don't think you have to worry about turning Liam into another Ted Bundy Jan. LOL Grizzles are not the same as all out screaming IMO

Hope you're feeling better real soon Jessikah Being sick now (with a baby) is so much worse isn't it?

Megan, I know the taggie you mention and they are great - they always seem to gravitate towards tags don't they? I don't have one but autie was given a little blankie with an elephant head attached in the middle - do you know the ones I mean? It's just a small square and has a teether attached on one corner too. She always has this at sleep time and likes to scrunch it in her hands or smoosh her face into it or suck on the elephant's trunk LOL Oh and Autie loves to play with dummies too! She has a wide variety since I tried so hard to get her to take one!

As there seems to be a bit of interest I will share a bit more from the book, but I will say that if you are doing CC in it's most recognised form, you may not want to read this so please skip this post.

I will paraphrase here. So this is a little summary from the book.
If a child feels anxious, cortisol (stress hormone) is released. The longer they are left, the higher the level. Even when external signs are have decreased (crying, restlessness) the levels stay high or even increase further. Possible long term affects include adults that are hypersensitive to stress and not able to cope with it. Babies brains are immature and they are not capable of self soothing and bringing themselves back down after stress, but may go into a 'blank, staring state'. Helping a child by soothing and providing reassurance stimulates the release of oxytocin and opioids (feel good chemicals) Studies show that the sounds of mother's voice, her smell, a familiar cozy place all stimulate these chemicals as well so they suggest: something with mother's smell on it, voice recordings, massage and cuddly toys that are associated with relaxation feelings. Skin to skin contact is also highly recommended. "Kind sleep training" would involve going in constantly to give reassurance and if distress continues, leaving it to try at a later time (ie when they are a bit older) It also points out the most babies are terrible sleepers and if they won't settle , it's not that your parenting is inadequate. "Your primary aim at bedtime is to bring your child down from a superalert awake state, by activating the calming brain chemical oxytocin and the sleep hormone melatonin. The most likely way to achieve this is by establishing a soothing routine that will release the same chemicals whenever it is repeated" These are some more points:
*Stay calm, your baby will definitely pick up on any stress from you
*Dim lights, dark stimulates melatonin
*Avoid proteins two hours before bed as it activiates dopamine (brain stimulant). Carbs activate serotonin (sleepy chemical)
*The more daylight seen in the afternoon, the better children sleep
Hope that is the kind of information you were interested in. There is a lot said for co-sleeping as the skin on skin contact actually helps babies to regulate their own systems. Personally, Autie and I sleep better apart - we find each other too annoying! LOL The book talks of other areas also (behaviour, discipline, social skills etc) but I haven't read those yet. I suggest getting it from the library for free rather than buying it - you may not like it!