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Facts About Caring For Your Newborn

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1. WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR

If babies are feeding well and are happy, they are not seriously ill. However, you should contact your pediatrician if they exhibit any of the following symptoms: 

FEVER – A fever is classified by a rectal temperature of 100.5 or higher. Only rectal temperatures, preferably with digital thermometers, are reliable.
FORCEFUL VOMITING –
All children will spit up for the first 4-6 months of life. If you find that your baby is vomiting with force beyond this measure, consult your physician.
PERSISTENT COUGH –
Babies often sneeze, but they should not be coughing. Persistent coughing, especially when interfering with sucking, should prompt a call to the doctor.
NOT FEEDING NORMALLY –
A baby who is not feeding properly for any reason should receive an examination.
OVER-SLEEPING –
Difficulty waking to feed and increased irritability can be signs of sickness. 

Never assume that because a baby does not have a fever, it is not sick! Small babies can be very sick and have no fever. If your baby does not look right or is acting out of the norm, err on the side of caution and give your doctor a call.  

2. FEEDING BABY

BREASTFEEDING

Breast milk if the perfect food for babies! It nourishes and protects babies from infection, which is something formula cannot do. Women should breastfeed as much as possible for the first 6 months of life. Initially, babies will breastfeed about every 2 hours. Do not allow sucking for more than 15 minutes per side, as only the first 10 minutes is nutritive. Anything beyond this time is for pleasure, and can cause the mother to to experience nipple irritation. Applying a lanolin-containing cream immediately after feeding can help to moisturize and soothe the nipple.  

Breastmilk usually becomes more liquid and increases in volume after the first week of feeding.  Do not take medications, or even herbal remedies, without consulting a physician. These substances may enter your breast milk and causes problems for your baby. Similarly, cows milk proteins can have the same effect. While you do need good calcium intake because the calcium in your breast milk comes from your bones, you do not have to drink milk. Water and calcium-fortified juices are sufficient. It is okay to supplement breastfeeding with refrigerated breast milk (pumped or expressed), and formula. If there is a strong family history of allergies, it is very important you avoid formula. If you have difficulties or any questions about breastfeeding, contact our doctors. 

BOTTLE FEEDING

You do not need to sterilize bottles in the U.S. – the water is safe! Wash bottles as you would wash any dish. Dishwashers do not sterilize the bottles. Bottle-fed babies may feed less often, from every two to four hours. 

GENERAL INFORMATION

All babies need to be burped with feedings. Burping improves comfort and reduces spitting up by getting rid of air swallowed when the baby gulps down food. Babies need no solid foods until at least 4 months of age. Until then, they are unable to digest any foods beside milk. Never give honey to babies under one year of age because the impurities can cause paralysis. Never give “tonics” to children without discussing it with your doctor first. Some of these home remedies can contain very dangerous levels of lead or other toxins.  

3. POTTY FACTS

Breastfed babies can have a stool with every feeding. It is usually watery with seedy-looking yellow components. Formula-fed babies tend to have more solid stool. Bottle-fed babies have one to four formed or soft stools daily. Babies should have at least six wet diapers a day. Modern diapers are absorbent, so you may need to press on them or weight them to detect the urine. If the baby is not having at least one stool daily, or is straining to have a bowel movement, increase their formula or water intake.  

4. SKIN AND UMBILICAL CORD CARE

UMBILICAL CORD CARE

The umbilical cord is dead, so you will notice it start to shrivel and turn gooey. During this time a simple sponging with warm water is sufficient for cleaning your baby. Once the cord has dried up and is completely shriveled, you can begin to gently tug on it. The cord may come off in your hand and produce a drop of blood. This is no cause for concern. You can safely immerse your baby in warm water once the belly button looks just like yours. Call your pediatrician immediately if the skin around the umbilical cord looks red or salmon pink in color, especially if the baby is fussy. This can be a sign of serious infection and needs to be treated as an emergency.

