Name that Cue – Understanding What Your Newborn is “Saying”

let's learn about newborn cues understanding what your baby is trying to say to you as an expectant parent or a new parent not only do you wonder how you will meet all of your baby's needs you may wonder how you'll even know what those needs are in this video we'll discuss all the different ways your baby will communicate with you and give you clues about what they need newborns have certain reflective behaviors that create a universal language we're going to look at youtube videos showing babies from around the world communicating with their parents watch this baby in the quiet alert state what do you notice you thought engagement cues the baby's body is relaxed and their eyes are bright wide open and looking around at the world bye say hi [Music] so what should you do when you see these engagement cues talk to your baby and play with your baby in these next few videos watch the little ones have a conversation with their parents as the parent talks the baby will look down at their parents mouth then look back up at their eyes happy two weeks old when your baby starts getting more active and wiggling around a lot start watching them for cues about what they need um we're going to play a game called name that cue i want you to try to figure out what these babies are trying to say your hint is that it's been over an hour since this baby last age yep that baby was showing hunger cues let's learn more the first hunger cue is rooting that's where the baby wants to latch onto something and suck in this next video notice how the baby tries to grab the finger and suck it into their mouth hunger cue number two is when they suck on anything they can reach especially if it looks like a nipple or a soft skin what are you doing clay she's sucking on my chin hunger cue number three is tongue thrusts this is when you see the baby just moving its tongue around a lot and mouthing at things do you remember in the quiet alert state how we saw babies were just sitting still and gazing at their parents that's not what we're seeing here hunger cue number four is when your baby may dive for a nipple they may dive for anyone's nipple buddy that's not gonna work when we've shown this video to other new parents some have worried about this baby they say aren't you supposed to support the baby's head the answer is that yes usually you would support the baby's head but if your baby is in this position for just a moment it's totally fine it won't harm them just like it wouldn't harm you but we do want to move them back into a supported position pretty soon so we've just learned several different hunger cues rooting sucking tongue thrusts and diving for a nipple what should you do when you see hunger cues that's easy feed the baby babies show all of these hunger cues for about 15 minutes before they start to cry crying is actually a late queue it's what babies do when nothing else worked to get their needs met so don't wait till they start crying feed them as soon as they tell you they're hungry okay now we're going to play name that cue again tell me how is this baby feeling hint this baby just finished eating we have enough to eat someone [Music] these babies are showing full cues at the end of a nursing session they look satisfied sleepy groggy they may even look a little bit like they're drunk on milk going to sleep to know for sure whether your baby's getting enough to eat you should definitely monitor their diaper counts and their weight gain but if your baby looks satisfied like this at the end of the feed it's a pretty good bet that they got a good meal now name this cue what are these babies trying to tell you so this baby just ate but she's not looking relaxed and sleepy like those other babies how do you think she's feeling these babies are feeling gassy you can tell that they are uncomfortable they make creaking noises they make faces they squirm around or they pull their legs up toward their bellies when you see gas eqs you should help your baby to burp there are a few ways to do that you can place them over your shoulder and pat their back or sit them up and rub their back oh yeah good job i didn't like burpees when you're holding your baby in a sitting position you can support their head by cupping their chin in your hand then lean them back and sit them back up again you can try for a few minutes to help them burp if they don't burp after a few minutes of trying and they're still fussy maybe it's not gas after all don't feel like they have to burp just move on to soothing their fussiness all right ready for your next set of clues what's happening here i've got a hint it will soon be time for a diaper change how funny would it be if he pooped right [Laughter] now poop cues or the signs that a baby is preparing for a bowel movement include a thoughtful expression with pursed lips and furrowed brow and grunting or pushing noises if your baby looks like they're contemplating the mysteries of the universe they're probably pooping push the poopy out push it out you better oh i'm smelling something i think he's gone at least a little bit you better not be pooping kiddo i just changed your diaper oh this is cute when you see these signs you can hold your baby in the poop position hold them so they're sitting up and support their thighs almost like they're sitting on a toilet this baby in the picture is pooping into his diaper but you could save a diaper by