After coming home from the hospital it’s time to set up a routine for your baby! Some babies like to get their nights and mornings confused this is where you will have to be diligent. In the womb there was really no sense of time, the only thing the baby knew was when you relaxed it was time to kick and move around. Now that your baby is home the process of getting him or her to sleep during the right hours, stems from you not allowing your baby to sleep for too long at a go. This means you want a pattern with your baby. In the morning you should allow him or her to nap, a couple of hours, about mid-morning you may want to wake up your baby in order to change its napkin, check its umbilical cord and make sure the area is dry around it. You do not want any moisture setting up mold in the cord area. After you check her or his nappy it’s time to feed baby and get them back to napping. For the most part, the first few months your baby will only sleep, this can be helpful for you too as you need to rest when the baby rests.
Some mothers love to bathe their babies; the best way is to get a baby bath tub that fits in your kitchen sink or the plastic ones that are sold in mother care, with a special sponge to ensure that your baby is supported. Use only gentle baby wash, as your baby’s skin is still pretty new to the outside world, Johnson’s baby wash is great. You want to make sure you do not get water in the baby’s nose or mouth, sometimes this is unavoidable and can be scary for both involved. When you take off the nappy, the folds in the legs may be tighter than you expected. Using a soft cloth, make sure you wipe down the legs and genitals. Make sure you pat dry in all the areas. Some recommendations are to use a clean piece of wool to bathe your baby with; you can use a new piece for each eye as well. You want to make sure where you wipe, you also dry.
Because your baby’s skin is still tender, you want to use a moisturizing lotion on the baby’s skin. Try not to use anything with formaldehyde in it. These are often masked under the term polysorbate sixty one. Finding natural baby lotion really isn’t too hard, you want to find one that is at least ninety nine percent natural. During bath time and all the time you are handling your baby, you want to make sure you talk to him or her often. Talking to your baby allows them to get to know you, recognise who you are and help them adjust to new places in their lives.
New Born Care can also be the need for special foods, such as a baby who is unable to digest breast milk; this is where the requirements change, but the available tools to assist have come a long way. Many babies will be able to drink a calcium based drink provided by a doctor, which has the same type of nutrients as breast milk but not the same enzymes. Remember, when in doubt there is no shame in contacting your health care provider, or calling your midwife.