HEALTHCARE TIPS FOR YOUR NEW BORN: The important routines
Congrats on arrival of your new born baby, your hopes are high and the overwhelming feeling of joy fills your heart as you watch your new born open his eyes with the first cry. You have done a great job making your way through nine months of nursing and keeping tabs with healthcare precautions and dieting as a nursing mom.
Although it is quite common that the first few months can be a bumpy ride for first time parents, you might come across people who will give contradicting point of views with respect to providing healthcare for your new born and deciding which advice to abduct can be confusing, your new born deserves the best healthcare and it is your responsibility to get it right
HEALTHCARE ROUTINE FOR YOUR NEW BORN
A lot of activity comes into play with regards to baby care, let’s examine a few of them in the next section
(1) Holding your baby in position: The muscular make up of your baby’s neck is not yet strong enough to keep the head in proper position without an alternate support hence it is expedient to ensure you support your baby`s head and neck with your left or right hand depending on the side you breast feeding from.
It can take up to 3 months for your baby`s backbone to develop and become strong enough to support the weight of the neck and head on its own, so pending when your son’s body structure is capable enough you could consider supporting your baby’s neck in certain positions especially during breast feeding.
(2) Feeding Tactics: Feeding your new born with breast milk alone for the first 6 months is crucial to his overall development. According to medical research breast milk contains colostrum which has high concentration of nutrients and antibodies essential to the buildup, growth, protection and survival of your new born.
It is necessary to feed your baby promptly, feeding your new born should be every 2-3 hours daily, sometimes moms complain of experiencing pain in their nipples while breastfeeding this can be avoided when you hold your breast close to your baby’s lips and ensure he latches correctly while sucking.
After a while of breastfeeding your breast should feel less filled, this indicates enough milk is fed to your baby, so just in case breast milk is not available it is recommended that your baby gets 60ml – 90ml of doctor’s formula per feeding.
(3) Belching/Burping: Your baby needs to be burped right after being fed, while feeding, babies often take up air which causes colic in their stomach. So what burping does is it to extract the excess air from within the tummy, doing this prevents issues with digestion and spit ups
To burp your baby, please hold him closely to your chest with his chin well rested on your shoulder then pat his back with your other hand until you notice he has burped.
(4) Umbilical cord care : Taking good care of your baby’s umbilical cord is the first step to preventing umbilical hernia, a medical condition in which the intestine protrudes through the abdominal muscles at the belly button. Avoid bathing this area for the first 3 weeks as you maintain and keep it dry and clean, also look out for any symptom of infection like redness, swelling or discharge and report to a pediatrician as soon as possible.
(6) Bathing your baby: Your baby is ready for bathing once the umbilical cord stump dries and falls off, usually bathing your baby 2-3 times a week is ideal for a start. You will need baby bathing accessories like new diapers, baby towel, baby lotion, baby soap, and an infant bathtub half-filled with lukewarm water.
(5) Using diapers: Baby diapers should be changed frequently, it is expected that babies who get sufficient breast milk will need a change of diaper 6 – 8 times daily, changing diapers would require some accessories like diaper wipes, changing sheets, rash cream, and baby powders.
(6) Massaging and cuddling: Babies need a lot of massage and cuddles as it helps them sleep better and improve their health in general. While cuddling your baby ensure to maintain eye contact as this improves the bond between you and your baby
(7) Sleeping: Although babies have varying sleep cycles the ideal round up hours for a new born is about 14 – 16 hours daily, babies need a lot of sleep but in between hours they wake up if hungry or need a change of diaper. You might as well pay attention to the sleeping position of your to prevent inconvenience or pain. While your baby is asleep this is the right time to take care of yourself as well.
In conclusion, new moms can get overwhelmed about different aspects regarding their baby’s healthcare but not to worry you are not alone, the routine steps in this article will help you stay steadfast in this amazing journey of your life as a new mom
