What We Learned From Natural Baby Care Class

A few weeks ago we had our Natural Baby Care Class with our Doula Sarah.

In this class we discussed a variety of topics which included:

• Attachment Theory/Parenting*: We discussed this theory of parenting based on Attachment Parenting International‘s (API) Eight Principles of Parenting which include:
  1. Prepare for Pregnancy, Birth & Parenting
  2. Feed with Love and Respect
  3. Respond with Sensitivity
  4. Using Nurturing Touch
  5. Ensure Safe Sleep, Physically and Emotionally
  6. Providing Consistent & Loving Care
  7. Practice Positive Discipline
  8. Strive for Balance in Your Personal and Family Life
• Breastfeeding Basics*
• Newborn Characteristics
  • As an introduction to the class we discussed what to expect when we first see our newborn baby including the birth weight, length, what their head will look like- including hair, babies skin, colorings and birth marks, baby’s eyes, baby’s mouth, etc.
  • We learned about a newborn’s sensory skills which includes vision, hearing, senses of smell and taste, and sense of touch.
  • Also include in this section we discussed a newborn’s reflexes and motor skills including: the Rooting and Sucking Reflexes, the Palmer (grasp) and Plantar Toe Reflex, the Babinski Reflex, the Startle (Moro) Reflex, the Fencing (Tonic Neck) Reflex, the Walking Reflex, the Crawling Reflex, Eye Reflexes, and Reflexes that are Permanent.
  • Lastly, we learned about infant states of alertness including quiet alert state, active alert state, crying state, drowsy state and sleeping state.
• Newborn Hygiene
• Newborn Sleep*
  • Safe Sleeping Choices
  • Normal Sleep Behavior
• Cloth Diapering*
  • From Flats To All-In-Ones
  • Laundering/Travel
  • Nighttime/ Heavy Wetters
• Babywearing*
  • Wraps, Slings, Font/Back Carriers/Pouches
  • Babywearing Safety
• Car Seat Safety*
  • How to select a car seat based on child’s age and size
  • The importance of keeping your child in a rear facing seat up to/past three years and then in a forward-facing car seat until at least 7 years of age.
  • Getting your car seat checked at a police or fire station.
• Other:
  • We learned about the 8 reasons your baby is crying: too hot, fighting, stress, gas, hurting, lonely, hungry and boredom.

We had initially planned to write one big post about what we learned but honestly this post would be a mile long even as a condensed version of our four hour class. So, instead of putting this all in one post we decided to go ahead and cover the bigger topics in individual posts*. These post will include: Attachment Theory, Breastfeeding Basics (this will be covered more in our breastfeeding class post), Newborn Sleep, Cloth Diapering and Babywearing.

We took our natural baby care class  from Doula Sarah Campbell of Mother Rising Childbirth Services.