As a parent, the first few weeks and months with your newborn baby may be difficult for you. As you may be recovering from childbirth.
You may have to navigate through the newborn’s early months. In the first few weeks, you have to make big adjustments in your life.
You have to change your eating habits and take care of your health more and follow a strict routine.
If you are having your first baby and have no idea how to take care of your newborn in his early months then this article might help you learn everything about how to feed your baby and manage your life with your baby.
All About Newborn Care
Newborn Hiccups
Hiccups occur in newborn babies when the diaphragm contracts. However, there is no need to worry about it as hiccups do not usually harm your baby. In that case, you could just leave your baby to stop hiccupping. If it doesn’t work you may prevent them by following these methods.
The stomach may fill with the air during feeding, thus you should take a break from feeding and try to burp your baby. It may help your baby to get rid of his hiccups. Burping allows your baby to remove excess gas from their stomach which may be one of the causes of hiccups.
If feeding is not the reason for hiccups you may try using a pacifier. It might help your baby to get rid of diaphragm issues and relax the hiccups. You may also try gripe water. It is a traditional way to treat a baby’s issues like colic, hiccups and other stomach issues.
More info on this one is here.
Newborn Diapers
Newborn babies have different pooping habits. In the first few months, parents may have to change diapers more than 10 times a day or sometimes even more. At the beginning of parenting, diaper changing might become complicated for you. As your baby grows you might need to consider different things based on your baby’s diaper needs.
As your baby has very sensitive and delicate skin you may have to consider these things before buying diapers. First, it should be very soft, to keep your newborn baby’s skin dry you might need a super absorbent diaper. It may also help to avoid umbilical cord stump. Make sure the diaper is fastened and easy to put on.
When you select the perfect diaper for your baby now you need to take care of these things before diapering your baby. Use warm water and soft tissue to clean your baby’s diaper area. Use petroleum jelly or diaper ointment which may help to treat and prevent rashes.
Usage steps have been illustrated here.
Newborn Rashes
You may notice new rashes appearing on your baby after a few days or months. Some of the common types of rashes are cradle caps which usually appear on the scalp, Eczema is often noticed on the chests, legs, arms, face and behind the knees of babies.
To prevent these rashes you should make sure that you are using gentle soap on your baby. Start using a gentle detergent for cleaning your baby’s laundry and avoid fabric softener. Make sure to use moisturizers on the skin of your baby. You may also apply hydrocortisone or another steroid cream.
Prickly heat may also appear on your baby’s skin. These are the small red bumps that normally occur on the neck, armpits, and diaper area which are prone to sweat and overheating. To treat prickly heat you may try to keep those dry and provide them with loose-fitting clothes.
Directions on how to deal with the rashes have been included here.
Jaundice Newborn
Jaundice in newborns causes a yellow discoloration of the skin. It might occur because of premature livers. Thus it may not be able to remove bilirubin chemicals from the blood. Other medical conditions might cause jaundice in newborns. There are various medical treatments available out there.
However, you may try these home remedies to treat jaundice at home. You may provide sunlight to your baby, it might remove the bilirubin from the body which may allow the baby’s liver to process effectively. Make sure to avoid direct contact with sunlight.
A medical treatment called phototherapy could help your baby to get rid of jaundice if the bilirubin level is very high. You may talk to your doctor and it could be set up at your place under supervision.
Other details could be found here from this gov article.
How Much Should A Newborn Eat?
For the first few months of a baby, there is no specific amount recommended to nourish your newborn baby. However, the ideal infant diet will be dependent on your infant’s appetite, weight and age. Also, it might be based on whether your baby is formula feeding or breastfeeding.
You may consult your doctor or pediatrician if you are not able to decide how often you should feed your baby. However, you may consider these guidelines to feed your baby in the first few months.
Your breastfeeding baby may get hungry every 2 to 3 hours in the first 6 weeks. Which means you should feed them 12 times per day. Your baby’s weight also matters if you’re formula feeding. You may provide 2.5 ounces of formula as per the pound of the weight of your baby.
A randomized trial on this issue has been talked about here.
Newborn Constipation, Constipated Newborn
Within one year of birth, your baby would face constipation several times. It is common in newborn babies. However, sometimes it might not be constipation rather setting his schedule for bowel movement. Usually, the baby’s stool is quite soft and could be passed easily. Also many times your baby is not constipated, maybe his bowel movements are irregular.
