Simple Tips for New Parents

A friend of ours just deliver a healthy baby boy yesterday.

We are really happy for them and suddenly I started to flash back on our wonderful moments when Miya made us a family.

The first time I hold her in my arms. The first time I breastfeed her.....and the hours of cries.

She cried when she’s hungry, she cried when she pooped, she cried when she got the wind, she cried when she is uncomfy.

Like any new parents, it took a while for us to understand our new darling. I remembered buzzing the nurse asking if she can help me analyze on what is wrong with Miya. I almost go bonkers trying to figure out on whats wrong. She is dry, I just fed her, but she still cries when I put her down. After hearing Miya cried for a few second, the nurse said “Ahh..dia nak cuddle and manja with mama and papa saje”...Oh ye ke? Mujo aku buzz nurse Gleneagles, kalo aku buzz nurse spital gomen...mau kena kaw kaw..(don’t get me wrong on this comment, but i know many moms out there agree with my ayat)

Biasa la. Most new parents find it takes a while to understand what their little one is trying to tell them.

And if you know the “Dunstan Method”. It could help a lot. See this few video to get the idea of its few basic concepts:

So the basics are:

Feeding-NEH

Sleep-OWH

Burp-EH

Fart-EAIRH

Unconfortable (Wet/Dry/Cold/Hot)-HEH

I know baby cries is kinda hard to analyze. Like Miya, her cries of hunger is a bit different. It sound more like “aak at” (my aunt kata Miya said jahat coz let her hungry..LOL), but after analyzing, I realized the sound does start with a bit of “neh..neek..aak at”. Here another video for us to properly understand the sound (example on NEH):

So its the “n” sound that we should look for.

Ok now you watch this video, cuba teka what wrong with Miya?

Yup, dia kembung. Pain at lower abdomen. I remembered I urut her tummy and after a few cute fart, terus ok.

I didn’t get to know much about this method coz I was too into baby signing when I was pregnant (beria study baby signing, cam lawak lak bila teringat betapa semangat I was at that time). Anyway I know this would be a bunch of help for adik Miya nanti, kan? If any mommies out there are interested, you ladies can check it out at http://www.dunstanbaby.com/cms/uploads/dunstan/ComprehensiveBooklet.pdf (Free booklet on this method).

Sementara you learn to understand what each different cry means, just be alert on other signal that our little one is giving. Example on what I read from Miya:

1) If she's rubbing her fists in her eyes it's a sure sign she's begging for some nap

2) If she's pulling her knees up to her chest she's probably got wind.

3) To check whether she is hot or cold, feel her tummy or the back of her neck. Don't rely on the temperature of the hands as babies have poor circulation and these can remain icy even when the rest of him is uncomfortably hot.

If Miya is tired or feeling a bit fractious, I try rhythmic motions such as rocking or walking to calm her down.

When I reflect balik, I rasa syukur sangat yang Miya tak colicky (My youngest brother was a colic baby up to the point my parents ingat dia kena kaco dgn "benda"). So it was kinda easy for me to understand her cries and manage to keep my sanity.

So....any mommies ada nak add your tips for new parents?