Alexander Technique for Babies and Parents

An innovation in caring for infants, created by Jennifer Kellow, R.N.

Home“I felt I would lose my mind. At five months my baby had yet to sleep through one night. He slept six straight hours after his first session.” -Mother of infant with breathing issues A Method for Creating Peace of Mind Does your infant wake frequently at night, leaving you feeling exhausted the next day? Does your baby fall asleep during feedings? Are you concerned that your infant may be slow in reaching developmental milestones? The Alexander Technique for Babies and Parents, created by Jennifer Kellow, RN: helps parents gain confidence in caring for their babies improves babies’ eating and sleeping patterns To learn more, read Jennifer’s biography, see some of her case studies, or contact her. Learn more about how Jennifer can help your baby
MethodHow Jennifer helps babies Working with premature babies and brain-injured infants and toddlers, Jennifer Kellow, RN, developed a highly effective way to help all infants learn: Easy Breathing Sound Sleep Calm Feeding Smooth Digestion Coordinated Movement She combines her skill as an Alexander Technique teacher with her experience as a neonatal intensive care nurse and her training in preterm infant behavior to help babies integrate all the developing systems of their bodies. Jennifer works to re-establish the natural connection between parents and baby that a premature birth and subsequent hospitalization have disrupted. For parents of full-term newborns, she smooths the baby’s adaptation to life outside the womb, and helps new parents recognize the highly developed communication that their baby is naturally expressing. How It Works In a session, Jennifer will: Evaluate your baby’s behavior and movement Use skilled touch to bring you and your baby to a state of calm Help your baby learn to regulate his body systems Teach you the cues your baby is giving to communicate his needs Sessions last 75 minutes, in which Jennifer will gently interact with your baby, on the floor, or holding your child, or with you holding your child. Improvements in comfort,u0026hellip;
About Alexander TechniqueThe Alexander Technique is a scientifically studied method of enhancing awareness of one’s movement and coordination, and consciously directing that coordination With this new awareness, one can learn to suspend habits of excess tension, even those that may be subtle or that may seem permanent. Some of the demonstrated benefits of Alexander Technique lessons include: a decrease in stress improved coordination better balance easier breathing improved posture From Wikipedia: The Alexander technique is an alternative medicine and educational discipline focusing on bodily coordination, including psychological principles of awareness. It is applied for purposes of recovering freedom of movement, in the mastery of performing arts, and for general self-improvement affecting poise, impulse control and attention. After years of training, a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique has learned to suspend her own habits of excess tension while she interacts with you, the student. Through gentle, directive touch and verbal instruction, the teacher conveys an improved quality of movement and coordination to the student. Alexander Technique will teach you to replace your habits of tension with coordination and poise. Professional performers and athletes take Alexander lessons to reach their maximum performance level. Many adults take Alexander lessons to speed healing from injuriesu0026hellip;
Case StudiesThese are some of the infants I have worked with (names are changed), and the results seen. Duncan Duncan was born preterm, with a large hole between two of the four chambers of his heart. This meant the oxygenated blood in his heart mixed with blood filled with carbon dioxide, instead of the two remaining separated. The surgery needed to repair his heart was dependent on Duncan gaining weight. However, when he ate, his skin color turned a deep blue indicating decreased oxygen to his body, and he would struggle to get more air. In fact, he expended so much energy when eating that he lost weight instead of gaining it. To remedy this situation, the oxygen level in his blood was continuously monitored and oxygen-enriched air was blown towards his face during feeding time. I gave my Alexander directions for coordinating a freer use of myself while feeding and holding Duncan. After a few minutes of this process, his monitor numbers indicated his oxygen level had climbed too high. I turned off the oxygen, and his skin color remained pink. I resumed feeding him while continuing to project my Alexander Technique directions to myself. His oxygen monitor read normal, asu0026hellip;
Testimonials“My baby loved her time with Jennifer. She was calm, happy and attentive and not only continued to demonstrate her improved coordination, but moved onto her next developmental milestone quite soon after working with Jennifer.” “Oliver had frequent colds and each time we would have to go to the emergency room because they would get so bad he needed medicine to breathe. After even the first session with Jennifer, his symptoms were less severe and soon he needed much less medicine and got less colds.” “Claire was skipping crawling all together and would cry if we put her on her belly. She was pulling to a stand and was always falling backwards, once even hitting her head. After working with Jennifer, she loved to be on her belly and crawl across the room and when she pulled to a stand she balanced easily without falling.” “I was at my wit’s end because my baby was five months old and still only sleeping 2-3 hours at a time and I was breastfeeding him. I was beyond exhausted and thought I would lose my mind. He would fall asleep in the middle of the feeding and take almost 30 minutes to eat.u0026hellip;
About JenniferJennifer is a pioneer in the use of the Alexander Technique with preterm infants. Her desire to train as an Alexander Technique Teacher stemmed from an observation she made while learning the Alexander Technique in 1984. As she practiced the Alexander Technique directions for a calm and easy coordination of herself while doing her nursing care, her preterm patients improved their eating and sleeping patterns and began to thrive, despite the stresses of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Jennifer had worked as a nurse in Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care for seven years since graduating with honors from the University of Virginia with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. But the changes she now saw in the babies rivaled any positive changes she had seen in her patients prior to this time. She began to document these changes and completed the three-year training to become an Alexander Technique teacher. She attended The Alexander School of Philadelphia headed by Bruce and Martha Fertman where the distinctive faculty included Marjorie Barstow, one of the first teachers trained by F.M. Alexander himself. Over the next twelve years, Jennifer investigated her application of the Alexander Technique with every patient in her care asu0026hellip;
BlogFeb. 19, 2010 BELLY TIME ! The mortality rate from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) has decreased since the 1992 revision of the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) policy statement on the prevention of SIDS. In that statement, the recommendation was to place all infants under a year to sleep on their backs rather than on their bellies or on their sides. Historically, the prone sleeping position has been associated with SIDS at a much higher rate than the back or side position. In the policy statement revisions since 1992, the side position has been eliminated as a safe sleeping position for infants due to the cases where an infant has turned prone from their side in some cases of SIDS. There are many contributing factors considered in evaluating the unknown cause of SIDS including a difference in the brain chemistry of SIDS infants on autopsy and a higher incidence of SIDS in preterm infants. The incidence of SIDS drops after the first six months of life, but remains a concern for the first year of life. Since it is not know which infants are at risk, and with the risk of suffocation due to soft bedding, blankets, and especially,u0026hellip;
Links
ContactEmail Jennifer I will respond to your query ASAP. [contact-form 1 u0022Contact Jennifer Kellowu0022]

Interview Part 2

Here I discuss newborn babies and their parents:

Jennifer Kellow, R.N.

The Barrow Mansion
83 Wayne St.
Suite 201
Jersey City, N.J. 07302
917-288-4317
jennifer@alexanderbabies.com