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Learn about the nurturing impact of skin-to-skin…
Date Recorded
January 29, 2025 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health
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Newborns make a lot of strange movements and…
Date Recorded
July 18, 2022 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Newborns do a lot of strange movements and behaviors that quite often scare parents. What are normal newborn reflexes, and when should parents worry?
The first one most parents know and call the startle reflex. It's technically called the Moro reflex. Parents often tell me it's when their baby gets scared, but that's not really the reason. Babies don't get scared as newborns. It's due to their nervous system response to a sudden change in sensory stimulation.
And it's a good thing, actually. In fact, it's able to be seen on ultrasounds when a mom is only 16 weeks pregnant, and a baby's own cry can even stimulate it. It lasts until babies are about 2 to 3 months old.
So when should you worry? Well, if you had a difficult labor and there was concern that your baby might have had some oxygen deprivation, then an exaggerated Moro reflex could be concerned for something called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Basically, the brain is hurt by having the oxygen supply cut down.
Neurologists can help evaluate and treat this, and the good news is it's picked up really closely after birth. And if there's any concern, your baby will be in the intensive care unit really quickly for a full evaluation. If your baby is otherwise in the normal newborn nursery and goes home, there's a good chance this is not what your baby has.
Another normal reflex is the suck or rooting reflex. And that's just what it sounds like. It's basically what helps the baby learn to find a food source and eat. This reflex doesn't start until about 32 weeks of pregnancy, which is why preemies have such a hard time learning how to eat. This reflex is fully developed at about 36 weeks.
Now, when parents see this, they automatically think their baby is hungry and often that's true. It could be that it's just the reflex and they suck on their fingers and hands as a self-soothing behavior. I see a lot of parents trying to force their babies to eat and then the babies get over-full and throw up.
Then there's the tonic neck reflex. We call it the fencing reflex because they have one arm outstretched and one bent and they're about to say, "En garde!" Some parents worry that there is a problem because both arms aren't in the same position or both arms aren't being used the same way at the same time. But this is normal, and it can last until they're about 7 months old.
Finally, this isn't a reflex, but it's something parents ask me about all the time at the newborn checkups. It's called periodic breathing. Babies do this weird thing where they look like they're breathing really fast, then they can hold their breath for up to 10 seconds, and then they take a big breath in and then they're back to normal breathing. And it can happen when they're sleeping or when they're awake. And it usually lasts until they're about 6 months old.
Babies' lungs are still developing and their brains are still trying to figure out how to send messages to the lungs to remind them to breathe. Basically, they are still trying to figure out this whole breathing thing and breathing patterns. And it looks scary, but it's normal.
So when should you worry about your baby's breathing? If they're consistently breathing more than 60 times a minute, if they're having retractions where it looks like their stomach muscles are sucking in under their ribs, if they are making grunting noises with each breath, or if they hold their breath for more than 20 seconds and turn blue, those are not periodic breathing, and that needs to be evaluated right away to see if your newborn's oxygen is low. Depending on how severe the symptoms are, the best place for your newborn to be evaluated for breathing issues may be the emergency room.
One last thing. What about those eyes? Well, babies have very little control over their eye movements right away. That's why they always look at you cross-eyed. They're trying to figure out how to control their eye movements and learn to focus on things.
Also, it's not uncommon for a baby to roll their eyes when they're sleeping or when they're almost asleep, like when they're going to sleep or trying to wake up. But this should not be the norm. If they are not rolling their eyes but doing more of a rhythmic back and forth, something called nystagmus, that is absolutely not normal.
If your baby rolls their eyes often, that is not normal. If your baby's eyes roll and your little one also has stiffness in their arms or legs or has shaking that doesn't look like the startle reflex, that could be a seizure and that's an immediate trip to your local children's emergency room.
Many things can cause seizures in a new baby, including low blood sugar, low calcium levels, metabolic diseases, or brain abnormalities, in addition to epilepsy and high fevers. Your child will probably be admitted to the hospital and see a neurologist for tests to determine why they are having these weird movements and possible seizures.
So while a lot of these normal behaviors look concerning, they are often just part of your baby adjusting to being in the outside world. If your baby has any of the not-so-normal behaviors I talked about, please have them see their pediatrician right away or go to your closest pediatric emergency room. MetaDescription
Newborns make a lot of strange movements and exhibit unexpected behaviors during the first year of life. They can startle at nothing, suck at the air, cross their eyes, breathe funny, and more. New parents may be a little worried about what is and isn’t normal. Learn the most common reflexes seen in newborns and how to identify whether or not they're something worth concern.
