Digging Deep:What Drives Infant Feeding Choices?

Reflecting on Babies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEduV4t2-Wc

Afternoon Overview• Supporting Healthy Infant Feeding

Relationships

• Reflecting on How Baby Behaviors Supports Infant Nutritional Assessment and Counseling

• Applying Baby Behaviors to the Top 10 Infant Feeding Traffic Jams and Detours

Reflections On Your Infant Feeding Travels So Far

What We Know So Far…

Breastfeeding…Our Foundation

Baby Behaviors is another opportunity for breastfeeding promotion and support.

Baby Behaviors

• LMS

• In-Service

• Why have we integrated Baby Behaviors into Arizona WIC?

Quick Review

What Cue is This?

Engagement

• Smiling• Looking Intently• Cooing• Smooth movements• Open eyes/relaxed• Feeding posture• Following Voice

What Cue is this?

Disengagement• Turns away• Crying• Pushes, arches • Choking, coughing• Stiffens• Falls asleep, yawning• Faster breathing• Hand to ear• Grimace or Glazed look

What Does This Mean?

Hunger – Cluster Cues

• Clenched Fingers and fists over chest and tummy

• Flexed arms and legs• Rooting• Fast breathing• Sucking noises/motions

Quick Review• Cues = Baby Communication

• Important: the state a baby is in will give you a clue as to what their cues mean

• Infant States– What cues are you likely to see?

• Crying• Irritable• Quiet Alert• Drowsy• Active Sleep (Light Sleep)• Quiet Sleep (Deep Sleep)

Infant StatesWhat cues are you likely to see?

• Crying• Irritable• Quiet Alert

• Drowsy• Active Sleep (Light Sleep)• Quiet Sleep (Deep Sleep)

Quick Review

• What is the key to helping an irritable or crying baby?– Repetition to Soothe

• How do you know if it is working?– Change in Cry

Bottom Line• Crying doesn’t always = hunger• Hunger has many cues• Responding to cues early helps

reduce crying• Crying is a “superpower”• Knowing about sleep avoids

“triggers”

Bringing It All Together

Baby Behaviors is not a new way to do business…it just allows us to dig deeper into infant feeding relationships.

Baby Behaviors Is the “D” in ABCDE

Supporting Healthy Feeding Relationships• The look, recognize, and respond of

Baby Behavior can be applied throughout childhood.

• Because being a parent of an infant is…– Stressful– Exhausting– Scary– Other?

How Does Baby Behaviors Support the Concept of Health At Every Size With Infants?

What’s Working?

• What’s Not?

Introducing the “Wheel of Destiny”

Your Baby Behaviors Counseling Cheat Sheet.

What is REALLY driving infant feeding?

Uncovering the Top 10 Infant Feeding Traffic

Jams and Detours

TRAFFIC JAMS

1. Baby is Always Crying/Hungry

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?

• What about mom?

2. Good Babies Sleep Through The Night

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• What about mom?

• What baby behaviors/cues might parents be seeing?

• Using your ABCDE guide, what risk codes might you assign?

• What may be under the surface for mom that you should consider when offering the message?

1. Cereal in the Bottle

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

2. Early Introduction of Complementary Foods

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

3. Bottle Preparation

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

4. Schedules

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

5. Baby ‘needs’ to finish this bottle

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

6. Baby is fussy during feedings – Force feeding

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

7. I Don’t Have Enough Milk

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide– Risk Codes?

• What about mom?

8. Other? (What else do you hear from AZ WIC families?)

• Dig Deep: What Baby Behaviors?– Cues?

• ABCDE Guide• What about

mom?

What About Older Babies?• Still apply the…

– Look– Recognize– Respond

To help caregiver understand what baby is trying to communicate

Revisiting the Wheel of Destiny• Birth – 3 months

• 4 -5 months

• 6 – 9 months

• 10 – 12 months

Baby Behaviors Materials

• Parents Booklet

• Clinic Posters

• Other needs?

Promoting Positive Interactions Through Baby Behaviors

Take Home Message

• Baby behavior is the foundation of supporting healthy feeding relationships between infants and caregivers

Traffic Check

Questions?