Congratulations!
What an exciting time… you have been waiting for this moment for so long and now, your baby is finally here 🥰
There may be a bit of mixed feelings going home with your newborn… excitement, happiness and maybe even some anxiety but… it’s all normal!🥰
In this post, you are about to discover the 9 key points to care for your baby and… quickly know what they need💕
1. Feedings
Your little one will need to be fed very frequently.
Whether you choose… bottle or breast… it is recommended to feed your baby at least every 3 hours!
At birth, your baby’s stomach is very tiny… just about the size of a grape… and slowly grows with time!
At a week of age, they should be able to drink around 1.5-2 oz (45-60 ml) of breastmilk or formula, for each feed.
2. Feeding Cues
The best way to feed your infant is by following their “feeding cues”.
If they get hungry prior to 3 hours… follow their lead and feed them!
Your baby may also have a longer stretch of sleep, normally during the day.
Try not to let your newborn sleep for more than 4 hours stretches, to ensure they are eating enough in 24 hours.
It will also help them getting slowly into a better schedule.
At 4 weeks of age, you can let your baby sleep a little longer if they want to.
3. Burping Time
Always give your baby some nice burping time after each feed (around 15-20 mins).
Crying after a feed, may be confused for hunger… instead it may just be discomfort due to the trapped air in their chests. 😉
4. Body Language
Look at your baby’s body language to understand if they ate enough… especially if you are breastfeeding.
Typical signs of a full belly are the “drunk sailor” look… 😍 milk leaking from their mouth… relaxed body … especially open hands (closed fists are normally a sign of hunger) and self-detachment from the breast.
5. Diaper Changes
Diaper changes are a very important tool to understand how well your baby is doing!
Remember.…the more goes in… the more goes out! 😉
Keep a neat log of each change to always know your baby’s daily counts. Your care provider will also ask for this information during your visits.
As a guideline you should expect the following:
Around 4-5 weeks of age your baby may change their dirty diaper pattern, such as having 1 dirty diaper a day… or perhaps only 1 per week.
This is consider normal, but please always contact your care provider if you have any concerns.
Weight checks during your baby’s Wellness Doctor Visits will confirm how your baby is doing.
6. Sleeping
Your newborn baby (0 – 4 weeks) will spend most of the day sleeping… their awake time will be around 30 to 60 minutes.
As they grow, their sleeping pattern will change and the awake time will increase.
Your pediatrician will ask you about baby’s sleeping patterns. Log each sleep session… including overnight… to best capture your baby’s rhythm.
When your baby will get a little older (normally 12 weeks of age)… these trends will become super important to develop a healthy sleeping routine and hopefully reach the beloved… “Sleeping thru the night” milestone. 😴
7. Cranky Time 😭
There are many reasons why your baby will be crying… because that’s the only way for them to communicate with you.
Assuming they just got fed, changed and appear more agitated than in pain… you may want to try the following techniques to calm them down:
- Hold them while trying to keep their arms a bit more confined (less arm and leg movements)… you can also swaddle and hold them.
Your Baby will love this feeling of tightness… as this is how they felt in the womb.
- Move around! Rocking and swinging are also very familiar movements to them… as that’s what was constantly happening in the womb.
Babies do not like stillness… (now you understand why rockers and swings work so well 😉) - Turn on a white noise machine, such as a vacuum cleaner or a hair dryer… you have lots of options!
Once again your baby… in the womb… was used to a very loud (white) noise… so this familiar sound will quiet their mind.
A loud “shushing by their ear”… louder than their crying… can work as well.
Typically, every newborn has a few hours of crying, often in the late afternoon/evening hours…
Hopefully the above techniques will help calm your baby down easier and quicker!
8. The 4th Trimester
Baby is out of the womb but, scientifically speaking, is developing their 4th Trimester… there is a lot of brain development on the way!
Don’t be afraid to hold your baby (there is no such thing as spoiling a newborn… in case someone leads you to believe so… 🤔).
Skin to skin, baby wearing (carrying your baby with a body wrap that leaves your hands and arms free) or holding them… are key factors to keep your baby calm & happy and actually increase their brain development (as confirmed by recent studies).
9. Follow Your Instinct
Very important! You will get a lot of suggestions from many different people… be sure to always follow your instinct!
I hope you find these 9 key points of great help as you begin your journey into parenthood. 💕
Your first pediatrician appointment may be due soon!
Make sure to log as much information as possible…
Your ParentLove app will help you answering all their questions without the guess work!
For a neat report of your baby’s daily averages… you can run the Pediatrician Report! (Menu > Reporting)
You can also send it directly to your provider or print it for your convenience! 😊
Sleep deprivation and mommy brain are real… let ParentLove be your extra brain power! 💪
Lots of Love & Happy Parenting! 💕
Dony