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As a new parent, the things your baby does can…
Date Recorded
December 18, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: A new baby brings a whole new set of concerns for parents, one being their baby's breathing. What's normal and what is not is what I'll talk about on today's Scope. I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner.
Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering the Healthy Kids Zone with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: Parents often come in with concerns that their baby has breathing problems. Sometimes it's just normal baby breathing. Sometimes it's something that even makes us as pediatricians worried. Babies do breathe faster than older kids and adults. In fact, newborns breathe about 40 to 60 times a minute and may only slow down to 30 to 40 breaths per minute when they're sleeping. One of the most common questions we get about breathing in newborns is that they will breathe really fast for a second and then seem to stop breathing for about 10 seconds before breathing normally again, so where they're sort of like [makes breathing sounds]. This is called periodic breathing, and it's normal till about six months old.
We don't get worried about these pauses with breathing. This is much different than apnea, which is where a baby doesn't breathe for 20 or more seconds and starts to turn blue. That's a real emergency.
Another question we get a lot is, when a baby is coughing or choking while eating and they can't seem to catch their breath. If your baby is an aggressive eater, meaning they want food and they want it now and they want it as fast as possible, then you've got an aggressive eater on your hands. Now if your baby is coughing or choking on feeds and this starts right away, like before you even leave the hospital with your newborn, that's something different. And that could cause concern for either the respiratory system or the digestive system with how they formed prior to birth, or with what your baby is eating, or true reflux.
If your baby has a cold virus, then we are extra concerned about their breathing. Their tiny airways can be compromised quickly. Your baby may have flaring nostrils, retracting, which is where you see that each time they take a breath they'll suck in at the ribs, below the breastbone or above the collarbone. If they have those, this means your baby is struggling to take each breath.
If your baby is grunting with each breath, then they're trying to keep air in their lungs to build up oxygen. Any of those things or any time a baby turns blue, that's a 911 call. That baby needs help immediately. Babies have a lot to figure out in their first few months: how to breathe with lungs they haven't used before they were born, remembering to breathe, how to eat and breathe at the same time. So if your baby has any signs of problems breathing, call your pediatrician, go to the emergency room, or call 911 right away.
Announcer: Want The Scope delivered straight to your inbox? Enter your email address at thescoperadio.com and click "Sign Me Up" for updates of our latest episodes. The Scope Radio is a production of University of Utah Health Sciences.
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If your newborn isn’t taking to your breast…
Date Recorded
May 25, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health
Womens Health Transcription
Announcer: Have a question? Ask it. Send your listener question to hello@thescoperadio.com.
Interviewer: It's time for another listener question and we're here with Dr. Kirtly Parker Jones. Dr. Jones, the question sent in was, "Could my baby be allergic to my breast milk? I've noticed that he's not really absorbing it, he's not really taking it, but he's fine with formula milk."
Dr. Jones: To start at the beginning, babies cannot be allergic to your breast milk.
Interviewer: The answer is just no?
Dr. Jones: The answer is no. However, there are proteins in what you eat that are absorbed into your bloodstream that then come out in the breast milk, and certainly there are flavors in what you eat that come out in the breast milk. In fact, there are flavors of what you eat when you're pregnant that flavor the amniotic fluid, and the baby is already kind of drinking your garlic or your hot sauce, or whatever it might be. The babies will not be allergic to your breast milk. Newborns don't actually form an allergic response. So it takes a while for babies to be able to even form an allergic response.
So, if newborns are throwing up, you start to really worry that maybe they have a problem with their stomach. So sometimes babies actually have a weakness in their stomach that allows the fluid to come back up. So some babies actually have to be fed kind of thickened milk or have to be slept tilted like people who have reflux. So babies can have reflux and newborns can have reflux until they're a little older. So babies can have reflux and that can make them throw up, and it's not they're allergic, it's just that they can't keep the fluid down.
Secondly, there are some babies with congenital malformations that cause a blockage in the esophagus. This is very rare and it's devastating. So there's a blockage in the esophagus and the fluids go down into their lungs. This is called a TE, a tracheoesophageal fistula. Once again, it's the baby that's not actually absorbing because it's going down the wrong way.
Now, let's take babies a little bit older. They actually can be allergic and develop an allergy to things that are in your food, and the most common is milk. So milk proteins in milk, of course, when . . . oh, cow's milk, there is something called casein and this is a protein that a mom might actually have in her blood and that the baby might actually develop an allergy to. That being the case, babies might get a little distended, they might be a little uncomfortable, and sometimes, they may even have a rash around their rear where it's kind of irritating.
