Newborn care Archives | Doulas of Baltimore

The Witching Hour: The Scariest Time of Day for New Parents

Nearly every parent can recall a moment during those early weeks of their baby’s life. Their sweet, innocent little bundle of joy seemed more like a terrifying little monster! Often referred to as the “Witching Hour”, this alarming time’s name is derived from folklore to mean the time of day when the ghosts, monsters, and demons were said to have appeared.

Like the term ‘morning sickness’ (which frequently happens far more often than just the morning), the phrase ‘witching hour’ is also a misnomer. Your newborn may spend well more than 60 minutes in this seemingly inconsolable state. Particularly during the cooler months, (when the sun sets earlier) it is not uncommon for the witching hour to include the hours leading up to and immediately following sunset.

So what IS the witching hour?

The witching hour is a period of excessive fussiness, crying, irritability, and/or sleeplessness, sometimes spanning several hours, often occurring during the late afternoon into evening. It is extremely common for newborns, particularly in weeks 2-4 of their lives, to exhibit this behavior but can extend for weeks.

What causes the witching hour in newborns?

Overstimulation

At the end of a long you’ve often been bombarded by noises, lights, sounds, textures, smells, and other external stimuli for hours on end. It’s enough to make adults want to retreat to their happy place! Now, consider a newborn, only weeks into this journey that is life, experiencing all of these same stimuli. The number one cause of the ‘witching hour’ can be attributed simply to overstimulation. As humans, when we are overwhelmed by external stimuli, it is difficult for our mind and body to rest. Overstimulation leads to being overtired too.

Gastrointestinal Discomforts

Your baby’s GI system is also brand new, working hard to learn how to suck, swallow, and digest milk, absorb nutrients, and pass gas and stool. It can be expected that this immaturity can contribute to increased gas (and the ensuing fussiness and discomfort), particularly after a full day of feedings. It’s also not unusual for excess gas and discomfort to compound throughout the day.

Hunger

A baby’s nutritional needs change throughout the course of the day. It is not uncommon for babies to appear more hungry during the late afternoon and evening hours. This is partially a biological response for breastfed babies in that breastmilk production and supply tends to be at the lowest during this time of day. Babies who are bottle fed may exhibit hunger cues even after finishing their usual portion of milk.

Tricks & Treats: What can we do to help our baby through the witching hour?

Reduce stimulus

If you have taken DOB’s Baby 101 workshop, you have likely learned about Dr. Harvey Karp and his 5 S’s. These are: Swaddle, Sway, Side-lying, Suck, and Shhh (or Sound). Combining these five activities can help to reduce external stimuli and, hopefully, encourage baby to close their eyes. A favorite trick for our postpartum doulas is taking baby, swaddled and with a pacifier, into the bathroom, turning off the lights and turning on the exhaust fan! And baby-wearing can be a treat for the whole family. Putting baby in an inward-facing wrap or carrier is a great tool to get through this time, too.

Encourage burps and toots

Encouraging baby to burp and pass gas frequently throughout the day can help alleviate fussiness and bloating in the evenings. Whether breast or bottle feeding, burping baby mid-feeding is always a good idea. Giving baby time to lay and move their limbs can also aid in teaching them how to release gas as well. Ultimately, time and maturity are the only true ‘fix’.

Feed frequently

While we can’t eliminate baby’s desire to feed frequently in the evenings, sometimes preemptively increasing afternoon feedings can help. This may mean waking more frequently for shorter durations between feedings (2-2.5 hours maximum would be our recommendation). Or increasing the amount or duration at the last feeding session prior to the anticipated witching hour time frame. Cluster feeding, especially in the evenings, is very normal for breastfed babies in anticipation of a growth spurt. Again, this is an instance where time may be the only solution.

Is there a way to eliminate the witching hour?

