The Easy Baby Podcast with Dr Mike: Recent Episodes
Dr Mike Marinus
The Easy Baby Podcast with Dr Mike is an informative Podcast which provides parents and carers with practical, cutting edge information as well as step by step tips and techniques for navigating the first few months of baby's life. Specialist interviews are featured with leaders in the fields of Paediatrics, Lactation Consulting, Nursing and Complimentary Health Care.
Tummy time is so important for little ones. Robyn chats about why Tummy Time is important, how to do it and how to get the most benefit out of it.
We discuss children's nutritional needs with Nutritional Therapist Dana Chapman.
This is a great dive into nutrition from newborns right through to weaning and beyond.
How does it work?
How do you do it?
What be be careful of?
Dr Mike and Sr Sam explain the ins and outs of baby led weaning
Sr Samantha Crompton talks to us about the facts surrounding breastfeeding during Covid-19
Is Covid found in breastmilk?
Should you continue to breastfeed?
What if you are too sick to continue?
Dr Enrico Maraschin (Paediatrician) talks us through Corona Virus.
What is Corona Virus
How is it transmitted
what are the symptoms
how can you protect yourself
Dietician Philippa Harris talks to Dr Mike about the ins and outs of how growth charts work
Should we still be swaddling babies?
What does the evidence suggest?
What about Hip dysplasia and SIDS?
Sr Megan Whiley speaks to us about the evidence around swaddling
https://youtu.be/Efm3_3rTobM
Lactation Consultant, Sr Samantha Crompton explains the possible pitfalls of Breastmilk Oversupply in new mothers. She explains how to know the signs, the reasons for it and how to manage it
Paediatrician Dr Natasha talks us through RSV in children. What is RSV, who is at risk, how to prevent it and what to expect if your little one is dealing with RSV.
Sr Samantha Crompton of the Easy Baby Academy sits down with Prof. Welma Lubbe to understand more about the ins and outs of babies who need some time in the NICU. They look at, amongst others, reasons for prematurity, role of fathers and the rights of a NICU parent
Dietician with special interest in paediatrics talks us through
What is good weight gain?
What do i do if my baby is not putting on weight?
When do I start solids?
What do I start with?
Dr Mike speaks with Dr Amy Watson about Post Partum Pain.
Dr Amy Watson:
My nationality is human.
My religion is kindness.
The forest, the mountains and ocean are my churches. Especially the ocean. It is where I feel most a piece. I hate that we throw plastic into it.
I am an environmentalist, intersections feminist, an advocate of LGTBQ rights, and am learning how to unpack my inherent racism and become a true ally to black and brown people-- though I know that I still have a lot to learn. My biggest goal for the coming year is to step up my activism efforts and do everything in my power yo be the change I wish to see in the world.
I had all three kids at home in the water, with my Mom and Dad and dog and best friends on attendance.
I believe in the power of women to birth without fear. That pregnancy is not an illness. That being a parent is the hardest, and most rewarding job in the world. But I also respect those who chose to not become parents. I am an unschoolercat heart, but could never in a million years be a stay at home mom. I have held and kissed and cuddled and treated at least 10K babies and fall in love with every single one of them. I never tire of holding one for the first time. Being able to take their first photograph and being entrusted with their chiropractic care is the greatest joy, honor, and privilege of my life, short of being a mother.
I believe in being fully transparent, authentic in all the ways, wearing my heart in my sleeve, that there is no such thing as "oversharing" on social media, I love being friends with all of my patients on FB , and colleagues around the world, and am beyond blessed to hang out with dear friends every day.
I know that we have one "wild and precious life", and it is not to be wasted on being anything less than our true selves. That peace on earth begins with how we parent our children. That life is hearbreakingly beautiful. And at the end of the day, that love is all there is.
Dr Alison Bentley chats to Mike about the biology, importance and how to understand infant sleep.
Dr Greg Venning chats to us about baby wearing. Is it something you should consider for your baby? How does one choose a carrier? What are the do's and don'ts and what are the benefits of baby wearing.
This is the first in a series of Provider Podcasts which will feature on this podcast
Dr Mike got the opportunity to sit down with international lecturer Dr Steve Williams and talk about Plagiocephaly.
They discuss the basics, diagnostics and possible treatment options and outcomes of Plagiocephaly. They are joined by Dr Marty Cook who has looked at statistics in this condition as part of his Masters in Infant Musculo-Skeletal health.
Dr Mike speaks with Joanne Bradley, an advanced BabyGym Instructor, about Milestones in babies
Dr Mike and Una speak about infant stimulation. What causes overstimulation, is there such a thing as under-stimulation and what is the right way to stimulate your baby.
