Getting to Know Your Baby - How She Learned From Every Sensory Experience

As each week goes by, your baby will appear less floppy, less curled up, and more alert. She is now interested in the world and is learning from every sensory experience.

Reflexes and posture - At this stage reflexes still govern your baby's movements, although over the next few weeks they will become more integrated and most of the more primitive ones will disappear. Your will notice that she still has her fencing (ATNR) reflex - when her head is turned to one side, she extends her arm on the same side. She will start to catch a glimpse of her hand in this position, but because her arms swipe around so much, she will not be able to remain focused on it for long. Her arms and legs move a lot at this stage, especially the arms, swiping wildly through the air. This makes her feel disconcerted and you can help her to feel more composed by cupping your hands behind her shoulder blades and providing some pressure to bring her hands towards the midline of her body. During this period you will notice that she clasps her hands much less. Occasionally she will open them. She will not start reaching for objects yet, but will stare intently at them, almost reaching out with her eyes.

During this period your baby needs opportunities to work her back and neck muscles, as she becomes less flexed. If you place her on her tummy she will start to lift her head up from the surface and when held in a sitting position she may hold her head upright for a little while. When you pull your baby into a sitting position from lying on her back, she will start to hold her head in line with her body. By six weeks your baby will have uncurled a lot, have straighter hips and knees, and will be able to hold her head up for a few minutes.

Visual development - Your baby is working hard at developing her eye muscles. The muscles inside her eyes are responsible for her focus and clearness of vision. She will be practicing her focus at different distances. She loves mobiles with contrasting colours because they help her to maintain focus and work those muscles. The muscles surrounding her eyes are responsible for coordinating eye movements. This is essential if she wants to watch a moving object. Your baby enjoys patterns of any kind. She will watch people if they are in her line of vision and even turn her head towards them if she hears a sound.

Social awareness - Your baby recognizes your face and will stare intently at your facial features. If you stick out your tongue, she may copy you. If you smile, she will try desperately to copy it. Eventually the big milestone that makes all the hard work seem worthwhile will happen around the six-week mark: your baby will start smiling. Some babies start smiling with intention (not just for gas bubbles) even earlier than six weeks. Your baby loves language and responds to your voice. When you speak to her she will hold your gaze for longer and may even try to talk by making little throaty noises.

Regulation - At this stage your baby can just about maintain her body temperature and heart rate. She cannot regulate her sleep/wake cycles or state (calm-alert/active-alert, and so on) yet and that is why she fusses just before she falls asleep. One of your baby's key tasks at this age is to learn to remain calm when exposed to stimulation.

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Are Alternative Methods For Treating ADHD Valid? - Getting The Facts

You would be amazed to find so many references to diet when researching ADHD. Now diet may not be the key or even the best one of alternative methods for treating ADHD. But it is certainly getting more attention and it deserves to because food does affect how our brain works! Just think how that cup of coffee will immediately make you feel more alert or how carbohydrates can give you more energy.

Research studies on how food affects our brain function.

A UCLA professor of neurosurgery, Prof. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla has no doubt at all that food is vital and is rather like a pharmaceutical compound. The research that this professor has done has appeared in the an issue of the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Those studies were published after surveying over 150 other research papers on how food affects our brains. It also affects the way we sleep and carry out our daily grind.

Food and ADHD

It does not take a great leap of the imagination to realize that the neurotransmitters in the brain are also going to be affected one way or the other by what we eat. The neurotransmitters which are involved in brain function are dopamine, norepinephrine and also to a certain extent adrenaline. The one essential food element that affects our brain function is the omega- 3 fatty acid which is found in certain foods. As these are usually out of sync in ADHD, we can see the relevance of diet and food when considering alternative methods for treating ADHD.

Australian study.

Over 400 school children in Australian were given a rather special drink which contained not only Omega -3 fatty acids but also essential elements such as zinc, iron, vitamin B mix and also vitamin C. After only six months, these children were displaying better cognitive function and were doing better at learning and memory tests than the control group who were on a normal diet. There are numerous other studies which all point to the increasing importance of food when looking at all the alternative methods of treating ADHD.

Best foods to eat which support better brain function.

Ramping up on foods which contain the vital Omega-3 fatty acids can easily be done. Here is a list of the most common ones:-

• kiwi fruit

• nuts

• salmon

• green leafy vegetables

Other alternative methods for treating ADHD

There are several alternative methods which are now receiving a lot of attention. These range from:-

• neurofeedback

• yoga

• play therapy

• pet therapy

• sensory integration

• chiropractic

• sports and exercise.

• homeopathic remedies

At the end of the day I believe that diet and food will become central to any alternative methods for treating ADHD while the others I have mentioned above will become secondary. Why not check out my website to get some more facts before deciding what is right for your child.

Robert Locke is a Health enthusiast who specializes in children's health. He has written extensively on ADHD. Discover what Natural ADHD Therapy is available. Find out about ADHD natural cures.

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