The pacifier is one of the greatest misunderstanding of our time. Should baby use one? What shape should it be? When to use one? When to stop using one? I have heard parents say "We don't belive in pacifiers". When asked why, the response includes the general idea that they want their infant to be able to soothe themselves and not rely on a crutch to help them cope. I understand the intent, but newborn use is typically acceptable based on baby brain development and innate reg

Many parents of newborns worry that their little ones will scratch their faces. Out of concern and to spare them pain, they often cover their hands with mitts and socks. However, this might actually do more harm than good.. An infant needs to be able to touch hand to hand and hand to face. This allows the infant to smell their own scent, connect body to body, and feel their hands on their face. These actions provide a sense of self and help create a body map. Plus, it's great

The second hand reflex which directly impact oral function and feeding readiness is the Grasping Reflex. Grasping is the reflex that allows newborns and very young infants to hold your finger and bring you to tears as they hug your with their tiny little hand. When the grasp reflex is stimulated for feeding you will observe the infant to purse out the lips and lick the tongue forward. This helps with latching and sealing the nipple. It also is alerting the brain through a si

At some point, people started attempting to move the newborn's hands out of the way during feeding, viewing them as distractions and hurdles to successful latching and feeding. As a result, the arms are swaddled or pinned to the chest, as if these limbs are nuisances meant to complicate the feeder's task. In reality, the hands have very basic reflexes that are directly linked to the oral motor skills necessary for early feeding. As these are reflexes, they must react in a pre

If your infant is having any kind of feeding difficulty, the first line of free-advice-giving typically lands on "Do they have a tongue tie?!" followed by the advice-giver poking around in the baby's mouth and then saying something like, "Ah! See it! Right there! In the front!" and then the baby makes a big gag and their jaw opens wide and the tongue comes all the way out as they gag, and the person says, "Well, they can stick their tongue out of their mouth so it is probably

Okay, that was just fun to write! I want to write a little introduction into my overall philosophy of infant development or "Rae-ology" based on what I have seen over time, both personally and professionally. It sounds simple but the truth is, we (grown-ups) tend to judge our infant's abilities from a, well, judge-y place. Issues of breast and bottle feeding: hard to latch, gassy, colic-y, leaky tend to get labeled "fussy", "messy", "lazy". But the simple truth is, a baby ca