Baby Care Guide: What do you need to know?

When your baby arrives in this world and you hear the first cry, this is the moment when your heart just filled with never-ending love, happiness and you want to scream with all the air in your lungs. These moments are precious and from that moment you start to plan the comfort zone for your little one. In the starting days, even in the hospital you are just thinking about how to shelter and raise your children with all you have or not.

This is the dilemma of the new parents. It is quite difficult for the parents to take care of their newborn the best way. From feeding the child, burping and changing clothes seems challenging as you need to be really careful. But when few days pass, you simply become pro in nursing your child and you find it less challenging, a fun thing and most importantly the very dear responsibility. You are already taking care of your child, but here are few tips that help you make things possible easily and without missing any single thing.

Umbilical Cord Carefulness

Umbilical cord is the organ that connects the baby with mother during the pregnancy, which plays the remarkable part in the nourishment. After birth, the cord’s stump remains outside the womb which eventually dries and fall off. This procedure takes almost one to three weeks, and during this time period parents are advised to take proper care of it. Every time you change pamper make sure it is not tucked inside, clean the area gently, and let it dry itself.

Feeding the Newborns

In the beginning, it is really difficult to identify when your baby is hungry. Mostly the newborn babies need feed after 2 to 3 hours, which makes 8 to 12 times in a day. Breastfeed is advantageous and way better than the top feed. Mothers are recommended to avoid formula milk. Breast milk is good for the babies as it controls the digestive system and effectively maintains the immune system.

Excessive Crying (Colic)

Usually new parents get worried when their babies won’t stop crying. But excessive crying which is also known as colic is common in infants. It occurs after third or sixth week of birth. The crying episode ends when the baby becomes three to four months old. The crying of the babies is like they are having some serious pain or they are screaming with pain. There is nothing to get worry about, but make sure the baby’s stomach is not upset, not having gastric issues and he/she is not hungry.

Calm your Fussy Baby

When your baby cries of colic or any other reason, they become fussy and anxious. You need to calm them by the following techniques;

• Swaddle them with a comfortable cloth or blanket.
• Hold them tight and make them feel the fragrance of mother.
• Turn their body to the left side and hold them in your arms.
• Make the soothing and calming sound.
• Do not overfeed them in order to keep them busy and make them stop crying.
• Walk with your baby slowly and rock them.

Baby Bathing

Doctors usually recommend not to give frequent bath to the newborns. However, bathing is the precious time for the parents which creates a magical bond. You enjoy seeing your baby feeling the sensation of warm water. It is the nerve-wracking part for the parents which brings anxiety as your little baby requires careful handling.

Bath on the daily basis is not for the newborns as you need to monitor the body temperature and outside temperature as well. When you are bathing your baby make sure you are using warm water, give bath after 5 to 6 days to infants. Instead, clean them with warm towel if you think he/she needs to be clean.

Newborn’s Bedtime Routine

Newborns do not have any specific bedtime schedule, especially when they are in their first month, they sleep for the whole day. The more they sleep the more they will be healthy. It is hard to make any particular schedule for the babies of 1 month. However, when you baby become 2 months old, you can easily predict the internal clock, and here you can induce the basic sleeping schedule. When your baby reaches to its 3 to 6 months, you will observe that the wake-up time, sleeping schedule and nap time all sets on the same time every day.

Keep your Partner Involve

Taking care of the baby is not the responsibility of the mother only, fathers should stay up whenever your baby’s alarm sounds. Share the mental burden and learn how to fulfill the needs of the baby when it thrives. Usually the new dads hang back in supporting mothers and getting involve in the baby chores. There must be fear of something getting wrong or sloppiness. However, mothers should teach their husbands without criticizing and making fun of them. Avoid doing so, as it’s all your word which is going to be divided or you might get some me time!!!

Taking Care of Skin, Nails and Scalp

The skin of your baby is very soft and sensitive, so try to use a baby lotion to avoid the roughness, cracking and pealing. It is advised to use skin hydrated lotions which build a barriers between the skin and infections.

Trimming the nails is a really difficult task, the fingers and the nails are tiniest but they need to be trimmed. It is safer for the babies, as usually the little ones who don’t know how to control their hands scratch themselves. There are baby nail cutters available on every baby shop buy them as the adult cutters may hurt them.

There is a soft spot in the middle of the head of the newborns which occurs because of the half-finished fusion of the skull bones. The skin of the head is too sensitive and vulnerable of harsh handling and could be injured easily. Both the care takers and parents are advised to be wary of the fontanelles. Do not scrub the scalp with force while shampooing or oiling the head.