While it can be difficult to accommodate for every family, one of the benefits of this time of year is the earlier sunsets. If their witching hour is around 5 pm, ensuring they have a quality late afternoon nap may help. Take advantage of the darkness to push baby’s bedtime back a bit. If baby seems cranky, irritable or inconsolable by 7:30 pm every night, aiming to have them settled and to sleep by 7 pm could help (and mean you might get a few minutes of peace!).

While we can not guarantee that these tips and tricks will work every time with every baby, we can assure you that you are not alone, and ultimately, this time will pass.

Postpartum Doula | What Does a Postpartum Doula Do?

Doulas of Baltimore, Newborn care, Postpartum

We know that bringing your newest family member home can be exciting and challenging. A trained and certified postpartum doula will help you with a smooth transition as you welcome a new member to your family. Through a combination of daytime, evening, and overnight shifts, we are here to support your family’s unique needs. Here are the ways we offer practical, informational, and emotional support at home, when you need it.

A postpartum doula’s practical support helps you take care of baby, yourself, and your family.

People often come to us looking for practical support when baby comes home. This can include feeding, caring for baby so you can attend to your needs, or helping prepare meals. During an overnight shift, a postpartum doula might put baby to bed, change diapers, and settle baby back to sleep. During a day shift, our support might allow you to take a shower, cook a meal, or breastfeed in peace. Pro tip: ask your doula to prep you snacks for the days they aren’t there to make even their off days a little easier!

We provide information so you understand the 4th trimester.

The first weeks and months after baby is born are often called the “4th trimester”. Many parents have just as many questions about what to expect as they did during pregnancy (if not more!). Postpartum doulas can do many specific tasks around the house, but clients often share that our value comes from being childbirth and newborn experts. We provide feeding guidance, answer questions, and offer information on soothing and sleep habits.

In the morning after a recent overnight shift, our doula talked to one partner about how the night went. She offered advice on how to get baby sleeping for longer stretches. Suggestions included creating sleep associations, keeping baby awake during the day for developmentally appropriate stretches, and nursing demands during the day. We are here to provide the support you want, but your doula will also work with you and your family to create the household, feeding, and sleep routines that work for you so that we are no longer needed!

Emotional support from a postpartum doula helps your family grow and adjust with confidence.

In general, our postpartum doulas provide a minimum of sixty hours of in-person support during the baby’s first six weeks at home. These can be split between daytime, evening, and overnight shifts. However, our job as postpartum doulas is to create a smooth transition and give you and your family the skills and knowledge needed to manage the addition of baby.

For example, during one daytime shift, our doula spoke to one partner about returning to work. He was looking forward to it, but felt guilty about leaving his partner with the new baby at home. Our doula talked about ways to continue contributing and how he could alternate bedtime duties. We are here to provide steadfast, non-judgemental support so you can feel confident about welcoming a new child into your family.

Learn more about our postpartum doula offerings or contact DOB today!

Postpartum Planning | 5 Basic Questions to Think About Before Baby Comes Home

Doulas of Baltimore, Newborn care, Postpartum

Being pregnant and preparing for birth can feel overwhelming enough without considering what happens when you bring baby home. Postpartum planning before baby arrives can save you a lot of stress when you will want to be resting and recovering from delivery. If Postpartum brain fog hits, that can make thinking about your options (not to mention making decisions) hard.

At Doulas of Baltimore, we think of the first three months at home as the fourth trimester. The postpartum period comes with its own challenges and joys. Answer these 5 basic questions to consider before you go into labor that will make your postpartum life easier.

Postpartum Planning: What will your home look like?

Because nesting is very real, you may have already set up a nursery or room for your baby. But realistically, this isn’t where baby will be spending most of their time. For the first six months, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends baby sleep in your room. But where does baby sleep during daytime naps? Do you want to have a dedicated changing table, setups in different parts of the house, or a moveable station? Where will be the best place to feed baby during the day and at night? Consider the layout of your living space and the setup of cribs, feeding or pumping stations, and changing tables.

What does everyday at home look like?