Now, what about the baby that seems to be fine with formula and not so well with breast milk? Well then, the questions is, is the baby getting better suckling with the nipple . . . the formula? Is there something in the mother's food that's flavoring her breast milk? Meaning is she eating a lot more garlic, or is she eating spicy things that are getting through and the baby doesn't like the taste? And then the question is, is the mother putting anything on the nipple that the baby doesn't like the taste of? So we put all these lotions on our bodies and women put lotions and Bag Balm, which doesn't really taste very good. Bag Balm is something they put on nipples of cows when the nipples break down with nursing cattle, and so that may not taste very good.
So what are you putting on the skin and the answer is nothing, is the baby actually latching on well? So sometimes the baby has to struggle getting the whole nipple in their mouth, but it's easy to put the nipple from the bottle. There are many cultural norms about what you should and should not eat because of what goes in your breast milk, like don't eat cabbage because it will make your baby bloated. Well, unfortunately, cabbage won't make your baby bloated. It might make you bloated, but not your baby.
Of the things that they worry about, cow's milk is the first and about 2% to 3% of babies might actually be allergic to the cow's milk that their mother has in their food. And if a baby seems like it's not absorbing or is irritated by the breast milk, the question is what is it? And you have to kind of take things away. The top ones are peanut, soy, and cow's milk, but there may be other things. So moms need to eat carefully. The baby may not like garlic in their breast milk. By the way, wine goes right through the breast milk, too, so be careful.
So the long and the short of it is the baby is not allergic to your breast milk, but it can be allergic to what you're eating. There are lots of cultural superstitions about what mom should and shouldn't eat, and what should go in the breast milk. There's not much science, but if you take away one thing at a time and see if the baby does better, you might figure out what it is. And of course, your pediatrician can really help you work this out.
Announcer: Have a question? Ask it. Send your listener question to hello@thescoperadio.com.
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Many new parents wonder if their little one will…
Date Recorded
April 10, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Announcer: Health tips, medical news, research and more for a happier, healthier life. From University of Utah Health Sciences, this is The Scope.
Dr. Van Hala: Hi, I'm Dr. Sonja Van Hala, and I worked at Sugar House Family Health Center through the University of Utah. I'm a family doctor.
I talk to many parents who are wondering when they'll get a full night's sleep. You know, every baby is different and has their own rhythm. Really early on the baby is in charge, and especially if you're breastfeeding, you're going to want to respond to their rhythm. So when they awake and they start crying, you know, you'll check to make sure their diaper is clean and then you'll most likely be feeding them.
And then oftentimes, they're sleeping in between their feedings. But when the baby is small, their stomach isn't very big and so they need to feed about every two to three hours if they're breastfeeding. With formula, it might be spaced out a little bit more, every three to four hours, and then oftentimes they're sleeping in between.
You can start to expect around two months of age or so some longer stretches of sleeping, five to six hours perhaps at night. But really, we don't start fussing with trying to train them to sleep until closer to four months of age when their stomach is a bit bigger, we know that their growth is going well, and they're able to tolerate longer stretches of sleep.
One thing that I encourage, and I would start doing this early on with your newborn infant, is a bedtime routine, and this can include bathing, singing, reading, just really slowing things down prior to bed and getting the baby in the mood to go to sleep. Once the baby is closer to four months of age, if they start waking in the middle of the night, it's a good idea to just see if they really are fully awake and if they need your attention or if they're just making some noise and you can just let them be and then they'll settle themselves back down.
Certainly, in the middle of the night, it's important to not train them that they're going to have a fun time in the middle of the night. So ways to handle that is if you do need to give them attention in the middle of the night to either feed them or change their diaper, keep the lights down low, don't play, try to not do too much talking and stimulation, try to keep it boring. Do what you need to do and then put the baby back to bed, and then hopefully they'll eventually learn that awaking in the middle of night, you know, really isn't that much fun and so they'll start stringing more hours together.
So I would say if you get some good night's sleep in the first few months of life, that is wonderful and enjoy it. But usually, you're not going to have a full night sleep, meaning five or six hours, until probably around three to four months of life, and around four months is when you can start doing some sleep training with your child and try to extend those hours.
Announcer: Want The Scope delivered straight to your inbox? Enter your email address at thescoperadio.com and click "Sign Me Up" for updates of our latest episodes. The Scope Radio is a production of University of Utah Health Sciences.
