Books
There are two great books for taking care of newborns. The first book is:
The Happiest Baby program was developed by Dr. Harvey Karp. He studied traditional cultures and found how they soothed babies. The techniques are very simple but very effective. They are the 5 S's:
- Swaddling
- Side/stomach position
- Shushing
- Swinging
- Sucking
There is a Happiest Baby DVD if a person doesn't want to read the book. The techniques can calm babies, dramatically reduce crying, and give parents confidence.
The second book is:
It was developed by a sleep researcher who then had kids. She studied their sleep patterns and found that there were distinct cycles. Basically, whenever a newborn wakes up, a new clock starts. Newborns then are in a 90-minute awake cycle. After that, they are ready for sleep. As they get older, they start to string 2 or 3 90-minute sleep cycles together. An important note is that newborns do not necessarily sleep in 90-minute cycles. The cycle starts whenever they wake up.
The idea is to help your baby fall asleep at the end of these 90-minute cycles. The first time I tried this, my child fell asleep at the exact 90th minute. It was pretty amazing. Kids grow out of this sleep cycle as they approach 1 year old, but this is a great program for the first year.
Diet
As far as diet, obviously breastfeeding is natural and optimal at the beginning. Hunter-gatherer women breast fed for 3 years or so. That's difficult in modern society, but it is the historical norm.
One of the better formulas is Nestle Good Start. The milk proteins are broken down for digestion and decreased allergies. There is a version of Good Start that includes natural cultures, which are probiotics like those naturally found in breastmilk.
As far as complementary foods, hunter-gatherers appeared to introduce them around age 4 to 6 months. Of course, I am biased towards a Paleo Diet for newborns - meat, fruit, and vegetables. You may also consider some rice cereal for iron. Iron absorption from cereal is low, but hunter-gatherers got iron from foods like organ meats, which are less common complementary foods for newborns.
Crying
Babies cry for a reason. The idea that a parent should just let a baby "cry it out" is ridiculous and disturbs a baby's sense of security. Beyond the basic needs, techniques like those in the Happiest Baby can reduce crying.
An overlooked reason that babies cry is that they simply want to be held. Skin-to-skin contact is comforting for newborns.
Co-Sleeping
Co-sleeping between the mother and child was the norm for millions of years of evolution. Today, there are things like a cosleeper which allows a baby to sleep right next to the bed in a separate structure. More information about co-sleeping is available at the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory.
Potty Training
It is developmentally appropriate for a child to begin potty training in the first year of life. Before the introduction of disposable diapers, the average age for a child to be potty trained in the U.S. was 18 months. The idea that children aren't capable of being potty trained until 2, 3, or 4 is bogus and has no scientific basis. I wrote a long post about all this here.
Communication
Before babies have the ability to talk, they want to communicate. One of the best ways to facilitate this is through baby sign language. The idea is very simple. The parent makes hand signs for major activities - milk, food, potty, etc. Eventually, the child associates the hand sign with the activity. Then the child will learn to signal when they want that particular activity.
You feel silly at first doing these hand signs to a baby. Then one day they figure it out and start communicating with you. Amazing. Pick up any book on baby signs, or even look on the internet for a simple program.
Play
It is important that babies are allowed to self-direct much of their play. The idea is that evolution has built in natural motivation for the different learning domains. Children will naturally alternate playing in the different domains: physical play, story play, social play, etc. More information is available here.
Pregnancy
An optimal diet for an expecting mother is very important. Something that's not commonly known is that morning sickness is actually related to meat. The body is aversive to meat during the first trimester as a way to reduce toxins.
Beyond a basic prenatal vitamin, there are other important supplements for mothers-to-be. The top three are: fish oil (omega-3 fats), vitamin D, and probiotics. All three will help the child develop a healthy immune system. As far as a particular probiotic brand, I recommend GoodBelly.
