Winnie wrotes us:
Dear Cecilia,
Thanks so much for your reply and great advises.
Yes,time flies. Baby has grown up so much. First time being a mum, I guess I have heaps more to learn from time to time 
Cecilia,i need your advise about baby sleeping and pacifier. Whenever I put him down to bed to sleep, often he awakes.Altough how much he sleeps soundly on my hands. Sometimes when put him down, he’ll starts to hold hands and legs up, like very nervous and hard to settle. It is what they say “startle reflex”? So he ends up no sleeping, will get cranky. Have to hold him and hard to settle him to sleep although how sleepy he is. I tried to put him in sarong, but he doesn’t like to sleep there. Although he did fall asleep in there, it only last for a while. Also he’s very sensitive to sounds, easily to wake up by noises. I’m just wondering do I need to use pacifier? Pacifier can helps him to sleep more soundly? I heard pacifier can be a bad habit and not good for his teething etc?
He always fall asleep when I bottle feed him. Do i need to change faster flow teats to him? One more thing, can i put him sleep on tummy when he just had his milk?
Hi Winnie
Please accept my apologies for not giving you an earlier reply, did not have time to check email.
From what you said, your baby is very sensitive to noise therefore startles easily. What you need do is to control the startle reflex. Firstly, you can try swaddling him until the startle reflex disappears usually after 2 months but may be slightly longer in some babies.
Secondly, you can try putting him to sleep on his tummy but make sure the sleeping surface is firm and flat. Do not use pillows for his head. Although most paediatricians and baby books do not recommend putting baby to sleep on his tummy because of sudden infant death syndrome, I find that sometimes it is better to let baby sleep this way especially during the day when you can keep an eye on him and it gives you some relief from having to hold him all the time. I do not recommend using the sarong for small babies.
With regards to using a pacifier, it is quite safe if your baby needs to suck on something but make sure that the flange curves outwards to prevent pressure on the gums. Use it only to help him go to sleep and try to wean it off after 6 months. If he is a ’sucker’ he will suck his thumb if you do not use the pacifier and it is more difficult to wean off thumb sucking because you can throw the pacifier away.
Check the flow of milk before you change the teats. If the cap is put on too tight, the milk will not flow well, therefore you need to loosen the cap a little. Ideally the milk should drip out steadily when you turn the bottle upside down. If the drip is very slow, then you need to change the teat or use a pair of scissors to cut the hole a little bigger if the teats are still in good condition.Hope this answers your questions.
By the way, what is baby’s name?
Kind regards
Cecilia