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Most newborn skin problems can usually be dealt…
Date Recorded
March 20, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Interviewer: Newborn acne, is it something to worry about? What should you do about it? We'll find out next on The Scope.
Announcer: Health tips, medical news, research and more for a happier, healthier life. From University of Utah Health Sciences, this is The Scope.
Interviewer: Dr. Amy Williams is a pediatrician with University of Utah at the South Jordan Clinic. And a parent has a child and the child gets a rash. And I understand that's a call you get a lot.
Dr. Williams: Yes.
Interviewer: They tend . . . a little freaking out happens. So let's talk about when you should be concerned about that rash, and when it's probably not a big deal, and what to about it.
Dr. Williams: Yeah, great question. I think it's a really difficult thing sometimes to know what a rash is. And quite honestly, a lot of times, doctors have to get second opinions. Rashes can be sometimes very easy and sometimes they are just confusing. So the newborn, usually, they come out with a lot of rashes and I think that's something we can focus on because a lot of them are things that parents can do at home and they don't need to bring them in.
The rash that I most commonly get questions about is the newborn acne, and it usually start to show up a couple of weeks after they're born and they get something that looks very much like a teenager's acne: the white pimples and the red on the cheeks, on the forehead. Sometimes it's all over the neck. And parents get really concerned because it shows up and we . . . they don't know what to do.
A lot of times, this is all just related to the changes that are happening in the baby during that first couple of weeks: they came out of mom, they were exposed to mom's hormones and everything and they're having this changes in their body. And the acne shows up, but quite honestly, it's a very healthy, happy, non-urgent rash. And it's something that parents can do nothing about and just allow the baby to recover from it. It usually takes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months.
Interviewer: And no harm done?
Dr. Williams: No harm.
Interviewer: No skin damage?
Dr. Williams: You don't have to start buying over the counter acne medicine.
Interviewer: It's a little early to start, right?
Dr. Williams: In fact, we encourage you not to do that for a baby. Their skin is so sensitive that they really can't handle any of the medication we do for teenagers or adults. It's very healthy rash and you don't have to do anything about it all, and it will go away on its own.
Interviewer: Are there ever any instances where it doesn't?
Dr. Williams: Sometimes they are so severe that we will have a dermatologist look at it and have an evaluation to see if there's any treatment. Obviously, if there are any signs that it's getting infected or the rash is changing, those are things I would definitely bring the in for. And you can always bring them in for a concerning rash and we can always talk to you about it. If it doesn't feel all right to you, bring your baby in.
Interviewer: Yeah. And you said this lasts for about two weeks, generally?
Dr. Williams: It lasts a couple of weeks to sometimes a couple of months. Sometimes, it lasts until they're four months old and then it resolves on its own. But it's not related to food, it's not related to anything else other than their body just changing.
Interviewer: So if the acne is kind of coming and going and a new one appears, and then disappears and the new appears that goes on for a couple of months, that's totally normal?
Dr. Williams: Totally normal. Don't pop them.
Interviewer: Okay. That more good advice. For the rest of your life, that's good advice, right?
Dr. Williams: Don't ever pop them. It is something that is natural and although maybe they won't look great in baby pictures, it is absolutely normal and fine. Please don't put makeup on the baby. Just let them be who they are, let them transition.
Announcer: Thescoperadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at thescoperadio.com.
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As a new parent, you probably have a lot of…
Date Recorded
March 13, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Announcer: Health tips, medical views, research and more for a happier, healthier life from University of Utah Health Sciences, this The Scope.
Dr. Stoesser: Hi, my name is Kirsten Stoesser, and I am a family medicine physician at University of Utah Health Care. One of the common questions I get is, "How do you know if your newborn is getting enough to eat?" So there are a few ways to be able to assess if your baby is getting enough to eat. One is just does your baby seem relaxed and happy right after a feed? Does your baby seem content and going back to sleep or relaxing? Although babies can be irritable a lot, and cry a lot, and crying doesn't always mean that they're hungry.
So there are a few other things that you can look at as well. One is, how many wet diapers are they making? In the first day after they're born, they should make one wet diaper in 24 hours, and then you add one diaper a day for the next few days. So, by two days, they should have two wet diapers, by three days three wet diapers. And from the fourth day on, they should really be making about four to six wet diapers per day.
In addition to the number of wet diapers, you can also look and see what does the urine look like? If the color of the urine is pretty pale, that means that they're getting enough liquid. But if it's a dark yellow, or if it's even a pink-orangish color, that can mean that they are dehydrated and that they need to get more fluid in.
