No time to draw fully rendered stuff so here’s a quick (fake) anime screencap of a Yuri on Ice AU hahah. I might draw more… The end of the year is always so busy! Anyways, hope everyone’s doing well ❤
Infants do not cry to upset you. They don’t have a concept of hurting others and they don’t have any reason to want to do so.
Infants do not have any other way of communicating distress or an unmet need. They do not have a choice about crying.
Do not ever yell at, shake, or punish an infant. They will not learn from this – but they will be upset and afraid and possibly harmed, either in the moment or via problems in brain development.
It’s okay to take a minute to set an infant down and go into a
quiet room if you are having a hard time staying calm and comforting,
and come back when you have more self-control.
The only way to get an infant to cry less is to meet their needs. If
you spend a lot of time with infants you can actually learn to notice
when they need something, before they cry about it at all. Most infants
show signs of discomfort, hunger, or having a full/wet diaper, before
they get upset enough to cry.
Infants whose needs aren’t
usually met right away may learn to cry immediately. Regularly not
responding to an infant’s crying teaches the infant to panic every time
they need something, and the trauma of being so afraid so often as an
infant can cause issues with healthy brain develoment.
If a baby is crying, they need something.
Is their nappy/diaper clean and dry? Even if it’s just wet, it should be changed right away.
Are they hungry? A quick way to check is to run your finger over their mouth and see if they try to grab it with their lips.
Do they have air bubbles? You may be able to tell if this is the problem by feeling the infant’s tummy for unusual firmness.
Infants need to be burped right after they eat to help them get
rid of air bubbles that may get trapped and cause discomfort. If it’s
been little while since they last ate, it may be more effective to lay
the infant on their back and move their legs in a bicycle motion.
Are they too warm/cold? Touch the infant’s hands and feet to see if they need more or fewer coverings.
Are they overstimulated?
If it’s too noisy/bright or they’re being touched by too any people,
etc., they may need to be held by one calm person with a blanket over
their head. Like most people, infants tend to get more easily
overstimulated when tired.
Are they able to breathe freely? Infants cannot blow their own nose. A nasal aspirator is an inexpensive tool you can use to help them clear nasal congestion.
Are they in pain? When
an infant is sick or otherwise in pain, it may be beneficial to give
them pain medication formulated for infants, such as baby tylenol.
Always follow the instructions on the bottle and consult a doctor or
pharmacist with any questions.
If a cold doesn’t start to improve within a few days or the infant seems to be in pain but you don’t know why, consult a doctor. The infant may have colic, silent reflux or other issues which can sometimes be treated.
If the infant is more than a couple months old, they may be teething. Baby tylenol will still help but a numbing paste, like orajel, on their gums may be more effective. They may also need teething toys to chew on or a cold wet (clean) washcloth.
Do they just need reassurance? Infants like being sung to, murmured to, and soothed with rhythmic “shhh”-ing. Calm and steady sounds help reassure them that they aren’t alone and help them relax.
Another way to comfort an infant is to bounce them gently and rhythmically in your arms, and/or pat their back rhythmically.
Some infants, including most newborns, may need to be swaddled. A tight swaddle helps the infant feel secure and warm. Ask a doctor, nurse, parent, or YouTube to show you how to do a proper swaddle.
Do they need to be held? The
need for touch is the need most often ignored. Infants are significantly
more likely to thrive with lots and lots of skin-to-skin contact. They
also just need to be held, in general, a lot of the time.
Being
held (especially with skin to skin contact but even without it) helps
the infant release hormones necessary for healthy brain
development. Being close enough to feel an adult’s steady heartbeat is
calming and beneficial for an infant.
For these reasons and many
others, infants need to be held – a lot. Our closest primate relatives
maintain constant physical contact with their babies for the first year
of life. Historically most humans have lived communally, which allows several people to take turns providing the necessary physical contact.
Infants don’t need to be held every single moment, but the more they are held, the safer and more secure they’ll feel and the more likely they are to be healthy. A sling, baby wrap, or wearable infant carrier can help an infant get necessary contact time.
If an infant needs contact to sleep, consider getting a cosleeper cushion to safely allow you or someone else to sleep next to the infant. If that isn’t possible, sleep training where you pick up and comfort the baby each time they cry, and then put them down slightly sooner each time that night, may help.
Do not let an infant cry and cry for help and not give it to them.
Add: infants who have experienced long term neglect STOP CRYING to get things or communicate. This isn’t growing out of crying to replace it with language, I’m talking about pre-verbal language absence of crying to express needs.
This does not not mean the baby is a “good” baby. This means the baby has been neglected or attended to so inconsistently that they have given up on social communication of needs. It is not a good sign.
A little louder for the people in the back.
You would not believe the amount of times I have heard “you’re going to spoil him”, “he’s manipulating you” and so on, for holding/rocking/COMFORTING my son when he was fresh. (And seeing people tell this to new parents while at work I’m like ???? Their baby?? Is 3 hours old?? What?? The fuck??)
Pardon my language but are you fucking kidding me? Who came up with this idea that infants, INFANTS, are manipulative? They think something disappears from existence when they can’t see it anymore, and you’re telling me they have the mental capacity to be manipulative?
Babies cry because they have needs to be met. It’s not rocket science. Their brains NEED love, human touch and interaction, to develop properly. You will not spoil your child by soothing them when they cry.
In the 50’s there was a book that went around telling everyone to leave their children to cry. I blame that for a generation of Reactive Attachment Disorder.
