Whether a newborn joins the family by birth or adoption, first time parents experience the full realm of responsibility, possibility and worries for their baby. The learning curve is steep and often scary as first time parents try to navigate their way through diaper rash, colic, middle of the night feedings, and the rest of the never ending tasks. For adoptive parents, the worries can escalate if they don’t have a full history on their child. Even those who are fortunate enough to get a complete history may still be missing out on crucial facts (ie the great uncle who had heart problems and died in early childhood so no one remembers him; or, the cousin who had terrible behaviors because no one had ever diagnosed his autism). For many adoptive parents, the unknown means that they don’t know what to watch for in their baby and they worry over every little thing for fear they may miss something important that could harm their baby’s development. Health and developmental issues can be spotted fairly early on if the parent knows what to watch for. With early recognition and intervention, most problems can be addressed before they become uncontrollable. Here are some symptoms and things to do that every parent can watch for. Go with your gut. Most parents soon learn that they get a “feeling” when something isn’t right. This type of feeling in the parent tends to be persistent and isn’t relieved when your mom or your friends tell you to stop worrying. If you feel that something is wrong, get your baby to a doctor or to a developmental specialist as soon as possible and have a full assessment completed. Don’t let up until you have this done. You’ll find that going with your gut will be a crucial part of parenting throughout the life of your child. Delays. Every parent tends to measure their own child’s progress against that of their friends and peers. Suddenly, when your child sits up or when she starts to crawl becomes the most talked about thing in your social circle. You can’t always measure this successfully because babies tend to do things at different rates. However, if your baby is falling behind in a number of areas such as crawling, holding a cup, or sitting up, then it’s time to get help. Delays can be the result of institutionalization or of prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol. Sometimes the baby just needs time to catch up, while others may need intervention and support. A full assessment will help you and your doctor determine which is needed for your baby. Regression. If your baby has been developing at a pretty steady rate and then suddenly regresses, it’s time to get help from your doctor. Some babies will regress if there is tension in the home, or if there is a move to a new environment, or if new foods or textures are added to their diet. These babies will catch up on their own, although it’s important to figure out if the regression was from stress so that you can alleviate that from your baby’s life. For other babies, this can be sign that something isn’t right in their overall health. Don’t wait too long to have this checked out. Remember, your baby will find ways to tell you if he isn’t well. Trust yourself and trust your baby. Be faithful Be strong Brenda McCreight Ph.D.
Article Source: http://www.bizymoms.com/expert-advice
Dr. Brenda McCreight is an internationally recognized expert in adoption and behavioural disorders. She is the author of four books on adoption and she provides counselling to clients world wide through Skype, email and phone. Brenda is also the mom of 15 children and keeps busy with writing, gardening, and laundry. She can be reaches online at brendamccreight@gmail.com or visit www.theadoptioncounselor.com