South African Solutions to Infant Reflux, Colic, Allergies and Intolerances and Sleeping Problems

Welcome to Baby Calm

Baby Calm has the answers you have been looking for!

In these pages you will find an array of South African Products, Services, Practitioners and Treatment approaches to cope with a baby suffering from Colic, Reflux, Food Allergies and Intolerances, and the resulting Sleeping Problems.  Plus practical and useful hints and tips for getting through this difficult phase. And who better to provide these tips, than Parents who have already walked this road! Baby Calm is designed for Parents by Parents.

Products

Reflux in Babies- A Homeopathic Perspective

What is Infant Reflux?

Reflux is the term used to describe the regurgitation of milk back into your baby's oesophagus (food pipe) or mouth after swallowing.

In many babies mild reflux is normal and can occur once or more per day after feeds for the first three months. In these cases it is a temporary problem that tends to be improved with a few simple techniques for preventing reflux. In some cases however, the reflux can be more severe and persistent despite using these feeding techniques.

Weaning your Baby

Written by: Kerryn Gibson (Dietician)

Weaning describes the process of introducing solid foods into an infant's diet. From birth up until the age of 6 months breast milk and/or an appropriate infant formula provides adequate nutrition to support growth. From 6 months onwards, these can however be inadequate as a sole source of nutrition. Although infant formulas are fortified with important nutrients, breast milk does not provide adequate levels of vitamin D or iron. For this reason the latest age solids should be introduced into an infant's diet is 6 months. From a developmental point of view the earliest solids should be introduced is 4 months of age.

Weaning should be a staged process spread over a few months. By the time a child is 12 months, and provided they have no underlying problems, they should be eating the usual family diet. In order to achieve this, parents need to ensure that they provide a variety of tastes and textures to their babies as well as encourage self-feeding.

What every Parent should know about Baby Sleep

Written by: Erica Neser a mother of three, and author of two books on babies. She is an internationally qualified Lactation Consultant and Infant Massage Instructor.

FACT # 1

Waking up at night is NORMAL, NECESSARY and to be expected

It would have been great if babies were born with a notice on their forehead which said: "I will start sleeping through when I am three years old." This way, if yours started sleeping through at one year, you would be terribly pleased. The fact is, small babies are NOT supposed to "sleep through." They are not naughty – they are human.

Around 80% of three month-old babies wake up at night and need help to fall asleep again. At six months, 75% of babies regularly wake up at night and need help to get back to sleep. At one year half of all babies still wake up at night and don't fall asleep again by themselves.

A baby's sleep-wake cycles are different from an adult's, initially spread out equally between day and night, and then gradually settling into a rhythm of daytime naps and night sleep.

We should see night waking as a healthy and normal part of child development, not necessarily a 'problem' that needs to be fixed.