As a parent, it can sometimes be difficult to determine when nausea in your children should be checked by a doctor.  Most children will become nauseous at some time or another.  In fact, children under the age of five are likely to have a cold or a virus around seven times each year.  Often these illnesses will also be accompanied by nausea.  In addition, children are often prone to other causes of nausea, such as motion sickness.  So, how does a parent determine when nausea in children should be checked by a doctor?

To start with, it is important to consider your child’s age.  The requirements for infants and younger children, for example, are different than they are for older children.  If you have a very young baby, under the age of three months, you should contact a doctor if she is vomiting (beyond the normal spitting-up that babies are famous for).  If nausea in your baby also has a fever of 100.4 or higher, and has a cough or diarrhea, you should contact your doctor immediately.

For older children, the requirements are different.  If your child is six years old or younger and his nausea lasts more than a few hours he should be checked by a doctor.  If he also has signs of dehydration, such as diarrhea, you should contact a doctor.  If he has a fever over 101 degrees, he should be check by a doctor.

If your child is older than six years old, there are also times you should have her checked by a doctor for his nausea.  If she has vomiting and diarrhea for more than 1 day, you should have her checked by a doctor.  Also, if her fever is over 102 degrees, you should have her checked by a doctor.  As with infants and younger children, if there are signs of dehydration you should have her checked by a doctor.

If any of the following occur, you should take your nauseous child of any age to a doctor in the emergency room:  blood in the vomit, a severe headache, lethargy, confusion or decreased attentiveness, severe pain in the abdomen, or rapid breathing or pulse.  These symptoms can indicate a more serious problem, and require immediate attention.

There are many different factors that will go into determining how your baby sleeps, and her blanket is one of those factors. Picking the right blankets for your baby is key not only to how well she’s going to sleep at night, but in many ways may impact her safety, as well. Choosing the right blanket for your baby is especially difficult because there are so many different options out there on the market.

Here are some important things to keep in mind when choosing blankets for your baby:

• Different blankets have different purposes. Some blankets are meant to keep your baby warm at night. Other blankets are meant to keep out the elements when your baby is outside. Some are designed to offer you a discreet way to feed your baby when you’re in public. Blankets serve a variety of purposes, and choosing the right blanket for the right purpose is important.
• Material matters. When you’re buying baby’s blanket, you need to pay attention to the material it’s made of. You want a breathable cotton blanket. This lets more air circulate through the fibers of the blanket, which keeps your baby from overheating. Don’t buy blankets that have fringes or ones that aren’t tightly woven. These kinds of blankets could unravel, and baby’s fingers can get caught in them. You need a durable blanket that can withstand all of the use and washing that you’re going to give it.
• Consider swaddling blankets or sleep sacks for nighttime and naptime use. Having a loose blanket in your baby’s crib can increase the risk of SIDS. Using a swaddling blanket can be useful, especially if your baby tends to be a bit fussy at bedtime. A swaddling blanket helps your baby to feel comfortable and cozy. Likewise, a sleep sack can give your baby the comfort and warmth of a blanket without having to worry about the blanket covering his airway and creating a problem of re-breathing.

Ultimately, your choice of blanket for your baby is about much more than what will match the curtains in her room. Her comfort and safety need to be first and foremost in your mind when making that blanket choice.

Every new parent discovers that it can be a real challenge to get baby to sleep at times. Babies end up sleeping up to eighteen hours per day, but sometimes falling asleep is a tough process for baby and parents alike. Part of this is because the entire world is new and different for newborns.

Many parents try to keep things very quiet so that the baby can fall asleep, but studies show that this might not be the best thing to do. After all, when baby was in the womb, she was surrounded by constant sound. In addition to your talking and the activity going on around you (much of which baby was able to hear), your baby was exposed to the constant sounds of your breathing, your heartbeat, and other bodily noises. Of course, all of these noises are muffled somewhat by the amniotic fluid.

By the time your baby is born, she has become very accustomed to being nice and warm and surrounded by muffled noise. So, when things are too quiet, it can be somewhat disconcerting to your baby.

