How to Take Care of a Newborn Wild Baby Bird
Guide
Newborn Baby Care Basics: What to Know When You Exit the Hospital
What to pay attending to, the kinds of schedules to follow, and what you don't need to worry about at all.
Credit... Aart-jan Venema
This guide was originally published on May half-dozen, 2019 in NYT Parenting.
Life with a newborn can exist magical — and also overwhelming, exhausting and terrifying. I still recollect the 24-hour interval I brought my son home from the hospital and idea: How practise I care for this tiny, needy creature? Where is his owner's manual? But hard as being a new parent can exist, you're probably going to do fine. "Babies are a lot stronger than parents may requite them credit for," said Dr. Jennifer Shu, Thousand.D., an Atlanta-based pediatrician and co-author of "Heading Home With Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality." (I remember our week-old son rolling off a burrow in one case and thinking we had cleaved him. He was fine.) Over time, too, parents learn to detect and sympathise their baby'due south needs, desires and schedules. Caring for a newborn — a babe under 28 days old — is not easy, but information technology does become more manageable, especially with the right advice on paw. For this newborn guide, I spoke with iii pediatricians and a certified pediatric sleep consultant, collecting tips on what parents should pay attending to, what kinds of schedules they should follow, what they should exercise and what they don't need to worry well-nigh.
Whether yous're breastfeeding or using formula, feed your baby frequently.
If a mom is breastfeeding — the American University of Pediatrics recommends doing so for at least six months — her body will unremarkably first producing breast milk within three days of nativity. Before that, her breasts volition produce a thick, yellow food-filled liquid called colostrum.
At first, a nursing female parent might take to work to ensure that her baby correctly latches, or fastens onto her breast, in guild to eat. If you're having problem establishing a expert latch or getting your baby to swallow, talk to a certified lactation consultant; most hospitals and birthing centers have at least one on staff. You can likewise find a private lactation consultant via the United States Lactation Consultant Association.
[How to breastfeed during the offset two weeks of life]
No matter whether you lot're breastfeeding or formula feeding, newborns should be fed every 1 to three hours, so that they swallow eight to 12 times in 24 hours. (If y'all're using formula, feed i to two ounces at a time. The C.D.C. has data on how to choose, fix and store formula.) Frequent meals help newborns regain weight that they may have lost later birth. As your infant grows, she will gradually exist able to eat more at each feeding and eat fewer times each day and night.
Don't fret if your baby doesn't burp later a feeding. "Babies will burp if and when they need to," said Dr. Diane Cicatello, M.D., a developmental and behavioral pediatrician and vice chair of pediatrics at CareMount Medical in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Sleep when your baby sleeps — and start a bedtime routine.
Babies nether the age of one should always exist put to sleep on their backs — never on their sides or stomachs — because back sleep minimizes the run a risk of sudden infant decease syndrome. After the American University of Pediatrics began recommending that babies be put to sleep on their backs, the incidence of SIDS dropped by more than than one-half.
At starting time, newborns sleep a lot — about sixteen to 17 hours a day — only that sleep is cleaved up every hour or two by periods of wakefulness. "In the early weeks, your babe will by and large wake only long plenty to exist fed and inverse," said Massachusetts-based certified pediatric slumber consultant Arielle Greenleaf. Since your baby will also be awake for brusque periods throughout the night, which will inevitably disrupt your slumber, "in society to stay well rested, y'all should absolutely sleep when your baby sleeps," she said.
Some babies accept their days and nights mixed up and may sleep more during the twenty-four hour period than at night. If that'southward the case, Greenleaf suggested waking your infant whenever daytime naps exceed ii hours. You lot may also want to start a bedtime routine, which serves equally a social cue that it is time for your infant to sleep for a longer stretch. A newborn bedtime routine might involve changing your infant into pajamas, swaddling him, feeding him, reading to him and singing him songs. "When parents are able to create a predictable routine for a baby — or as predictable every bit it tin can be in the early days — babies outset to empathize the menstruum of their day and what to look next," Greenleaf explained.
It'due south as well fine to permit your baby fuss for a few minutes at night if she'due south non hungry or soiled; you lot don't have to rock or agree her constantly. "Let them meet if they tin can naturally fall asleep on their ain," said Dr. Angela Mattke, M.D., a pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic Children's Center in Rochester, Minn.
Breast-stroke your babe safely, just not likewise frequently.