How do Tongue and Lip Ties affect babies? Can we help? What can we do? Lactation Consultant Sr. Samantha Crompton is in studio to talk us through the in and outs of dealing with babies with Tongue and Lip Ties
Dr Mike discusses fever in infants. What do fevers do? Should you break a fever? When should you break a fever? What is a Febrile Seizure? What meds can I use? How do I take a Temperature?
Dr Mike presents his public talk on burping techniques for babies given at the Peek-A-Boo expo at Sandton Convention Centre.
Dr. Mike speaks with Sleep Expert Una Van Staden from Pikanini Baby about some of the pitfalls and traps to avoid when it comes to getting your baby to sleep.
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Watch Awake Times
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Sleep Comfort/Taglet
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Bath and Bedtime Routines
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Feeding to Sleep
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Stay Calm
This episode sees Dr Mike chatting to 'The Baby Lady' Samantha Crompton (BNurs) about the biggest myths surrounding Breastfeeding.
"The first milk is not enough for my baby"
Is it normal for Breastfeeding to hurt?"
"I don't have enough/my milk isn't strong enough"
"Pumping is a good way to see how much milk I have"
and more...
In the is Episode Dr Mike Discusses the causes behind explosive, frothy Poo's, tummy cramps and stinky gas.
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Lactose Intolerance
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Lactose Overload
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Cows Milk Protein Sensitivity
What tests can be done, when too see your Doctor and what you can do to manage these condition
Reflux
We answer:
Whats the difference between Colic and Reflux?
What is Silent Reflux
What are GER/GOR/GERD/GORD?
What can I do at home?
When do I see my Doc?
What Tests can we run?
In This Episode we talk about the lpossible ong term effects on the family of having Colic babies, what we can do for them and give a new definition of Colic.
We give practical tips on how to approach a paediatrician visit as well as the signs of maternal depression.
Lastly we talk about what can be done at home, why Manual Therapy works and the new research on Probiotics
www.happiestbaby.com (Harvey Karp)
Colic affects families all over the world yet the facts about what seperates excessive crying and Colic are not well understood. We take an indepth look at what defines a Colic baby, what are the symptoms and signs of colic and what is NOT Colic
We look at how to effectively approach your crying baby, what to look for and how to interpret his cries. We uncover the secret language all babies use when communicating their needs to us and how you can become perfectly in sync with your babies clues and cues.
Check out our latest article at www.jozikids.co.za
Dunstan Baby Language www.dunstanbaby.com
The Sensory Baby www.megfaure.com
Purple Crying info purplecrying.info
In this first episode of The Easy Baby Podcast with Dr Mike, we investigate the reasons behind why babies cry. From the evolutionary history to the reasons why it has been shown to be the most effective form of communication avalible to babies.
www.marinuschiropractic.co.za
Why do Babies Cry?
Hello and welcome to this the first ever episode of The Easy Baby Podcast Series. I am Dr Mike Marinus, I am a chiropractor with special interest in family and paediatric practice and a background in broadcast radio. I am currently in practice in Johannesburg and you are welcome to find out more information on that at www.marinuschiropractic.co.za. So I’m excited to be bringing my 2 passions of paediatrics and radio broadcast together to talk about your new passion and the road ahead for your family. and along the way we will be giving you the tools and information from myself and other experts in the field of child care to make those first precious months you get to share with your baby the best they can be. Please keep in mind The Easy Baby Podcast is for reference only and should not take the place of your health care professional and his or her expertise in diagnosis and treatment when it comes to the health of your baby. The first topic we are going to cover is so big it literally needs 2 shows to cover it. So let’s dive right in, and It only feels right to start with the one question that is on every new parents mind and that is…
Doc, why does my baby crying? Now as long as their have been parents there have been babies and as long as there have been babies, there has been crying. Navigating the first few weeks of babies crying can be daunting but we are about to cover some great information, that with understanding and practice we can use to make decoding your baby’s cries easier and give you the skills to know what your baby is asking for. The more you repeat this call and response cycle, the more you grow your parenting skills and avoid the dreaded disease of miscommunication that plagues so many new families.
So lets start right at the beginning. What is crying? Is it just a loud rush of air out of the lungs past the vocal chords that sends a shiver down your spine in the middle of the night? Is it a social behaviour that has its roots in millions of years of evolution and has become so fine tuned as to create such powerful emotions in us adults that when we hear it that we can think of nothing else but being immediately at that baby's side to soothe its discomfort? Is it perhaps even the beginnings of speech and the first step your baby takes in communicating with you. It is all these things and more.
During the first weeks of your baby's life, the majority of your parent - child relationship is going to be negotiated primarily around crying. He is going to constantly signal his needs to you and this presents a wonderfully positive opportunity for both of you to bond with each other. When his cry tells you that he needs you and you take in the character of his cry, the context in which he is crying and the cues he is giving you, you can understand what he is asking for and you can act on this. By meeting his needs you complete the circle and the crying stops, your baby relaxes and you both have a hormonal rush that makes you feel amazing and connected. This cycle is how you and your baby learn to interact with each other and how he learns to interact with the outside world. It is vitally important for you both to go through this cycle again and again to develop a solid ongoing relationship with each other.
