NEWBORN CUES FOR OVER STIMULATION

Infants use cues as mentioned above for interaction and to signal a time for you to recognize they have had enough stimulation and are becoming stressed or disorganized. This form of recognition is used in preemies and in full term babies. There are four kinds of clues for you to be familiar with.

1. Physiological: This is the way the organs of the body function. The brain regulates body functions such as heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, body temperature and many others. If the baby is premature then the organs and the central nervous system is also, so most of the cues will be of this nature.

Breathing rate: may be faster or slower or may have pauses that last 2 seconds or more. If this happens we call this disorganized and we would realize the baby is overloaded.
Skin Color: if disorganized the skin may be pale, dusky, red or blotchy. If there
is nothing wrong the skin will be a healthy pink color.

2. Motor: The visible signs of over stimulation would be in tone, posture or movement.
Tone: This would be the amount of tension or energy seen in a baby's body when
resting. When a baby is limp it is a sign of low tone. As the baby matures, the tone will develop more fully and the baby will learn to curl or tuck the body. This will start in the legs and move to the trunk and then the arms.

Posture: This is the position of the arms and legs. When the baby is stressed the
arms and/or legs may be extended or stretched out. When the baby is relaxed the arms and legs will be curled near the body.
Movement: This will vary from jerky and uncontrolled to more smooth and controlled movements as the body matures.

If the baby is stressed: Stretched arms, fingers and/or toes splayed, hands in
fists, high arm position where arms are over the head and fore arms lay across the
face in a self-protecting or shielding manner. Other signs include a rigid or flaccid
body, squirming, jerking, mouth open limply, tongue extending beyond lips, or body arching.
If baby is calm: The will lie in a soft position with arms and legs softly bent around the body. Hands may be near face. Movements will be smooth. Arms and legs stay close to the body and may move in circles.

3. State: This refers to all aspects of the sleep and wake cycles. Patterns of sleeping and waking are important for babies development because the sleep habits they learn now they will carry though there entire life time. Being alert and learning to interact and relate to people is also a very important task. When a baby is born prematurely he is ready to learn to sleep but not to socialize. They are extremely sensitive to their environment. Even things as easy as eating and breathing at the same time can be difficult for the premature baby to learn. When they finally get these movements learned it is an important accomplishment. You can make it easier to adjust by recognizing these sings and honoring them.
If the baby is stressed: He will have a low level of alertness with this eyes slightly open, he will have little movement, or he may be quiet with eyes wide open like panic – he may be focused on something and unable to break his gaze, he may be unable to calm himself, have an upward gaze, be staring or grimacing.
If the baby is calm: He will have little or no movement but will have bright eyes, focused and appearing ready to interact. He may be in a deep sleep with regular breathing, with no rapid eye movement and relaxed facial expressions, and mildly sucking. There should be no spontaneous movements or irregular breathing, eyes should be closed or partially open, and no REM.

4. Self Regulation: Is what we call self soothing and dealing with one's surroundings. The baby is learning to maintain balance in all of the above systems all at once. Self Soothing methods will become evident as the baby's system matures. They become better at this with the help of you and the parents.

Self Soothing or Self Regulation will include any of the following behaviors:
Hands to mouth and face
Bracing feet and legs together
Clasping hands together
Clasping feet together
Tucking their bodies
Sucking behavior
Grasping and holding on
Looking and attending

When the baby is doing any of these he is beginning Self Soothing Techniques.

Taken from “ Getting to Know your Baby” 2003 Special Start Training Programs, Mills College Dept of Education, Oakland CA