Newborn Care Basics
7 min readWritten by Pradeep
Newborn Care Basics
The birth of a newborn is coupled with happiness, excitement, as well as anxiety. All sort of care is given to the baby and advice keep pouring from all corners. The parents want to do the best for the newborn and leave no stone unturned in bringing up the baby, but no set theory can be used for the newborn. Parents try to find out everything from pee and poop of newborn to safe dressing tips for newborns. What works for one might not work for the other. There are certain “newborn care basics” that can be applied for all.
Few of the basics are:
- The ways to handle a newborn baby
- Newborn care after the delivery
-
- Keeping The Baby Clean
- Skin Contact With The Mother
- Cord Clamping
- Early Commencement Of Breastfeeding
- Exclusive Breastfeeding
- Newborn care definition
- Newborn baby care after birth
- Newborn baby care 1st month
- Baby care tips for new moms
- Sleeping
- Nursing
- Soothing
- How to take care of the baby boy
The Ways To Handle A Newborn Baby
Newborns are very delicate, so they need to be handled with the utmost care, love, and attention. It is very vital to know the “newborn care basics” to take care of the baby. This is not rocket science but comes with a lot of experience and patience. Some fundamental pointers should be investigated, and they are given as under:
- It is crucial to know how to hold the baby so that the neck does not break.
- Bathing a baby is slightly tricky. One needs to ensure that water does not enter the nose, and the child does not get uncomfortable. Therefore, one needs to know the right way to give a bath to the newborn.
- Diaper changing basics are very crucial as they form a significant part of the first few months of the baby.
- The babies are most comfortable when swaddled, so it becomes essential to know the right method for the same.
- Feeding or nursing the baby is also vital, so is the technique of proper latching for the natural flow of breast milk.
- Overdressing or underdressing the baby can be dangerous, so it becomes vital to understand how to dress the baby as per the climate.
- Once the baby is fed, it stays uncomfortable till he/she is burped well, thus knowing the right way to burp is also an essential element.
Newborn Care After Delivery:
Newborn Care After Delivery
As soon as the baby is delivered, the scare of the newborn also starts. Shortly after the baby is out of the protected mother’s womb, the baby needs cleaning and other basics. All these need to be undertaken within the first few minutes post the delivery. This is crucial for the health and hygiene of the baby. It is mandatory to offer a sterile and hygienic atmosphere for the baby. Some of the steps that must be borne in mind about the “newborn care after delivery” and are as follows:
- Keeping The Baby Clean: The baby born is usually covered with blood and needs to be appropriately cleaned and thoroughly with a soft cloth and wrapped properly.
- Skin Contact With The Mother: It is important to dry up the baby and place it in the mother’s lap or the abdomen for the regulation of the temperature of the baby. This even helps to promote the process of bonding between the mother and child.
- Cord Clamping: Right after the delivery of the baby, the birth provider is generally seen placing a pair of clamps to restrict the blood flow to the umbilical cord, after which they cut in between the clamps, detaching the baby from the placenta.
- Early Commencement Of Breastfeeding: It is believed that the mother’s milk is the best for the baby as it helps to build their immunity and makes them strong. The yellow milk, also referred to as Colostrum, should be given to the newborns within an hour of their birth.
- Exclusive Breastfeeding: The medical practitioners stress the fact that the newborn should be exclusively breastfed, which means that they should only be given mother’s milk and nothing else as it is essential for the ideal growth and development of the baby.
Newborn Care Definition:
Newborn care, or also referred to as “Neonatal care,” is the care that is offered to the newborn baby post the delivery until he is a month old. The term “neonate” is even used in the case of an infant for a 30days period cycle. Since the newborn baby is out of the womb, many factors must be kept in mind to keep the baby healthy and to get him used to the surroundings as well. Thus, newborn care is not confined to the care which is given once the baby is out of the womb. On the other hand, it refers to all the precautions that must be taken care of until the baby becomes a month old. This even includes the newborn baby care that should be offered after the birth of the baby and also the alertness that should be given when the baby is a month old.
