Baby Zones
As a parent we would like to know how we could take care and respond to our baby's needs. How we could help our baby to eat and sleep well, what to do to calm our baby, and how we could engage and interact with our baby.
Baby has 3 zones: Resting, Ready and Rebooting.
Resting zone - sleeping.
Ready zone - ready to eat or ready to play.
Rebooting zone - fussing or crying.
Another important skill is to recognise when your baby sends out an SOS - sign of over-stimulation.
Resting Zone: Sleep
Babies have 2 types of sleep: active/light sleep and still/deep sleep.
When a baby is in still/deep sleep, their body is still and not responding to any stimulation, and there will be no movement of the eyes and their eyelids stay shut, their breathing is deep and regular, and they make no sounds.
About every hour or so the baby will transition from still/deep sleep to active/light sleep.
When a newborn is transitioning from still/deep sleep to active/light sleep, their eyes flash open, they pucker their mouth and may make sucking movements, they may vocalise and also smile.
Ready Zone: Eating
Engaging the newborn in skin to skin contact with the parent immediately after the birth promotes parent-child bonding and effective breastfeeding.
Newborns will show cues that they are ready to feed so that the mother could respond to them. They might bring their hand up to the mouth, smack their lips, wiggle and squirm.
The first few weeks after birth is important for both the newborn and the mother on learning to breastfeed and build up the supply of breast milk.
This video also shows you the comparison of a newborn going to sleep or experiencing shutting down SOS (sign of over-stimulation), and how do you know that breastfeeding is going well.
Rebooting Zone: Crying, What To Do?
A newborn fussing and crying can be challenging to the parents. This video shows you the normal crying pattern of a baby and how to calm a baby down - What "TO DO"?
T - Talk: first try talking to your baby gently. Babies respond to quiet, melodic and repetitive sounds.
O - Observe: wait a moment and see how your baby responds to your voice. Babies may show self soothing behaviours e.g bringing their hand up to their mouth, sucking their finger, and may move into fencing pose.
DO - Do Actions: if a baby continues to cry, do actions are needed including bringing and holding baby's hands to the chest, gently swaying, wearing the baby, breastfeeding, and swaddling.
Skin to skin calms the newborn and enhance breastfeeding.
SOS: Sign of Over-Stimulation
As newborns adjust to being out in the world, they sometimes could be overwhelmed by taking in too much information from the outside world or inside their body. Premature babies especially are over-simulated more often.
The earliest way a baby shows the signs of SOS are changes in the body's skin colour, movements as the muscles jerk and shake, and faster, shorter breaths.
The change in behaviours including "Spacing out", "Switching off", and "Shutting Down" is another way a baby send out the SOS and manage the stimulations.
We can respond by decreasing stimulation. Speaking quietly to the over-stimulated baby, increasing support by holding your baby's hands against the baby's chest, gently swaying, swaddling, skin to skin, and breastfeeding are all ways you can reduce the stimulation the baby is exposed to.
Ready Zone: Engagement Techniques
How can we help a baby engage with the world around them?
Step 1: Look Face to Face
The first step is to have the baby's permission if this baby has ready to play right now by observing their body language.
Step 2: Watch for Sign of Over-Stimulation
Decrease stimulation and increase support if there's sign of over-stimulation.
This video shows you how to hold baby in 45 degree angle and how to engage baby. Babies see best about 10 inches or 25cm from their face. Varying the pace of a moving toy is more likely to keep the baby engaged.
Using the important steps of moving, waiting and watching allows you to respond and help to direct the baby effectively.
Ready Zone: Playing
Face to face interaction is necessary for healthy brain development and long term emotional growth.
Babies take 3 steps as they learn to interact with their parents.
The first step is when a baby becomes quiet and still when the baby hears the parent's voice.
Second step, the baby turns in the direction of the parent.
Third step, the baby looks at the parent's face.
Babies can be sensitive to the family's feelings, and respond to the emotions they pick up.