Extraordinary Newborns
The first months of baby’s life parents generally get the same questions about their babies: How old is he? How much does she weigh?
If you’re like me, you can answer the first question (within a week or two) but the second question often gets a shrug. Most people don’t own an infant scale and if baby is healthy there is usually no need to go to the doctor every month.
Also, as a first-time parent, you often have many questions but don’t have the time to commit to a weekly class at PAIIR. Perhaps you’d think by the time you’ve had three children you wouldn’t have any questions, but my third baby is almost 4 months old already (as I write this) and I still have questions. Children are definitely individuals right from the womb.
PAIIR offers a once-per-month drop-in class for parents of babies from birth to 6 months of age. It’s a great way to get your questions answered without having to commit to a class.
I took my baby to the drop-in in September, mostly because I was wondering how much she weighed. She’s much smaller than my other two children were at her age, and I wanted to see how much (or how little) she actually weighed.
I arrived right at 1 o’clock, at the start of the drop-in period. I already knew the PAIIR facilitator who was there to help answer questions, and I was introduced to the public health nurse who was on hand to weigh the babies and to answer health-related questions as well.
Soon after I started to get my baby undressed to her diaper to be weighed, more moms arrived with their infants. Once all the babies had been weighed (with the weights recorded on papers with the date and their names so we didn’t have to try to remember!) we sat down to chat.
Since it was a drop-in class, we were encouraged to stay or leave, as we needed to attend to our babies, or for whatever reason. We introduced our babies and ourselves and shared the ages of our babies. The ages at this session ranged from 7 weeks to almost 4 months.
We shared stories of how our first weeks with our babies had been going and each asked our questions that ranged from “is my baby gaining enough weight” to “is it okay to take my baby on an airplane when she’s this young.”
Before our time was up, most of the babies had nursed or drank a bottle and were sleeping. Minds had been eased, suggestions had been offered and resources had been discovered.
I’m planning to attend next month too. I want to see how much weight my baby gains in the next four weeks, and I’m sure I’ll have new questions.
Extraordinary Newborn is offered the third Wednesday of each month (10/15, 11/19, 12/17) at Northrop Education Center (201 8th Street NW) from 1-2:30 p.m. No registration is required and there is no fee to attend.
If you’re like me, you can answer the first question (within a week or two) but the second question often gets a shrug. Most people don’t own an infant scale and if baby is healthy there is usually no need to go to the doctor every month.
Also, as a first-time parent, you often have many questions but don’t have the time to commit to a weekly class at PAIIR. Perhaps you’d think by the time you’ve had three children you wouldn’t have any questions, but my third baby is almost 4 months old already (as I write this) and I still have questions. Children are definitely individuals right from the womb.
PAIIR offers a once-per-month drop-in class for parents of babies from birth to 6 months of age. It’s a great way to get your questions answered without having to commit to a class.
I took my baby to the drop-in in September, mostly because I was wondering how much she weighed. She’s much smaller than my other two children were at her age, and I wanted to see how much (or how little) she actually weighed.
I arrived right at 1 o’clock, at the start of the drop-in period. I already knew the PAIIR facilitator who was there to help answer questions, and I was introduced to the public health nurse who was on hand to weigh the babies and to answer health-related questions as well.
Soon after I started to get my baby undressed to her diaper to be weighed, more moms arrived with their infants. Once all the babies had been weighed (with the weights recorded on papers with the date and their names so we didn’t have to try to remember!) we sat down to chat.
Since it was a drop-in class, we were encouraged to stay or leave, as we needed to attend to our babies, or for whatever reason. We introduced our babies and ourselves and shared the ages of our babies. The ages at this session ranged from 7 weeks to almost 4 months.
We shared stories of how our first weeks with our babies had been going and each asked our questions that ranged from “is my baby gaining enough weight” to “is it okay to take my baby on an airplane when she’s this young.”
Before our time was up, most of the babies had nursed or drank a bottle and were sleeping. Minds had been eased, suggestions had been offered and resources had been discovered.
I’m planning to attend next month too. I want to see how much weight my baby gains in the next four weeks, and I’m sure I’ll have new questions.
Extraordinary Newborn is offered the third Wednesday of each month (10/15, 11/19, 12/17) at Northrop Education Center (201 8th Street NW) from 1-2:30 p.m. No registration is required and there is no fee to attend.
**********************
Heather is mom to three children: a 6-year-old daughter, a 4-year-old son and an almost 4-month-old daughter. She spends much of her days saying "uh huh" and "oh yeah?" to her son, who loves to talk.