The act of crying itself is a much more complex action for your baby to master than it first appears. It involves the interaction of many neurophysiological processes and makes use of various different anatomical structures like for instance its starts in the limbic system of the brain that which deals directly with emotions and processes crying ,which then communicates with the heart, the lungs the vocal tracts and chords to work together to produce that unique sound of crying, and because of this…A newborn babies cries have been shown in the research to be the most comprehensive way to tell whats going on inside that little body. It is the information super highway that lets you know what is going on either inside or outside your baby that has become too much or too little and needs to be changed before he can relax again.
That’s not to say that all cries are the same…in fact its been shown that babies possibly even cry with different accents? Studies show that babies pick up their native accent way before they start to actually talk. This means that not only is there evidence that they have they been able to pick up the flow of moms and dads voice before birth but they can then actually reproduce that sound faithfully from around 3 days old. And if you think about it Its another one of natures little tricks to endear these little babies to us. What could grab your attention more than your baby communicating with you with the flow and drawl of your own accent!
So lets get to the WHY…why do our babies use crying of all things to get our attention?…the answer is….it has proved to be the simplest, easiest and most effective form of communication available to human babies. Picture your little one before he was born, he had everything he could possibly need on tap, he was warm, comfortable and well- fed 24-7. And there are even those who think that being removed from this environment at 9 months is way too soon. Some pediatricans talk about the first 3 months of babies life being the '4th trimester' and state that human babies should only really be born around 12 months of gestation but because of certain evolutionary changes in modern day babies and mothers it is no longer possible to do this. These ideas are backed up by the huge deveopmental shift babies make at around 3 months. So, now we have babies that are undercooked, needy but lacking the social skills necessary to communicate effectively. And to top this off they get an eviction notice and are now separated from you. They need your attention and they need it now! But why crying?
The ultimate reason, that babies cry is that they simply don’t have a choice, A newborns vocal tract has been designed specifically, and quite cleverly over millions of years, to be able to allow babies to drink milk without gagging or choking,This happens because initially the larynx (which is responsible organ for speech) sits high in the nasal cavity kind of like a snorkel that allows them to drink and breathe at the same time, which is of course really important to a baby that is just learning to take liquid into its stomach and trying at all costs to avoid the lungs. This is an evolutionary trait that dates back to early air breathing fish who used the larynx to protect in feeding and swallowing. At about 3 months of age the larynx drops lower in throat which makes choking more of a concern but by this time babies are pretty good little drinkers and it allows for the next level of speech, all the coos and babbles weve been waiting for, which means that even if they had the capacity to communicate in other ways than crying before 3 months…they physically wouldn’t be able to.
Now you get 2 kinds of mammals, those who keep their babies in a nest while they go out and hunt and those that carry their babys around with them. We are supposed to fall into the second group although in western culture we fall more and more into the first group, we are not designed for that, and we wonder why our babies cry! Moms whose babies are seperated for long periods produce breast milk which are high in fats and proteins and their babyies are really good at keeping themselves warm whilst Carrying mammals, like us, have milk with low fat and protein and our babies need us to keep them warm. babies of carrying mammals need to call out when they are seperated from their mothers because they need them around to survive.
The obvious difference between us and other animals is that other baby mammals are mobile from birth, human babies are stranded in a body that has a lot of potential but not much actual mobility. So instead of moving to mom they move mom to them by means of what has been referred to the audio umbilical cord…their voice
This umbilical cord is so effective it can cause moms milk let down reflex to happen just by her hearing it. Think about that, your babys cry is so effective it can actually have a chemical and physiological effect of you from across the room. That’s huge. For all its complexity Crying is still only as effective as the person who receives the message. Don’t stress yourself out because you don’t immediately understand every cry your baby utters. It takes time to tune in you’re your babys specific set of cries. Its like learning a new language and you only become fluent by spending the time and investing the energy into it.
And human babies language is a robust and healthy cry. This is positive, life affirming behaviour. A loud, strong cry shows that your baby is healthy, has energy to burn and is thriving. Crying is so important that some of the first points your baby ever scores, in the apgar test at birth, which checks how well your newborn is doing are for crying and the louder and more robust the cry is, the more points they get. In fact, if the cry at birth is feeble or they are not crying, hospital staff become concerned about what is stopping the air flow through the respiratory pathways as it can signal a serious problem.