A baby changes things: we know this. And postpartum planning involves thinking about the details of how things have changed. Who will feed baby when they wake up at night? Who will change baby? Who will cook meals? Who will walk the dog? Who will take big sister to school? Who will go to baby’s appointments? Who will clean and tidy the house?

Who can you go to for extra support?

While everyone might want to meet your new baby, that doesn’t necessarily mean they can provide the support you need. Consider which friends and family can provide practical support, like buying groceries, cooking meals, walking the dog, or taking care of siblings if you are at the hospital longer than expected.

Postpartum Planning: Who are the care providers you need?

With care providers, there are the basic people you need to have planned out, and others that you may want to think about having lined up. While you’ve been dealing with an OB, midwife, and/or doula before birth, afterward you’ll need a pediatrician. You may also want a postpartum doula or lactation consultant. If you are concerned about postpartum depression or emotions after birth, you may want to find a mental health provider before delivery since they can have Before you leave the hospital, you’ll need a carseat installed, and we recommend having it checked by a Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) or “car seat tech”.

What does post-parental leave look like?

There is unfortunately no standard for parental leave, so consider when parents will be going back to work and what happens then. Do you have a nanny, babysitter, friend, or grandparent who can care for baby? Will you need a daycare?

This is just a short overview of questions that we think new parents should consider as they bring their babies home. Ready to dive in deeper? Check out our Postpartum Planning Guide for further assistance!

Why is My Baby Crying? | Reasons and How to Soothe Them

Newborn care

The question parents everywhere have to answer: why is my baby crying? Babies cry to communicate. It’s one way they tell you they need food, warmth, or attention. Because we know a baby’s cries mean that it needs something, it can also cause us stress, concern, and frustration. Ultimately, too much crying makes us and our babies tired and frustrated. Let’s explore some common reasons why baby might be crying and some soothing tools you can try!

Why is My Baby Crying?

When babies cry, they are trying to tell us something. Figuring out what the exact reason is can prove overwhelming. Typically, the reason for baby’s distress can fall into a few common buckets.

Normal Physical Discomfort

Babies are new here! Many sensations that we would consider mild discomfort they consider extreme pain. This includes sensations like hunger, gas, and moisture. When baby appears to be in phyiscal discomfort, run through this list:

When did baby last eat? Could they be hungry?
When was their last diaper change? Could it need to be changed?
How is the temperature where we are? Could they be too hot/cold?
Is their belly tight or are they going “stiff as a board” when they cry? Could it be gas or bloating?

Tiredness or Exhaustion

Brand new babies typically spend long stretches of time asleep between wakeful periods. Being tired is a very common reason for baby’s fussing. This may not even mean phyiscal exhaustion. Remember, most stimuli is new to baby. Their brains can get tired from processing new faces, new smells, and new experiences. When they get overwhelmed, they often cry. Keep this in mind when attending family gatherings or big outings and plan naps accordingly!

Symptoms of Illness or Other Problem

Crying can be one of the first symptoms baby is beginning to get sick. Prolonged crying with no discernable reason could also be an indicator that something is wrong with baby. We recommend that you trust you intuition. If something feels off, that’s enough of a reason to call your baby’s care team. Even if it’s just a call to a nurse line or your doula, no concern is too small if it feels important to you.

The 5 S’s

Dr. Harvey Karp writes that babies are, in a sense, really born 3 months early. The newborn nervous system is not fully developed and unequipped to manage the external stimulus of the world outside the womb. It helps to think of doing what you can to recreate a womb-like environment during baby’s “4th trimester.”

The 5 S’s are for once baby’s biological needs (like eating and changing diapers) are met; a means of reducing external stimulus which generally results in baby calming down and falling asleep.

