claiming that it was a cold and dangerous practice, because the baby appeared in the picture sleeping on his stomach, with the pressure of the glove filled on his back and surrounded by blankets that could cause his suffocation.
And, regardless of what everyone can think about the advice of this mother, it is important to remember that pediatricians warn of how dangerous it is to place a baby in his crib with objects around and upside down, as the risk increases Sudden death of the infant.The importance of skin-to-skin contact
Like Abigail's baby, my oldest son also went through a stage of colic and reflux, so I fully understand the fatigue he refers to. My child too I cried continuously and just calmed down in my arms, and there came a time when I felt really exhausted, frustrated and overwhelmed by the situation.
But little by little I learned to deal with it, to relativize things and not to set more goals or short-term purposes that were not to meet the needs of my newborn.
Skin-to-skin contact was essential to overcome that stage: Putting him naked on my chest, stroking his back, singing and speaking softly helped him calm down and improved his agitated breathing. My arms and my chest were his best refuge and before I wanted to realize, the stage of colic passed.
I lived similar episodes with my other two children, with the difference that being not only children I could not spend so much time exclusively, so the afternoons of sofa and arms I spent with my eldest were counted on the fingers of one hand with his brothers.
But that was when I discovered the wonders of porting and what a simple piece of cloth was capable of. The elastic scarf became a great ally for both:
My baby was always with me, well attached to my chest, calm and calm. Crying and stress episodes were drastically reduced, and their sleep patterns improved dramatically.
For my part, I discovered that I could keep doing things without neglecting my baby: work on the computer, do basic household chores, play with my other children ... and even take a shower !, because when a porter advised me the water scarf, it seemed an exceptional invention for the most critical days or during I didn't have help.
There is no doubt that all mothers want the best for our children and we do things as we believe best. However, and although I do not doubt that this trick works for him, it does not seem advisable, so I encourage this mother and others whose babies also suffer from colic or it is difficult to calm them down, to try respectful portage.
The benefits are noticed from the first moment, and it is also unquestionable that skin-to-skin contact is much more beautiful and positive for both than the trick of the latex glove.
And finally I would like to send a message to all first-time mothers and fathers who are living a similar moment with their babies and who feel they are on the verge of exhaustion: everything happens, and sooner than we can imagine.
Are you pregnant and have you ever been told about "Take advantage of every moment with your baby, that time flies"? Well, it's true ... fly! And believe me if I tell you that one day you will miss those moments of arms and skin with skin with your little ones.
Via Love What Mathers
In Babies and More My three experiences with porting and the baby carriers that I recommend, My baby has gastroesophageal reflux, what can I do ?, Taking your baby in your arms is better for him than you imagine and science confirms
