Establishing healthy practices for your baby from the moment they are born is important so that you don’t have to try to change established habits later on (because that’s not fair to anyone, especially your baby). Here are a few of the most important healthy habits!

• Maximize skin on skin and cuddle time

Babies and children grow so fast, let them fall asleep on you before putting them down in there crib (at least for the first coupe of days or even weeks). Many of the little things that annoy you today are gone in the blink of an eye and you actually look back on those memories fondly. Love and appreciate every single minute of parenthood!

• Teach your baby healthy feeding and sleep habits right away

For a predicable schedule and to maximize uninterrupted sleep as soon as possible (up to 12 hours at 12 weeks), implement the Calmmother feeding and sleep schedule (or other sleep program that works for you) as soon as possible after your baby is born. We cannot stress enough that our program is most effective if you transition your baby to your schedule as soon as she is born. Although we recommend that you be firm and consistent with the schedule, we urge you to be patient with your baby – we are talking about your sweet baby after all. In the same way that certain babies walk and talk earlier than others, some babies may take longer than others to adapt to a desired schedule. This is something to keep in mind as you transition your baby to your routine. We know that patience is truly a virtue in every sense of the word.

Make sure to let other family members and caregivers know about the feeding and sleep method you are using so that they can help you establish consistency in your little one’s life. Habits can develop in as little as a few days, so you will want the other caregivers to know about your daily routine and minimizing the frequency of your baby falling asleep on an adult. Since it can take up to a few weeks or longer to change a habit once it has been established, try not to let the bad habit form in the first place.

• Learn to communicate effectively with your baby

This really goes both ways in terms of learning your baby’s language and teaching your baby to communicate with you as well. We are assuming that you are interested in soothing your baby before she begins to cry hysterically or at all.

Absent health concerns, making sure your baby is content is key to avoiding tears. This will entail ensuring that your baby is well-fed and rested, that she is burped and changed as required, and that she comfortable, meaning not too hot or cold and that her clothing is comfy (we know, tall order, right?).

With respect to your newborn baby, we believe that Dunstan Baby Language (DBL) provides a life changing approach to preventing tears. In short, according to DBL the five universal words or sound reflexes used by infants are: Eairh – baby has gas, Eh – baby needs to burp, Heh –baby is physically uncomfortable, Neh – baby is hungry, and Owh – baby is tired. We recommend that you at least check out Ms. Dunstan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. It won’t take up too much of your time to learn what you need to know (and there’s an app for it – genius!).

As your baby gets older, it can be fun trying to figure out her needs and wants in between the raspberries, giggles, cooes and sound reflexes. But, for times that you may just want to cut to the chase, we also think it is important to teach your baby sign language. This can be particularly helpful when your baby is old enough to eat solids. Plus, how cute is it for your baby to sign I love you before she can verbalize it!

Start using basic baby sign language with your baby as soon as possible, including the words hungry, thirsty, more, finished, sleep time, and I love you. Learn these and other baby signs at www.babysignlanguage.com. You may be surprised by just how fast your baby picks up on it.

• Always teach proper etiquette

Since habits begin to form immediately, be mindful of the manner that you speak to and behave in front of your baby from day one. Teach good manners by demonstrating appropriate etiquette, including sitting politely at the dinner table, not playing with or throwing food, not allowing toys at the table, and teaching your baby to say please, thank you and excuse me, etc.

Similarly, to help develop your baby’s ability to communicate verbally, speak with her like she is a person – try to avoid baby talk completely. Also, use words with correct grammar and pronunciation.

Babies pick up on words very quickly, and they love listening to you sing and talk. Tell your baby what time it is and what you’re going to during that time, such as bath time, nap time, play time, bedtime, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Having a running dialogue with your baby during the day is totally normal – just wait until she begins to talk back to you!

• Lose the Mommy guilt and take care of yourself

Food, love, career, and mothers, the four major guilt groups – Cathy Guisewite could not have said it any better.

Truly, it doesn’t matter what you do, how hard you try or how much you love your baby, mother’s guilt will always be there regarding one thing or another. This includes, but is by no means limited to, the decision to go back to work or not (and if so, when), to breastfeed or not (and if so, for how long), to take time for yourself, or to put your newborn down or let them cry for five minutes or longer.

Perfection is impossible, you are doing the best you can, go easy on yourself. And don’t forget to breath!