The 5 S’s are: Swaddle, Side-Stomach Position, Shush, Swing, and Suck. Swaddling helps babies through recreating a womb-like sensation and providing and can help them fuss less and sleep better. While babies should only sleep on their backs, you can help calm baby by holding them in Side or Stomach position. A baby is surrounded by sound in the womb, and a white noise shushing sound can help calm crying. A womb is also swinging as a pregnant person moves around, and babies are used to this motion. Finally, many babies can find calm in sucking–hence the popularity of pacifiers and thumbs with babies.

Baby Soothing Tools

There are also gadgets and tools that can help you with soothing techniques. In a recent post, we discussed the Snoo, which Dr. Karp developed as a smart bassinet to help with automatic calming through movement and noise. There are also other bassinets that offer movement as a way to soothe baby, and shushers that create the whooshing sounds baby was used to in the womb.

A less high-tech way of employing one of the 5 S’s is through a pacifier (for sucking) or a swaddle sack (just make sure you are swaddling your baby correctly).

Want to get prepared before baby arrives? We teach you all of this and more, including baby soothing and communication techniques, in our Baby 101 class. Get signed up for the next class here!

Nanit Pro Baby Monitor: Essential or Overhyped?

Baby registry, Newborn care, Parenthood

With a sea of baby monitor options, it’s easy to feel like you’re drowning. The Nanit Pro Camera was named NYT’s Wirecutter Best wifi video monitor so it’s not surprising the name surfaces at the top! With promises of advanced tracking, lowered anxiety, and crystal clear images, parents often wonder, “Is the Nanit Pro Camera the best baby monitor?”. Let’s break down what it is, the pros and cons, and our final opinion.

What Exactly is the Nanit Pro Baby Monitor?

The Nanit Pro is far more than just a camera you point at the crib. It positions itself as a “do-it-all”, high tech nursery hub that includes an app connected to your phone that is analyzed by AI to offer you insignts into your baby’s growth, sleep, and development. Here’s the core idea:

With a high definition camera it streams crystal-clear 1080p HD video and audio to your smartphone (iOS/Android) or tablet, day or night (thanks to excellent night vision with illuminating LEDs). Unlike tabletop monitors, the Nanit is designed to be securely mounted above the crib (or on a floor stand), giving a top-down, unobstructed view of the entire sleep space. This perspective is key to its advanced features.

The big selling point for Nanit is its AI-powered analytics. Using sophisticated computer vision (no wearable sensors needed!), it analyzes your baby’s movements and sleep patterns. This data is then added to the Nanit app where you can also watch the live stream and receive alerts. The camera comes with a 6 month free trial to Insights which is important in unlocking the full power of the analytics (sleep tracking, trends, personalized tips). After that, it is a paid subscription with mixed reviews.

In short: The Nanit Pro is a premium, wall/ceiling-mounted smart baby monitor that uses AI to not just show you your baby, but to help you understand their sleep patterns and development.

Is the Nanit Pro Baby Monitor Safe?

We’ve all heard the stories of baby monitors being hacked on the internet. Safety has to be a top priority when it comes to baby monitors, especially internet-connected ones.

Online Safety

According to Nanit, all video streams and data transmitted between the camera, Nanit’s servers, and your app are encrypted using industry-standard protocols (TLS/SSL). This makes it extremely difficult for unauthorized parties to intercept. Additionally, access to your camera feed requires logging into your Nanit account with your credentials. Two-factor authentication is highly recommended and adds a significant extra layer of security. Unlike some older monitors, the Nanit stream isn’t discoverable on the open internet. You must be logged into your specific account.

Nanit Pro Camera Safety

Physical safety is also important, nobody wants a camera falling into the crib! The provided mounting system is excellent when installed correctly according to instructions. Like all items, ensure it’s securely attached well out of baby’s reach.

When it comes to privacy, there are also many features. The Nanit Pro has a physical, sliding shutter you can close when the camera isn’t in use, physically blocking the lens if you choose. There is also an audio-only mode where you can choose to stream only audio for times when video isn’t necessary. Privacy zones are able to blur chosen areas within the camera’s view in the app.