Newborn Baby Care After Birth:
Not only the pregnancy but even the period after delivery demands a lot of care and attention for the baby. The newborn baby care after birth is also very crucial as it is the first few hours after the delivery; proper care should be administered under strict supervision. Remember, even a small mistake could lead to a significant loss, so all parents should have the correct knowledge regarding taking care of their baby after birth. Some of the tips that should be remembered while administering the “newborn baby care after birth” are as follows:
- The right way to handle the baby, as the neck is very delicate, and needs to offer proper support.
- It is important to track the temperature of the baby.
- The right way to clean the umbilical cord
- The appropriate way to give a bath and dress the baby.
- Clearing the nasal passage of the baby with the help of a bulb-shaped syringe.
- The right way to soothe and swaddle the baby
- The proper way to change the diaper of the baby
Newborn Baby Care 1st Month
The attention given to the newborn in the first month is hard as well as thrilling. There are many new things that the parents learn and many challenges that they need to combat for connecting with the baby and its proper growth and development as well. The newborn baby care in the 1st month comprises of the sleeping techniques, feeding mechanism, understanding the baby cries, its demands, amount of milk intake, what is enough for the baby, etc.
After the baby gets discharged, the parents face challenges of sleepless nights, understanding what the baby wants, doing trials of one way or the other to put the baby to sleep or soothe him, gauging the right quantity of milk for the baby. These are the one-month baby care tips that the parents need to learn in order to have smooth parenting as well as a healthy and happy baby.
Baby Care Tips For New Moms
Baby Care Tips For New Moms
Taking care of a newborn baby is a challenge for new moms. They need to be guided and coached well in order to take care of the baby as baby care is not as easy and smooth as it looks. One needs a lot of patience and understanding to tackle the baby. The newborn baby in the initial days is either being fed or sleeping. Specific baby care tips for new moms are given as under:
- Sleeping: The newborn baby needs at least 15-16 hrs of sleep, but they sleep in small sets, making it difficult for the parents as there is no set pattern and keeps changing. So, it is best to sleep in shifts. One partner needs to be awake while the other can sleep. The other way is to sleep when the baby sleeps. Also, it is important to make the baby sleep without worrying if the method is right or wrong.
- Nursing: Nursing the baby is another vital part of baby care, and if needed, don’t hesitate to contact a lactation specialist as they can help with the right positions of nursing, ensuring that the baby is getting properly fed. Nursing can even make the breasts sore, so it is important to know the process of healing so that the milk flow to the baby does not get obstructed.
- Soothing: It is a complicated process to understand the needs of the baby in the initial few weeks, but the parents get used to trial and error. The ideal ways to soothe the baby is by rocking, singing lullabies, lunges, and knee bending, etc.
How To Take Care Of The Baby Boy
All babies are different but are taken care of in almost a similar manner, yet there are specific differences with respect to the gender of the baby and taking care of the same. It is important to clean the genitals of the baby boy, and the correct method needs to be administered as well. It is important to know “how to take care of the baby boy,” and a few pointers are given below:
- It is important to wipe or clean the area where the diaper is put.
- The area should be cleaned with warm and soapy water and pat dry while changing the diaper.
- The genitals of the baby boy are incredibly delicate, so utmost care should be given while cleaning them.
- It is vital to know that the foreskin should never be pulled for cleaning as it can cause bleeding or acute pain.
Thus, parenting can be a memorable and smooth journey if small details related to the growth and the development of the baby is taken care of. The “newborn care basics” go a long way in making this journey an easy and suave one. These basics help in battling other problems related to sleeping, nursing, crying issues, etc. The baby’s journey can be made beautiful if there is patience, understanding, and appropriate knowledge with the parents as all of them are responsible for the smooth functioning of this phase.
Pradeep,
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