Many parents find that introducing white noise can help a fussy baby fall asleep. Researchers believe this is because most forms of white noise replicate (more or less) the sounds baby heard while she was in your womb.

There are several ways you can use white noise to help your baby sleep. Perhaps the easiest way is to purchase a CD or mp3 file specially made to replicate the sounds inside mom’s womb.

In a pinch, you can simply run a vacuum cleaner in the area where baby is trying to sleep, or lay baby down near the washer or dryer. Some parents even put baby in a car seat and place her on top of the clothes dryer while it is running, In addition to creating plenty of white noise, the vibrations help soothe babies. Of course, you should stay with your baby if you do so. Never leave baby unattended on top of the dryer.

Another good way to introduce white noise into your baby’s sleeping area is by running a fan in baby’s room. This has the added benefit of adding some circulation to baby’s room, which reduces the risk of SIDS.

Whichever method you choose, using white noise can help your baby fall asleep faster and stay asleep a while longer. Using white noise also has the benefit of allowing you to hold a conversation without disturbing baby’s sleep.

A new study by Pediatrics journal suggests that many babies are sleeping for five hours at a time from about two months of age. The study also suggests that half of all five month old babies are actually sleeping through the night. And by sleeping through the night, we mean for eight hours at a time. The study doesn’t delve into the reasons for this, or how parents are getting their children to sleep for these longer periods of time.

We don’t want to contradict the good doctors who developed the study. We are a bit concerned, though, about how parents may be getting their children to sleep for so long so early.

Conventional wisdom tells us that babies need to eat every two to four hours when they are first born, and that this feeding pattern should continue until baby is about three or four months old. Until then, their stomachs aren’t large enough to hold enough food to keep them from becoming hungry every couple of hours.

Babies who are fed infant formula can usually sleep a little longer than breast fed babies. Breastfed babies tend to wake up hungry every two to three hours, while many formula fed babies can sleep four hours at a time before needing to be fed again.

This causes us to question how and why two month old babies are sleeping for five hour periods. One thought is that parents might be using the Ferber method (cry it out) with their babies at a younger age than they should. Parents who allow babies to cry it out to get to sleep should keep in mind that babies really aren’t ready for that kind of sleep training until they’re at least four months old.

While it can be a tough sell on moms and dads who haven’t been able to sleep more than a couple hours at a stretch for the past two or three months because of a needy baby, we would suggest that it’s not a particularly good idea to let your baby sleep for so long until he is closer to four months old. Until then, he really does need to be feeding at least once every four hours.

Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person stops breathing while they are sleeping. The amount of time spent not breathing varies, but is sometimes long enough to be harmful, especially when the sleeper is an infant.

In most cases, your pediatrician will know if your baby has sleep apnea before she is sent home from the hospital. If, however, you ever notice that your baby stops breathing while she is sleeping, even for brief periods, you should contact your baby’s pediatrician right away to have her tested for infant sleep apnea.

If you notice that your baby is not breathing, you can often help her to start breathing again by simply rubbing her back gently. If rubbing her back doesn’t work, nudge her. If your baby still does not start breathing, you should start infant CPR and call 911. Going without oxygen for even short periods of time can be very harmful to your baby.

All parents should learn infant CPR. It is especially important if your baby has been diagnosed with infant sleep apnea.

If a baby is suspected of having infant sleep apnea, you will be given a breathing monitor to use while your baby is sleeping. Without going into great detail, you attach electrodes to your baby’s chest, and the monitor sounds an alarm if your baby’s breathing becomes too shallow or stops entirely.

In most cases, medical technicians will be sent directly to your home with the monitor, and they will show you how to set it up and properly operate it. In addition to serving as an alarm to alert you if baby stops breathing, the monitor will keep track of baby’s sleeping patterns, providing your pediatrician with valuable information regarding your baby’s sleeping and breathing patterns.

Premature babies are more likely to have problems with infant sleep apnea than babies who were born at full term. However, any baby can develop sleep apnea. While it is not overly common, it is something to look for when your baby is sleeping. If you do notice that your baby has periods when she stops breathing, especially if the pauses last 20 seconds or longer, you should consult your health care professional right away.