If you are formula feedings try to use a different brand after consulting your pediatrician. On the other hand, you may try a few home remedies that could help the baby to get rid of constipation. You can add fruit juice to your baby’s bottle. If your baby is older than 4 to 5 months give them some extra water. It might help them to get relief.
Feed them foods that are high in fibre such as peas or pureed prunes if they eat solid foods. You may also massage your baby by bending his knees towards his chest. This squat posture might help them to poop out. You can also gently massage his belly.
A number of important pointers have been discussed here.
Newborn Diarrheas’
Your newborn baby may poop in different colors, textures and odors. It may differ based on their eating habits such as solid foods, formula and breast milk. The newborn poops are usually softer as compared to adults. However sometimes it may get even softer and looser or watery than usual, it may be the symptoms of diarrheas’.
There are various causes of diarrheas’ like stomach bugs, baby meds, milk allergy or others. In many cases, it may disappear on its own by following simple home remedies. Keeping your baby hydrated may help you to prevent diarrheas’.
Electrolyte drinks could help your baby get rid of diarrheas’. These drinks might replace the lost salts and fluids to your baby when they have diarrheas’. If your baby eats solid foods, provide them with foods like bananas, pasta, cereal and crackers. These foods may help your baby soothe diarrheas’.
You could also refer to these couple of important writeups here and here.
Newborn Poop
Your baby might begin regular pooping after a few days of their birth. Most infants poop about 2 to 5 times each day after 6 weeks. However, newborns aged between 6 weeks to 3 months typically poop less.
You may monitor your baby’s bowel movements to track their nutrients and health. Babies under 3 months of age typically poop less as compared to older babies. In most cases, they poop once a day frequently and uncommonly once a week. However, this is not an issue as long as your baby is healthy.
The color of poop describes the health of your baby. If your baby’s poop has light yellow, greenish or brown color and mild odor it means it is healthy. On the other hand, if the poop has black blood it is uncommon. And if it has red blood in it then you might need to call a doctor.
You might also feel infrequent stools in breastfeeding infants. The same needs to be monitored and if required should be notified to a child specialist as well.
Newborn Acne
Your baby’s skin may develop acne in the first few years. It is common in newborns. It usually occurs on the face or body of your baby. Which looks like pimples and tiny bumps in red or white color. In most cases, the acne disappears on its own and you don’t need any treatment to get rid of it.
Baby acne usually appears in small red bumps on the nose, cheeks and forehead. Most of the time it develops within the two or five weeks after birth. Sometimes this acne is characterized by tiny white bumps called milia, which usually appear on the chin or cheeks area.
However, there are a few home remedies and lifestyle tips that may help you to resolve newborn acne. Make sure to clean the face of your baby. You may use warm water to wash your baby’s face and body with mild baby soap. Use a soft cloth to dry the face of your baby, just gently pat it all over the face. You should avoid scrubbing and pinching the acne, it might result in an infection or cause more irritation. Also do not use lotions and oils on the face of your baby.
A detailed analysis has been discussed here on this governmental write-up.
A Hemolytic Disease Of The Newborn
HDN is also known as erythroblastosis fetalis. This newborn disease is a type of blood disorder that may occur when the blood groups of mother and baby are different. The ratio of HDN is low in the United States as they have advanced detection and prevention of this disease. There are a few ways that may help to treat infants with hemolytic disease.
You could feed your baby often and allow extra fluids. Also, you may provide light therapy called phototherapy to your baby. The special lights help to transform the bilirubin into a special form that might help your baby to get rid of HBD.
You could also provide antibodies like IVIG, immunoglobulin or intravenous to your child. It may help protect your baby’s red blood cells from being distracted. Several medical treatments are effective in treating HDN.
An in-depth analysis has been done here.
Final Words On Newborn Care
If you are a first-time parent and looking for a solid piece of information in regards to the overall newborn health and their care regimen, then you should definitely go through this one.
At the same time, I have added a number of authentic references that might be able to help you even more. As a result, you will find most of the relevant information here.
Having said all that, there are a number of newborn issues that you might face in the day to day life as well. Hence, you might want to mention those or send an email to us as well. Our team would be happy to help you in those matters.