Spot clean your baby every twenty-four hour period around his oral cavity, neck and groin — basically, anywhere that gets muddied. Every bit for proper bathing, "1 to two times a week is actually plenty," Shu said, and bathing also oftentimes tin lead to dry skin or eczema, a skin condition characterized by red, itchy skin and rashes.
[How oft should you lot breast-stroke your infant ?]
To wash a baby before her umbilical cord stump falls off — which commonly happens 5 to fifteen days after birth — yous'll desire to give sponge baths. To do that, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends wrapping your baby in a towel and laying her down on a soft flat surface. Showtime wipe her face with a make clean, moist washcloth — you don't desire to utilize soap because information technology could get into her eyes or oral fissure — and so employ a small amount of baby lather onto the washcloth and gently wipe the rest of her body. Then wipe your baby's body again with a clean clammy washcloth. After the bathroom, consider applying a baby moisturizer, such every bit petroleum jelly, Mattke said, to foreclose dry skin.
Once your babe's umbilical cord stump has fallen off, you tin can breast-stroke him in a hard plastic babe bathtub or bowl. Before starting the bathroom, make sure you take everything you need within reach — baby lather or shampoo, washcloths, a cup for rinsing and a dry towel. (If you demand to go something afterwards you've put your baby in the bathroom, bring your baby with you — never leave a baby unattended in a bath or he could drown.) Fill the bath with two inches of warm water effectually 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your baby on his back in the bath and wash him with a washcloth and a small amount of baby soap, rinsing with clean warm water afterwards. Consider applying moisturizer such as petroleum jelly to your baby's clammy skin afterward.
When your baby is awake, bond with her, calm her and do tummy time.
One of the best ways to bond with your baby when she's awake is through skin-to-skin contact — resting your blank-chested baby on your blank chest, for example. Studies have shown that babies who experience pare-to-skin contact immediately after nativity are more probable to be breastfed, are breastfed for longer and have healthier responses on heart and breathing tests. Shu also suggested talking to your baby regularly and, since babies are nearsighted, getting your confront up shut to her so she tin can see you improve.
When your baby gets fussy, consider using some or all of the "five South's" — swaddle, side or stomach position (just when awake!), shush, swing and suck — which were first suggested past pediatrician Harvey Karp, M.D., author of "The Happiest Baby on the Block." If you lot desire to innovate a pacifier to give your infant something to suck on, it's best to wait until after he has learned how to nurse or drink well from a bottle, Shu said.
Don't forget about breadbasket fourth dimension, which is "really of import for gross motor development, caput control and neck strength," Mattke said. To practice tummy time, place your awake baby on her stomach on a stable soft surface two to three times a day for three to five minutes. Engage with your babe on the flooring to keep her entertained. Y'all can as well do stomach time on your chest if your baby prefers that, Mattke added.
Ask for support.
Condign a parent is heady, but information technology can likewise be exhausting and unsettling. If yous are struggling with the transition, ask your partner, if you have one, for assist or attain out to other family unit members or friends. "A tired, stressed out, poorly nourished and emotionally impoverished parent or caregiver cannot nurture their child," Cicatello said. Enquire friends or family unit members to hold your infant, modify him, have him out for walks or bottle-feed him expressed breast milk or formula.
More half of mothers experience "postpartum dejection" — mood swings, loss of ambition or sleeping problems. (Partners can experience depressed, as well.) Oft, these symptoms resolve on their ain within 2 weeks of nativity. But if your mood swings are astringent, yous aren't sleeping much or are sleeping as well much, or you are feeling like you can't do everyday tasks, y'all may exist experiencing postpartum depression, which affects one in nine mothers. If you think yous might exist depressed, talk to your dr. correct away to get the help y'all need.
When to Worry
If your baby has a temperature above 100.4 (always take a babe's temperature with a rectal thermometer), phone call your doc immediately, because a fever in a newborn can be a sign of a serious infection. Information technology'south besides a adept idea to phone call your pediatrician if your baby isn't eating well or if she is crying constantly. Talk to your medico, as well, if you come across signs of worsening jaundice — a condition in which in that location is too much bilirubin, a xanthous pigment made by reddish blood cells, in the claret. Signs of worsening jaundice include increased yellowing of your baby's skin (particularly on her face, stomach, arms or legs) or yellowing of the whites of her eyes.
Melinda Wenner Moyer is a science journalist, mom of 2, and author for Slate's science-based parenting column.
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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/newborn-baby-care-guide.html
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