Carry your children on your body the way humans have done for centuries. If their crying bothers you, that is because it is meant to. See to the baby and tune out the sound. Or put in earplugs while caring for said child. Or so anything other than ignore or punish your child.
“He’s running out of time” – the dreaded 30 second rule.
I meant to make this a long time ago (and probably HAVE made a long-forgotten draft somewhere), but kept convincing myself that it wasn’t important enough.
It’s a small figure skating scheduling tidbit.
This is ep12, after Yuuri and Victor have their pre-FS rinkside talk and Morooka mistakes their laughter for crying.
In this scene, Takeshi is commenting on the length of time Yuuri took to head out to center ice after his name was called by the announcer.
Rule 350 on page 12 of the 2016 Special Regulations rulebook (the rulebook edition that was out when YoI was created and finished, and currently still in effect), addresses the Call to Start. It outlines the expectations for skaters taking a starting position, and the consequences upon failing to comply. A skater has thirty (30) seconds to take their starting position upon having their name called. If they take even 1 second too long, the skater(s) will receive a penalty of 1.00 point, and if they are not in position by 60 seconds, then they are considered withdrawn from the segment of the competition (Short Program, Free Skate, Short Dance, etc.).
This rule was put in place after the 2013-2014 season ended because… the ISU wanted to shorten times and speed things up for TV programming. Prior to the 2014-2015 season, the time limit was 1 minute so that skaters had time to center themselves before starting. But the ISU deemed that 30 seconds was plenty of time. As you can imagine, that tripped up some skaters in following seasons. The most recent one I can remember off the top of my head is Yuzuru at the 2017 Worlds Men’s SP.
I do want to stress that the 30-second countdown only starts once the announcer introduces the next skater to skate.
As we see with J.J. and Otabek in ep11, the next skater is allowed onto the ice as soon as the previous skater steps off. So while the judges are calculating scores, the next skater can skate around a bit and get a feel for the ice again. This means that a skater might be on the ice for a few minutes before their name is finally called.
——————–
On a related note, in case fic writers would like to know for whatever reason:
Finishing AFTER the music ends can also incur a 1 point penalty for every 5 seconds passed the maximum allowed program time (rule 502, page 74).
It’s not a big deal if a skater moves slightly after the music ends, but if their movement makes it so that they exceed the maximum time limit (2:45 for SP; 4:35 for FS), then that’s when a timekeeper and referee make the call. For example, if a skater’s program is 2:40 seconds, then they are right on the exact allotted time, and if they miss the end of the music by 2 seconds, it would put them at 2:42 which is still within the 5-second grace period. If a skater’s program is 2:45, then they need to end EXACTLY with the music or they will be penalized because they exceeded the 5 second grace period. This is why it’s a good idea to NOT make a program the maximum time, because even a second or two of wiggle room at the end can be the difference between being OK, and being dinged a point by the Referee (in consultation with the Timekeeper). This happened recently with Shoma Uno at the 2017 GPF Men’s SP.
Same goes with being under the minimum time limit: 2:35 for SP/4:25 for FS. Better to make a program slighter longer than the minimum, in case the skater strikes their final pose a tad early.
So to tie it all up, Yuuri
used up the preparatory time to resolve issues and set himself at ease. The announcer called his name while he was talking with Victor. When they parted, Yuuri was cutting it close to being penalized for taking his starting position late, but he made it in time, so he received no deductions.
aries: what are you passionate about?
taurus: name 3 of your favorite books.
gemini: what was the last text you sent?
cancer: if you could choose your child’s zodiac sign, what would it be?
leo: name something you love about yourself.
virgo: what’s your #1 pet peeve?
libra: describe your dream partner.
scorpio: do you trust easily?
sagittarius: if you could travel to any place in the world, where would it be?
capricorn: what’s your dream job?
aquarius: do you believe in aliens?
pisces: describe someone you love.
sun: describe yourself in 3 words.
moon: what’s your favorite song?
rising/asc: how would you describe your style?
mars: are you easily angered?
venus: what’s your aesthetic?
mercury: what color do you talk in?
jupiter: what moral do you live by?
saturn: what’s your biggest fear?
uranus: are you rebellious?
neptune: share one of your dreams.
pluto: what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned by far in your life?
lilith: do you have any guilty pleasures?
chiron: have you ever broken a bone?
ceres: are you a momfriend?
pallas: do you have a good relationship with your parents?
juno: do you believe in soul mates?
1st house: are you confident?
2nd house: if you could only keep one of your personal items, what would you choose?
3rd house: do you like to read?
4th house: what does your bedroom look like?
5th house: name your favorite movie or show.
6th house: do you participate in community service?
7th house: if you could choose, what zodiac sign would you like your dream partner to be?
8th house: do you believe in reincarnation?
9th house: what’s your favorite quote?
10th house: are you good at public speaking?
11th house: what sign(s) is your best friend/squad?
12th house: do you like to be alone?
Latest announcement: The YOI x Mizuno gear are now available for preorder on the Mizuno website, ending on January 14, 2018! This is what we’ve been waiting for!
If you order over a certain amount, you’ll receive the clear files above with the new artwork and also the Yuuri poster from Hasetsu! Order over ¥32,400 and get all three!
fun fact my cat & i are both blind so we accidentally run into each other sometimes, but bc im much louder than he is, when we get close to each other he chirps to warn me he’s there
Plume de Lynx 