The childcare worker Laura Crochik advises and explains the most basic needs of motherhood.
«There is no excess of upa. Making a baby upa never hurts ». Thus the childcare worker, specialist in lactation and upbringing, Laura Krochik, demolishes the idea that giving a lot of affection to a baby is almost synonymous with spoiling it. As if accustoming someone to good care were synonymous with accustoming them to something bad, to something that they will not always be able to obtain.
What does it mean to spoil?
I think the concept of spoiling has to do with how it is commonly used: with this idea of taking care not to raise "capricious", "dependent", "insecure" children. We should go to the origin of all these "behaviors" to find a much more complete answer. It must be taken into account that the human being is the most immature and defenseless of mammals, that the state of vulnerability that we experience at birth we will never experience again in life.
What, then, would be "good to raise"?
It is a term that I use only to demonstrate the opposite of "bad breeding." It is basically about responding to the crying and needs of our children.
What is the role of the adult?
As adults we have the possibility to show our young that we are there when they need us, that we satisfy their basic needs, that we are capable of interpreting them, decoding them and taking care of them as mature adults of the species. In this way, babies gain security. The emotional structure is constituted during the first three years of life and is what will sustain it as an adult.
What to do when they cry at night? Should we pick them up or let them get tired of crying as they advised 30 years ago?
Crying must be attended to and respected, understanding it as the expression of an unmet need. Children are born after being held for nine months, tight, warm, in motion and with permanent nourishment. The passage to the cold, hard, quiet and breastless cradle should be progressive, and the way to accompany them in their changes is not to let them cry. There is no excess of love, attention and care that can be detrimental to the life of a newborn.
Why are there babies who don't sleep at night?
Sleep and sleep have to do with maturity. The immaturity of their body prevents them from doing certain things such as sleeping for long hours without eating, staying alone away from a body, and controlling breathing properly. If we are able to hold it in the body for nine months, why not hold it once it is out until it can move under its own power. Little by little they become mature enough not to eat at night, to be separated from a body and to feel safe.
What about the sleeping position? Many parents have built-in placing babies to sleep on their tummies.
It is a cultural issue. But up to the first year of life, babies are advised to sleep on their back or side. There is plenty of scientific studies showing that breastfeeding and placing them to sleep on their backs prevent sudden infant death. One of the myths is that babies, if they vomit, and are turned upside down, they can breathe in the vomit. But the truth is that babies, if they vomit, have a reflex that makes them turn their head to one side. Without a doubt, the cultural question is very strong. The indication is to put them face up until the year or until they can begin to turn on their own in the crib.
At what point can they start with the porridge?
Today there are plenty of scientific and empirical works worldwide that demonstrate the benefits of breastfeeding over any other diet during the first six months of life exclusively. Babies should not receive any other type of food, juice or water for the first six months. Then semisolids are incorporated until reaching four full meals around the year. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF support the benefits of breastfeeding up to two years.
For this reason, today many moms run all day to be able to arrive with their boobs ...
The labor laws of the globalized world do not advance at the same level as science. Anyway, there are wonderful breast pumps that can be very useful until a "lactation" works in all workplaces in which workers can express milk for their children. Breast milk expressed properly, frozen, and then thawed can be an extremely favorable option for a woman who must return to work early.
What are the real needs of a baby?
The real needs are those that babies present. They are unaware of fashions, social pressures, or with the intention of "dominating" those who raise them. Those attitudes that mothers adopt with their children that provoke the pleasure, well-being and satisfaction of the latter, will be appropriate and real for those babies.
What is the role of the childcare provider?
It is essential in that wonderful great moment. The breadwinner of the women and the families that the childbearing women carry out is the link that unites the chain of upbringing with their children. Today women are very alone when it comes to breastfeeding and raising their children. Society has evolved and globalization has contributed to leaving women increasingly alone to breastfeed and raise their children. Life in community with other women no longer exists and this is where the role of the childcare worker takes on a vital role. There is a lot of talk about preparing for labor and delivery and the importance of this is no longer discussed. However, there is no preparation for motherhood and fatherhood. How much anguish would dissipate if women reached the puerperium knowing what it is about!
Source: Clarín