So not only does crying show us that baby is healthy and send mom and dad running. but It also has other benefits for your baby! It’s a great method babys use to increases their lung capacity (not that many of them need that!),it gets the pulse rate going, it kick starts babys metabolism and because of the amount of muscle activity crying causes it directly generates heat. How clever, crying physically generates heat and calls mom or dad over for some lovely warm physical contact! Two birds with one evolutionary stone! There is even research that points to baby crying having evolved into what it is today from initially purely being a function of babys trying to generate heat because their moms were not there to keep them warm and over the years mothers heard these cries and evolved an understanding that they were needed and so began the cycle of crying and responding that we have today.
But as with many things in life too much of a good thing can have a down side. Too much crying can leave your baby depleted of energy and potentially with too little oxygen so its important for us to get in there, discover their need and sort these little ones out!.
So what, its a bunch of accurate information, thats great, but what makes crying so effective? When you become a parent you undergo hormonal changes( predominantly an increase in a hormone called prolactin which known as the mothering hormone) and im not just talking about then moms here. There is solid research that shows even the dads chemistry changes to make us more sensitive to our babys cries and invested in our their wellbeing. Crying is so effective it even affects moms and dads differently. Studies have shown moms to be more sensivitve to hunger cries which makes sense as they are naturally equipped to provide for hungry babies and dads find pain cries more demanding of their attention because our job to to keep safe and protect our family . Because crying is so effective you may be taken aback by the strength of your reaction to your childs cries. You may be overcome with how much emotion you feel when that sound hits the pit of your stomach. The most normal rational people can have the darkest thoughts when they are sleep deprived and so overstimulated themselves from constant crying. This is normal, this is natural, it is natures way of getting you to invest in the health of your child.
plenty of studies that show a marked increase in stress hormone in new moms when they hear a baby’s cry, an even higher spike when it is their own child calling. So it is plain to see that too much crying can unfortunately have a negative effect on the parent- child relationship. If you start percieve your childs cry as a negative experience and you find you cant react positively to him or you start to pull away from him, its not a sign of negative or bad parenting…it just means you’ve come to the point where you need a little help along the way. Not everyone can deal with hours and hours of crying, some peoples support structures are not as big as others and sometimes you just need to get out of the situation to get some perspective again. DO IT, get yourself to a baby clinic, gp, paed, chiroparctor whoever to help you through this challenging time.
To understand its effects we go right back to basics. In this world you’ve got to make yourself heard. In most species of birds and mammals the loudest of the litter or the nest gets the best food. Studies have shown that Animals provide more to their loudest offspring because those are the ones showing that they are the healthiest and most deserving of the limited resources of the parents. Some species of Animal babies have been shown to exaggerate their needs to make sure they get the most food on offer. Put that information against an English study that included over 12 000 children and showed that clolicky babies tended to grow quicker than non clolicky babies, be bigger overall and more likely to be breastfed. One way of looking at the results could be that these kids get more attention and more resources than the quiet ones. Makes you think doesn’t it!
So what is it in this voice , this cry that gives us so much information? I mean after all crying is just a loud noise right…how could it convey so much meaning?
Well the word Infant literally means ‘The Speechless One’ but just because they don’t have the words to explain themselves doesn’t mean they can’t convey their meaning effectively with their cries. Just like in any other form of communication its 10 percent what you say and 90 percent how you say it. The meanings of these cries are wrapped up in the pitch, intensity, rhythm and timing. And over the years its taken professionals from the worlds of developmental psychology, paediatrics, neurology and even engineering to add to our understanding of how these subtle variations in your babys cries allow him to convey these complex meanings across to us.
And if you are worried about giving in to your babies cries too often and spoiling them in the first 3 months you need to know that the only nerves that supply your baby’s vocal tracts are directly linked to the part of that limbic part of brain that deals with your baby’s emotional state so your baby’s cry actually changes character depending on what he or she is feeling at that moment. Its only around 8 to 10 months of age that babys actually start to realize they have any control over their caregivers response to their cries and its this understanding of cause and effect which is necessary for them to start manipulating caregivers with their cries.
That’s all wonderful but how do we use this to decode these cries
You know you get some people that are just really good communicators, and some arent? Well babies are exactly the same. Some babies are able to create very distinct acoustic features in their sound and some are not, a good example of this is in premature babies who have a really tough time explaining their needs because their cries can be very difficult to decode. To make matters even more challenging…sometimes caregivers can have a tough time interpreting what baby’s are trying to say. This is really common as most moms and dads are under big stress anyway and if your baby cries constantly the decision making process about what each cry means can get muddled and especially at 3 in the morning no one is looking for cues or trying to decipher things, were all just trying to get back to bed and it’s understandable so that’s why we need an action plan and that we will delve into in our next episode. Thank you so much for listening and if you found value in this podcast to please give us a 5 star review on itunes and stitcher radio so that we can help get the message out there to the moms and dads who need it. Thats it from me ill catch up with you soon, take care.