Calm a crying, fussy baby

Hearing a baby cry and cry and cry is very difficult for me. I knew before I had children that there was no way I could just let my babies cry themselves to sleep in order not to "spoil" them! I've never agreed with that philosophy because I believe that babies always cry for a reason: hungry, lonely, in pain, scared and hundreds more good reasons.


Scientists tell us that babies cries are very intentionally hard to ignore because if a baby cries, it needs attention of one kind or another! How about a lullaby? As a mother and a professional musician, I believe that singing, humming, or playing a recording of a lullaby, especially if it is familiar, can calm, soother and comfort a baby. Of course combining that with rocking, holding or snuggling the baby will also help.


If you played these lullabies for your baby during pregnancy, baby doesn recognize this music and often calms down very quickly. To see my lullabies and either get the download immediately or order the CD, go to fussy_babies.

What does birth look like?

This is a wonderful 3-D animation of the birth of a baby. Although each birth is unique, the majority of them proceed just about like this! Let me know if you have questions.

Your unborn child at 14 weeks

How your baby's growing:
This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.


How your life's changing:
Welcome to your second trimester! Your energy is likely returning, your breasts may be feeling less tender, and your queasiness may have completely abated by now. If not, hang on — chances are good it will soon be behind you (although an unlucky few will still feel nauseated months from now).

The top of your uterus is a bit above your pubic bone, which may be enough to push your tummy out a tad. Starting to show can be quite a thrill, giving you and your partner visible evidence of the baby you've been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It's normal to worry a bit now and then, but try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby, and having faith that you're well equipped for what's ahead.

Decision Guide: Should you find out the sex of your baby?

Boy, girl — or big surprise? Sixty-four percent of mothers-to-be in a BabyCenter poll said they wanted to find out the sex of their baby ahead of time, while the rest preferred to wait. "We decided that the surprise of 'it's a boy!' or 'it's a girl!' is the same surprise at 5 months as it is at the birth," said Jessica. Michael disagreed: "I think the old-fashioned way is the best. Finding out before birth is like opening your Christmas presents before Christmas!" If you're still on the fence, here's a look at the pros and cons of each side. A word of caution: If you want to keep your baby's sex a secret, let your provider and the ultrasound technician know right away so they don't inadvertently blurt it out in the middle of an ultrasound exam or while reviewing your test results.

Benefits of finding out:
• Many women say they feel a deeper bond with the baby once they know the sex and can picture a little boy or girl.
• You can prepare an older sibling for the arrival of a new little brother or sister.
• You can narrow down your list of baby names.
• You can pick out a gender-specific nursery theme or baby clothes, if you want to.


Benefits of waiting:
• You, your partner, and your family will have a delightful surprise on the day you give birth.
• Your desire to know whether your baby is a boy or a girl might motivate you during the toughest parts of labor.
• You'll be following in the tradition of your parents, your parents' parents, and so on.
• There will be no mistakes — what you see is what you get!

Consider keeping the price tags on any baby clothes that are clearly for a boy or a girl until you see your baby for yourself. Ultrasounds aren't always foolproof at determining sex.

• How has pregnancy affected how often you have sex?

This Week's Activity:

Find a prenatal exercise class. If you haven't already, now is a good time to start a regular workout. Joining a class can help motivate you to stick with it. And many women find that prenatal exercise classes are a wonderful way to bond with and get support from other pregnant women. Some good options include water exercise, prenatal yoga or Pilates, a walking group, or a dance class designed for pregnant women.

(all info is from www.babycenter.com, a wonderful site!)

Preemies and Lullabies: Sing to your baby!

Are you pregnant or do you have a preemie? Both situations can be scary, especially if it's your first time. When a woman first finds out that she is pregnant, the last thing she is thinking about is whether or not the baby might come prematurely...not unless she has a history of pre-term pregnancies.

Understanding and being aware of the healing power of music with preemies can be very reassuring to the mother-to-be or to the new mother. Here are some important facts about music with preemies and newborns that you may not know.

1. The fetal ear is beginning to function at the beginning of the second trimester. In the beginning, baby hears mothers heartbeat, her blood circulating and other bodily functions such as digestive processes. By the beginning of the third trimester, baby can clearly hear conversations and lots of the same sound that mother is hearing.

2. Babies love their mothers' voices and are not at all critical. This is the voice they associate with nurture, safety, warmth and security.

3. When mother sings or hums to baby, the vibrations create a lovely and loving sonic massage for baby which strengthens the emotional bond between baby and mother.

4. Research studies have documented that babies who are sung to in the NICU and also in the newborn nursery gain weight faster, stabilize their vital signs faster, cry less and go home sooner.

5. Anecdotal research tells us that the songs that are sung to baby, often elicit a positive behavioral effect through the pre-school years, especially if they are reinforced regularly.

