This question is for people who are currently parents of children under a year old. I must know the answer to this question. Everytime I see my little grandchild(a full nine months old)...she has that look on her face of not knowing whether to cry or laugh. You know the look I'm talking about...where the face begins to crinkle up then relaxes..then begins to crinkle up and then relaxes. When I cough she totally starts screaming crying tears. So normally when I cough I make a game of it and cough from side to side and up and down and all over the place. She becomes just bewildered then.

So I asked the parents...does she do this with anyone else besides me. And the mother said she was that way just this evening with her dad, my son.

Is this normal?

No it is not normal. It is usually a sign the baby was scared before or after birth. Herscu describes this initial reaction of fear or being startled easily as a cal-c baby. Not knowing whetaher ot cry or laugh s na indicaiton of being suspicious. The baby is expressing cioncern, are you a friend or enemy and because they do not know due to soem previous fright, they respond to others with this uncertainty.

But there should be other signs of being a cal-c baby pr Lyc or a few others that come to mind based on your observation.

What other observations can you make or tell about the childs feeding, sleeping, stool, skin, etc and birth process?

Per Herscu, Observation is the homeoapths first tool to learn and understand.

What can you tell me?

John Oljace

[ 05. October 2002, 05:34: Message edited by: john oljace ]

The baby had a lot of red marks all over its face the first month or two. People here said it was the richness of the breast milk. The mother seemed to be more scared...scared that her baby would be marred in some way. I saw her scrubbing the baby once with almost a vengence(just really hard). The baby sleeps about 14 to 16 hours a day. This is the school of putting the baby down before it gets tired.

The mother had absolutely no drugs during the birthing...was sent home after her water broke and went through most of the worst at home. I would say the mother is nervous or scared....that the baby is okay in any way. The mother has tiny little red marks on her arms and these upset her a lot. She picks at them. In the same way she doesn't want her baby to have any marks on her. Was worried before the baby was born that she would have a bald baby.???

There is something weird about the baby's hair. It stands up kinda...doesn't lay flat.

I don't really know anymore about the baby...I know the mother wants to do everything perfect. They have a dog who barks at times...this doesn't seem to disturb the baby...only my loud barking cough.

When she cries...almost immediately the top of her eyelids get red. Sweet little tears roll down her face.

Thanks for your interest in this, John.

What else can I find out for you?

Also, I don't know how important this could be because I've only seen it once. The mother left to go out to some reunion. The baby was getting tired and fretting a bit...bedtime coming up. My son laid her down on the rug with a bottle....which she grabbed...then later she was playing with a book turning it around and so on...while we watched from the other room. I was amazed that she kept herself busy and wasn't bothered that noone was in the room with her. But then she turned around and maybe noticed that we weren't there and made her fretting sound.

Sorry, I keep thinking of things. I would say the hair of the baby is lusterless...but I haven't been around any other babies for a long time...so I don't know if thats normal.

carol,
a baby's hair might be fine, but it does have a shine to it nevertheless. however, babyhair does get dirty easier and faster (or shows it faster) and then gets a matted look. i washed my baby's hair every day with a mild natural baby shampoo.
claudia

Many of the symptoms point toward Cal and Lyc but the case is incomplete. Anything on stools, periods of being irritable, vomiting, if baby crying and picked up does it stop easily or keep crying, if eats small amounts often or large amounts and less often,....does the baby sleep sound or restless and if ever wakes crying as if scared and want to be picked up to be calmed down?

The stools are normal. The baby hardly ever cries(except the cough which startles her)...but when it is fretting...it is better from being picked up...but then usually fretting means wet, hungry or tired. Baby sleeps good at night...never has woken up as if scared. Eats normal amount at each meal...doesn't over eat..is not a chubby baby. Has never vomited. Sorry...nothing else to go on.

If anything the baby is a little more fretful at the end of the day.

How about any past illnesses or diaper rash? Also what time of day/night is baby happy vs. not as happy? Also does baby perspire? If so when and from where and if an odor to it?

If there are not more sympotms to go on, other than cal, Lyc you probably need to just wait and see if this startled response to certain things subsides on it's own. It will either stop or if it truly is a problem it will manifest itself in other symptoms that will make prescribing easier.

Seems like baby is healthy ovrerall and unless you can tell me something else I would wait. I have read many baby cases form herscu and in most cases when aa chidl is startled easy and there is not much else ot go on, Calc usually clams them down and eliminates the startled reaction.