by admin | Apr 1, 2016 | news
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden death of a healthy baby younger than 1 year of age after being put to sleep and its cause is unknown. These deaths have decreased significantly since mothers and fathers are recommended to sleep children on their backs, on a firm surface, and offer exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Another recommendation currently provided by the American Pediatric Association based on several studies is the use of the pacifier in breastfed (older than one month) and non-breastfed (before one month) babies. The benefits underpinning this recommendation are as follows:
1. The pacifier prevents the baby from turning on its stomach while sleeping and thus prevents suffocation.
2. The baby still doesn't fully control his breathing so if his pacifier falls it's easier for him to wake up and remember to breathe.
3. The pacifier keeps the airway free and modifies the position of the tongue.
As I mentioned in a previous article, the pacifier is perfectly recommended for children under one year of age and for its safe use several recommendations must be taken into account:
Offer it during sleep periods and don't force the baby if he doesn't like it.
Do not put the pacifier into the mouth when the baby is asleep.
Don't put anything sweet on the pacifier.
To offer the pacifier to the breastfed babies until after the first month that is when the lactation is well established.
For formula-fed babies, the recommendation is important before one month because they have other characteristics that may increase the risk of SIDS.
In order to avoid the negative effects of the use of the pacifier it is recommended to limit its use until the year of life.
Be careful with the pacifiers you buy. Not all of them are safe for your baby, for example the one-piece ones are the safest but if necessary consult your pediatrician for advice on the right size (about 4cm) and the best brand for your baby.
The pacifier also has an analgesic effect and stimulates non-nutritive sucking.
In the end, how important it is for parents to know both the risks and benefits of pacifier use and to make an informed decision.
by admin | Mar 14, 2016 | news
I often get calls from mothers who are concerned that their children don't talk enough but aren't sure how much they should talk. I always try to reassure them that all children are different and have their own pace but I also explain that there are certain parameters that can guide them to make sure everything is going well:
1) At the age of one year the child should understand at least 50 words and in the expressive area say 1 to 3 words.
2) At 18 months you should understand at least 200 words and say 20 to 50 words.
3) At two years should comprise 500 words, express at least 50 and also start the productions of two words.
If your child is a healthy child, without any health condition that affects his or her language and you consider that he or she does not have these characteristics, there may be some factor that is interfering with his or her correct development and evaluation by a professional is recommended. In an upcoming article I will delve into some other developmental milestones that must also be present in every age range and are important to let us know if something is wrong. Remember that early intervention is more successful than late diagnosis.
by admin | Mar 10, 2016 | news
I have found in the consultation, especially in those home visits, that many times parents have difficulty finding appropriate toys that promote the development of language and speech in our children.
Early language proficiency correlates with later development of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Parents are primarily responsible for observing our children and knowing if they are progressing adequately in their ability to express feelings, understand social situations, solve problems and make good decisions, etc. so it is always good to know what to expect from our children in terms of language. From the baby's babbling, the toddler's first words, the preschooler's short phrases to the storytelling of older children.
These areas are stimulated and developed through play. That's our children's job and we must give them the tools they need to do it successfully. Speech therapists can help parents with the selection of toys in order to make better use of them, improve the quality of play and the reproduction of their children's experiences.
Parents often get carried away by advertising and buy our children many toys that entertain them but do not promote speech. That's why my recommendation is to provide your child with toys that promote talking and role play, such as people, animals, puppets, vehicles, houses, farms that help simulation games, promote social interaction, imitations of sounds, words and dialogues.
I leave you with a list of characteristics that according to the renowned American phonoaudiologist Sherry Artemenko, winner of the PAL (Play Advances Language) award, parents should look for in their children's toys if they want to stimulate the development of language and speech:
- Provides numerous opportunities to describe multi-sensory characteristics for the child.
- Offers faces and characters to encourage conversation.
- Provides flexibility, you can use the toy in a variety of ways.
- Encourages interaction, dialogue and storytelling.
- Contains related accessories to promote the simulation game.
- Encourages imagination and creativity.
- Teaches specific language concepts through play.
- Develops pragmatic social and language skills.
- Provides entertaining, easy-to-tell stories with eye-catching illustrations.
- Promotes pre-literacy, rhyming, new vocabulary, etc.
- Provides the opportunity to teach critical thinking skills such as comparison/contrast, inference and prediction.
- Invites dialogue on issues that promote character formation of the child.
Remember that it is not necessary to fill children with so many meaningless toys and that children want to share their experiences with you. You are the best stimulation for your little ones.
by admin | Mar 4, 2016 | news
In recent years we have been bombarded by various places dedicated to the early stimulation of our children through reading, writing and even numbers. Many of these approaches are positive for a child's development, yet the benefits of singing have sometimes been neglected. Parents should sing to their children every day. This interaction has been shown to avoid delays in language development. Singing lullabies to infants and toddlers is very much like talking. Each lullaby carries implicit melodies and inflections from the mother tongue, preparing the child's ear and brain for language. It has also been shown that singing activates both hemispheres of the brain. It has also been discovered that children's response to recorded music is very different from music that comes directly from their parents as singing with their parents becomes reciprocal communication precursor to oral communication.
So let's sing moms and dads!
by admin | Feb 27, 2016 | news
People often ask me: Is it really bad to use a pacifier?
With a newborn baby and as a speech therapist I had decided not to use a pacifier with my son. NEVER! Just as I had decided to breastfeed for two years, and just as one decides a thousand things ... but along the way you have to make changes, even if you do not want. I wanted to avoid doing so because of the effects it can have on speech development and also to avoid the typical comment: a child of a lollipop therapist! Yet a few days after her birth she was exhausted, with cesarean pains, nursing, not sleeping, and caring for another child. It was too much for me and guess what? The pacifier turned out to be my salvation... I just wanted to sleep and as a last resort I gave up: desperate I went to look for a pacifier. My son accepted it and made him (us) sleep like never before. This gave me a new perspective on all that information and advice we moms get and how sometimes not following them is only related to a survival issue.
For those of you who bear the guilt of offering your children a pacifier. There's no reason to feel bad. Pacifiers are perfectly suitable for children during the first year of life. However, try to limit its use after 6 months (I only offered it at bedtime) and try to eliminate it by 12 months. One option that was easy for me was to give him along with his pacifier, a toy he associated with bedtime. In my case it was a salamander called Charlie, a stuffed animal with lights and relaxing music. The first day we removed the pacifier was Charlie who accompanied my son and told him that the pacifier would never come back. He never asked about her again.
If you have any anecdote or advice regarding the dreaded pacifier please share it with us.