With information like this, I believe that mothers around the world will start singing to their child, born or unborn on a daily basis. I believe that the only thing that stops most mothers from singing to their babies is the belief that their voice isn't good enough. Mother must remember that her voice is the one that baby has been hearing for nine months or almost nine months and it is this voice that brings comfort to her baby!

What about CD's or tiny MP3 players? Those are second best. If mother is going to be away for an extended period (over 24 hours for a newborn), recording her voice singing the same half dozen songs that she sang before birth, would be a good idea.

There are hundreds of lullaby CD's on the market, including one you can purchase from me. In addition, you can sing any soothing, comforting song that comes to mind, including Christmas Carols, folksongs, pop tunes that are slow and happy sounding or best of all create your own! Songs and lullabies have been sung for thousands of years. What better heirloom could be passed from generation to generation?!

The musical, preemie pacifier

I thought I had heard it all when I was first told about the musical pacifier, but when I began to understand all the benefits, I changed my mind!

The smallest baby ever to survive was born just a few months ago, weighing in at just under 10 ounces -- the size of a large apple. When premature babies are born, they need special care. Now, experts say two new techniques are helping even the tiniest babies survive and thrive.

Aidan, Ella, and Zoe weighed less than a pound-and-a-half each when they were born, and they've been poked, prodded, and stuck with IVs and needles ever since. Now, these preemies are being massaged back to health.

"It's good for them," mother Susan Gaugh says. "It helps them trust people more."

Studies show massage helps digestion and helps these tiny babies gain weight. "It helps circulation, it helps with the immune system, it helps with sleep," says Maria Thillet, a registered nurse.

"They love it," Susan says. "They calm down. They're very relaxed when they get the massage."

This musical pacifier is doing more than calming these babies. The pacifier teaches premature infants the "suck-swallow-breathe" reflex. When they do it right, music plays. When they do it wrong, the music stops.

BUY DR. CASH'S LULLABY CD HERE

"They're quick to learn that once the music turns off then they need to start sucking again," says Amy Robertson, M.M., M.T./B.C., a music therapist at the Florida Hospital in Orlando.

Studies have shown babies who use musical pacifiers eat twice as much as those who do not use them. Experts say the faster a preemie learns to eat, the quicker their recovery time, and the sooner they get to go home -- and that's music to many babies' ears.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

Current Research on Music Therapy during Pregnancy

Effects of music therapy on psychological health of women during pregnancy.

Chang MY, Chen CH, Huang KF.
National Tainan Institute of Nursing, Taiwan.

I think that most women know intuitively that listening certain kinds of music during pregnancy really calms them down, soothes and comforts them. And of course, it's doubly powerful because when Mom calms down, baby calms down!

The following study just serves to further document what I've been saying for years now, "Music during pregnancy is a great way to calm yourself and your baby without ingesting potentially dangerous drugs and chemicals! Of course I highly recomment my own CD of "Lullabies for Mother - baby Bonding." If you listen to this on a regular basis while you're pregnant, the same tunes and melodies will calm and comfort baby after she's born whether it's played on CD or sung or hummed by mother. Baby loves HER mother's voice, no matter what, because that's the one she heard before birth! Click Here to BUY my LULLUBY CD.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy on stress, anxiety and depression in Taiwanese pregnant women.

BACKGROUND: The value of music therapy is slowly being realized by nurses in various clinical areas, including obstetrics. Previous studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of psychological stress during pregnancy. Few studies have examined the effects of music therapy on reducing psychological stress during pregnancy.

DESIGN: A randomized experimental study design was developed and implemented.

METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-six pregnant women were randomly assigned to music therapy (n = 116) and control (n = 120) groups. The music therapy group received two weeks of music intervention. The control group received only general prenatal care. Psychological health was assessed using three self-report measures: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), State Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S-STAI) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

RESULTS: In a paired t-test, the music therapy group showed significant decrease in PSS, S-STAI and EPDS after two weeks. The control group only showed a significant decrease in PSS after two weeks. This decrease was not as substantial as in the experimental group. An ancova test with the pretest scores as the control revealed that the changes in PSS, S-STAI and EPDS after two weeks were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: This controlled trial provides preliminary evidence that two-week music therapy during pregnancy provides quantifiable psychological benefits.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings can be used to encourage pregnant women to use this cost-effective method of music in their daily life to reduce their stress, anxiety and depression. Further research is needed to test the long-term benefits.

What can the unborn baby hear?

Of all the questions I get, this is probably one of the top five. We know for sure that by the beginning of the second trimester, the growing infant's ear is functional. In the beginning baby mainly hears the sounds of mother's heartbeat and digestive sounds. But with each passing day, baby begins to hear outside sounds of talking, music, loud traffic and most anything else.

For that reason, it is very important to keep Mom's sonic environment peaceful and quiet. Even unborn babies can be traumatized by lots of loud noises, screaming, shouting, loud rock music, etc. Be good to yourself and your baby during this precious time of life for both of you. If you feel like working, that's fine, but just keep any loud noises or extreme agitation to a minimum!

As always, please let me know your questions!