In addition to the number of wet diapers, looking at the stools, it can be really helpful. These also change in their character and number within the first few days, first few weeks. Initially right after a baby is born, the stool will be black and tarry, that's the meconium, and then it turns to a greenish and then a brownish color. And then, with breastfed babies, the stool then transitions to being a yellow, what we call a mustard-yellow color and, kind of, a seedy consistency or like a cottage seed consistency. In the first week to first month, they usually make about two to three stools a day with breastfed babies. And after one to two months, there can be a large variation. They can make one stool a day, or they might go a few days without having a stool, and that again can be normal.
And then the other thing to look at, to make sure that your baby is being fed well, is weight gain. And although that's a hard thing to do at home, when you bring your baby in for clinic visits at three to four days after they're born, and at their two-week, and their two-month visit, we will check their weight and then look at that on a graph to see how they are comparing to other babies of the same age, and are they within the normal weight. And a lot of times, parents worry that their baby is not feeding well, but when we can show that they're gaining weight normally and appropriately, that shows that they are getting enough nutrition.
Sometimes we will have parents come in more frequently if we do have a concern about the weight, so that we can check it a few days or a week later, just to make sure that a baby is gaining appropriately. And normally they should gain about an ounce a day, or about four to seven ounces per week within those first few weeks, first few months. Although most babies, they will lose some weight in their first few days. That's normal. By two weeks, certainly of age, they should be back to their birth weight.
Again, the things to look at are how many wet diapers are they making? What are their stools like? And are they gaining weight? And if you have any concerns, certainly calling into the clinic, or make in an appointment to come in. And we can always check your baby, and be more than happy to figure out what's going on, and how we can help.
Announcer: Want The Scope delivered straight to your inbox? Enter your email address at thescoperadio.com and click "Sign me up" for updates of our latest episodes. The Scope radio is a production of University of Utah Health Sciences.
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Newborns don’t come with a detailed…
Date Recorded
January 30, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: "Top Five Old Wives' Tales About your Newborns," or, "How to Troubleshoot your Newborn," on today's "Scope." I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner.
Announcer: Remember that one thing that one person told you that one time about what you should or shouldn't do when raising your kids? Find out if it's true or not. This is "Debunking Old Wives' Tales" with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: Newborns don't come with instruction manuals, so parents often worry when things really are normal. For example, "Excessive crying means something is seriously wrong." Not necessarily. Newborns cry up to two hours a day, sometimes it's because they're hungry, babies have a "nah" cry for this. Sometimes it's because they're wet or their diaper is too tight, or they're stimulated, and babies have a "wah" cry for this. I know, it's pretty cool. I learned that from my lactation consultant.
Or it could be colic, and your pediatrician can help you determine if this is why your baby cries. As the mom of a former colicky baby, I say, "Good luck and good news," it does go away by itself in three to four months. It's making it through the colic period that's tough.
Another concern for parents of girls is that some baby girls have vaginal bleeding. No, your daughter's not going through puberty already. It's actually due to mom's hormones coming out of her system. Little girls get white discharge during the latter part of the first week of life and sometimes it turns blood-tinged. Normally, this goes away in a few days and unless your daughter starts having pubic hair before age eight, you're fine.
Then there's periodic breathing, which freaks a lot of parents out. Babies have this funny way of breathing where they'll sometimes hold their breath and then they'll breathe really fast, and then normal again, and it might seem like an eternity that they're holding their breath, but it's really only seconds. This happens because the part of the brain that controls breathing hasn't fully developed yet. Now, if your baby stops breathing for more than 20 seconds and turns blue, that's not periodic breathing, that's a trip to the ER.
Then there's their bellybutton That scares parents most of all, it seems. Everyone thinks that the yellow goop is an infection, but it's not. It's the remnants of something called Wharton's jelly, which is what makes up the umbilical cord. True infections are very rare. Bleeding is common too. Remember, that's where all the blood vessels were that connected baby to mom. The blood finishes coming out until the cord completely seals itself. If you have any questions about your baby's navel, pediatricians are really good at evaluating cute baby bellies.
Finally, "Yellow drainage from one or both eyes is a serious infection or pink eye." Probably not. It's most likely an infected tear duct. Your baby probably has one eye that waters a lot too. The tear ducts can take awhile to open, so it's easy to get them infected. Antibiotic drops will help with the goopiness, but it will come back until the tear duct itself opens, usually by a year old. Bottom line is, if you have any concerns about your newborn, don't hesitate to ask your pediatrician. Babies are what we do best.
Announcer: thescoperadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at thescoperadio.com.
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