Data Safety

When it comes to your private data, Nanit states they prioritize user privacy. While sleep data is processed to provide insights, they claim not to sell personal user data to third parties. We suggest you review their Privacy Policy for full details.

The Verdict on Safety and Privacy: Nanit takes security and privacy seriously, employing strong industry-standard measures. No system is 100% unhackable, but Nanit is considered one of the more secure options. Practicing good security practices that you’d use for any online data (strong, unique password, enabling 2 factor authentication, closing the shutter when not in use) further minimizes risks. To date there haven’t been major, widespread security breaches reported for Nanit.

What Are the Benefits of Using the Nanit Pro?

This isn’t an inexpensive device and there are many options out there that offer video directly to your phone. What sets Nanit apart?

Nanit App

Personalized insights do require a premium subscription (a new device comes with a 6 month free trial) and reviews overall are mixed on whether it’s worth if or not. Some parents say these premium features helped their peace of mind while others say there’s no point. Nanit accurately and automatically tracks when your baby falls asleep, wakes up, and duration of sleep sessions/naps. For data nerds and new parents alike, these are excellent details and can also work well for those who are sharing night duties with their co-parent, family, or Postpartum Doula.

Data collected can create charts and graphs over time (nights, weeks, months) identifying patterns, regressions, and improvements. These can help you understand total sleep, night wakings, nap consistency, and sleep efficiency. Nanit also offers data-driven suggestions tailored to your baby’s age and sleep patterns to help improve their sleep (and yours!).

Using a special patterned band worn on baby’s pajamas or sleep sack Nanit can monitor breathing motion and alert you if no motion is detected for a set period (e.g., 20 seconds). Some parents find this helped their peace of mind.

Nanit Pro Baby Monitor Camera Features

The top-down, wall-mounted view eliminates blind spots and gives a perfect view of the entire crib. 1080p HD video is sharp, and the night vision (with its own LEDs) is among the best.

The camera also features two-way audio that allows you to talk and soothe your baby clearly through the app. The audio stream can continue playing on your phone even when the app is minimized or your screen is off. You can also choose to be notified on your phone if your baby is crying or there’s significant movement.

With other features like temperature & humidity sensor, nighlight & white noise, and multi-user access, Nanit Pro offers a host of features that many parents will find useful.

The Bottom Line: The Nanit Pro Camera is an exceptional, feature-rich smart baby monitor for parents who value deep sleep insights, top-notch video quality, and high-tech peace of mind. The AI-powered sleep analytics (via the Insights subscription) are a great feature if you’re data-driven and want to analyze your baby’s sleep without manual recording.

What Should I Consider Before I Purchase?

Before making a purchase, it’s important to consider how it might impact your family! We think you should consider the following items before diving in:

The first is the price. This camera is a significant investment, both for the hardware and the required Insights subscription for full functionality. On the topic of Insights, the best features (sleep tracking, breathing monitoring alerts, personalized tips) live behind a paywall. This increases the overall cost of the device as you’ll need to factor in the ongoing fees.

The camera also requires installation (drilling for wall/ceiling mount). This is not ideal for renters or those who want portability as the primary setup. While travel mode does exist, it adds limits to the function of the camera and may impact the data collected.

The final thing to consider in our opinion is the limitations of generalized sleep suggestions. While an app may be able to use an algorithm to deliver you a set of suggestions, there truly isn’t anyhing that can replace an expert’s touch when it comes to addressing sleep or safety concerns.

Let’s put a bow on this! If you want the most advanced insights into your baby’s sleep and well-being and prioritize crystal-clear monitoring with strong security, the Nanit Pro Camera is a great option. For simpler, audio-only monitoring or basic video, it’s overkill. It also lacks the personalized touch of a sleep expert and the promise of “eliminating sleep training” seems a little far-fetched. If you want a high-tech partner in navigating baby monitoring, the Nanit delivers impressively.