instead holding a bare bottomed baby over a toilet or a sink [Music] after poop cues give your baby a few minutes to finish up pooping before you change their diaper okay time to move on name this cue what are these babies trying to tell you oh where's my little man where my little man oh yeah what's my so when we talked about engagement cues we said the body was relaxed and this baby certainly is relaxed but we also said there that the eyes were wide open and bright so this is definitely not engagement cues do you need another clue about what it is these are tired cues yawning is obvious but also when you see that dull glassy-eyed expression or a baby who's rubbing at their eyes or ears or turning their head from side to side like they're trying to get comfortable on a pillow those are all tired cues say something for oma and oppa say we're coming to germany [Music] when you see these tired cues start soothing your baby towards sleep try swaddling or snuggling them try rocking them rhythmically and talking quietly or singing them a lullaby what shouldn't you do when your baby is tired don't keep stimulating them by playing with them and wait to bathe or change them if you can wait till later these things can overload a tired baby and overstimulated babies may cry and cry let's look at our next set of clues [Music] when a baby is starting to get overloaded they show disengagement cues now remember that engagement cues were a relaxed body wide open eyes and reaching up to the parent disengagement cues are the opposite of that jerky movements glassy eyes turning away from the parent and pushing things away oh you love that don't you do you like it when i talk to you like that oh there's a baby to cry if we ignore the subtle disengagement cues and keep providing more stimulation the baby can get totally overstimulated you'll see a stiff body tight muscles and hear a grinding cryo [Laughter] instead of adding more stimulation try soothing the baby one good way is the happiest baby on the block method from harvey carp swaddle the baby hold them on their side or stomach bounce or jiggle them and add some white noise whatever calming technique you choose stick to it for about five minutes straight to give it a chance to work when your baby is already overloaded you don't want to swish in and out of lots of different ways of trying to soothe them you want to pick one and stick to it be boring repetitive and predictable that will help them to settle themselves back down [Music] [Music] as the baby starts to settle down and fuss less try soothing them towards sleep try quiet repetitive motion like rocking and shushing newborn sleep cycles are different from an older child or adult when a newborn baby first falls asleep they're in the active sleep stage also called rem or rapid eye movement in light sleep you may see them twitching jerky movements making faces fluttering their eyelids or sucking in their sleep so cute continue to rock and soothe the baby try not to disturb them in this stage or they might wake back up so if they're asleep in your arms it may work best to continue to hold them until they settle into deep sleep which usually takes 10 to 20 minutes a pro tip is that you could try laying the baby down in their crib when they're just drowsy and then patting them until they fall asleep there then you won't have to worry about trying to move them during light sleep or have to wait until they're in deep sleep let's check out a baby in deep sleep [Music] do you see how the baby's whole body is very relaxed and their breathing is quiet and rhythmic so he's almost one full day old he's just sleeping and sleeping after about 40 minutes of deep sleep baby will return to light active sleep try not to disturb them they may fall back into deep sleep it may help if you gently pat them or rock them at this time when your baby is in deep sleep it's a great opportunity to get some rest yourself or take a shower or grab a snack it's okay if you make some noise in deep sleep your baby will sleep through most things and now here's something not to do when your baby is in deep sleep or well i guess you could do it a few times just for fun [Music] gotta get dead [Music] in this video you've learned lots of typical cues that many newborns show that communicate their needs these are just hands to get you started as you get to know your own unique baby you will learn their unique cues and you'll know how best to respond now sometimes your baby will show several cues at once they'll show tired cues then hunger cues and then they poop [Applause] so yes sometimes they show mixed cues sometimes they show cues that just don't make sense like hunger cues right after they've eaten newborn communication is not an exact science and you won't always interpret your baby right and that's okay if you can't figure out what they need don't feel like you have to problem solve it sometimes you can just focus on soothing them but in general the better you are at interpreting their cues the more quickly you can respond and get their needs met this typically means babies will cry less it does not mean they'll never cry soothing crying babies is always a part of every parent's life but understanding newborn cues can help you to get parenting off to a great start hmm

Channel: janellevideo

Views: 1,191,701

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Id: RiV_uXOg6Bg

Length: 20min 47sec (1247 seconds)

Published: Wed May 12 2021