Use gentle, non-perfumed baby powders, creams and ointments in and around your baby’s creases and rectum. Do not use talcum powder. All babies experience rashes for the first four months of life as the skin matures. These bumps can be a result of the skin glands opening to the surface, or from maternal hormones transferring to the baby during birth. A call to the doctor is only recommended when the skin is peeling off in the sheets or when the rash is extremely dry and scaly.  

DIAPER RASH

Diaper rashes may be treated by applying a combination of 1% hydrocortisone cream and an anti-fungal cream. Anti-fungal creams such as clotrimazole (Gyne-Lotrimin) or miconazole (Monistat) are similarly used to treat vaginal yeast infections for women. These creams are available without a prescription at most pharmacies and supermarkets. Apply this combination to your baby twice a day for five to seven days. If the rash does not subside, or gets worse despite treatment, give your physician a call.  

JAUNDICE

Jaundice is a condition which can cause babies to appear yellow after birth. Jaundice is caused by the breakdown of newborn blood cells (bilirubin) and the slow maturation of the livers ability to metabolize and excrete the pigment from these cells. The pigments are deposited in the skin until the body can better handle them, first showing in the areas with the most blood flow – the baby’s head, eyes and neck. The yellow color then moves down to the body, ending with the hands and feet. If the color appears on the abdomen then a doctor should be contacted to monitor the situation. Overall, jaundice is rarely a concern for healthy babies.  

5. THE BABY’S GENITALS

Wash the baby with warm water and avoid the use of soap directly where the baby urinates. Skin care advice may be followed as usual. You do not need to pull on an uncircumcised foreskin, the adhesion to the penis tip will release at or before adolescence. With girls, there may be some blood from the vagina and some milk in the breast area. This is normal as a mothers hormones act on the baby just as they will at puberty. This will resolve naturally by two weeks of age after all of the mothers hormones have metabolized.  

6. CARE OF NEWBORN STUFFY NOSES

All babies are “stuffy” for at least the first four months of life. Before that time, they do not know how to breathe through their mouth, except when crying. Even after that, nasal congestion can make sucking difficult. To clean your baby’s nose, put three to four drops or one to two sprays of nasal saline in each nostril, and then wait about two minutes while the “boogers” soften up. Then clean each nostril using a nasal suction device. The best ones have a short, hard plastic tip and a rubber bulb, not an all-rubber bulb with a long rubber tip you may have been given at birth. You need to pull as much as eight to 10 times in a row. The nasal discharge may come out like a string. 

7. SAFETY AND PROPER POSITIONING

Newborns must be in car seats cinched tightly into the back seat and facing backwards. Never put children in the front seat, especially if the car has airbags! These are designed to protect adults, but they can injure children. Be especially sure that if you transfer from one car to another that the car seat is positioned and tightly cinched in. Take your time and be sure your baby is safe. Put the baby on its back to sleep. This position greatly reduces the chance of sudden infant death syndrome. When the baby is awake, give the baby some time on its tummy. If the baby is always on its back, there can be flattening of the back of the head. Wait about 20 minutes after feeding for tummy time in order to prevent increased spitting up. 

8. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS

Babies must never be exposed to tobacco smoke. Never allow smoking inside your house or car, even with the windows open. Smoking encourages respiratory infections in children and is bad for everyone’s lungs. If either parent insists on smoking, they must do so outside. Quitting smoking is the most important decision anyone can make to improve their health. The presence of a new baby in the home is the perfect motivation for parents to quit! Medical therapies are very effective-see your primary care practitioner for advice. If any parent handles toxic chemicals at work or for a hobby, be sure to advise them to wash their hands and take off the exposed clothing before going near your baby. Never use insect sprays near your baby. Do not allow fumigation unless you leave the house with your baby for at least the period recommended, which is usually 24 hours. Similarly, do not remodel houses built before 1960 with your baby in the house, due to danger of exposure to lead dust. 

9. IS MOM FEELING DOWN?

As hormones change after the birth of a baby, moms may notice mood swings, often called “baby blues”. Coupled with sleep pattern changes as moms wake up to feed and change the baby every two to three hours, there may be feelings of anger, irritability, sadness, and frustration. This is very normal, but it should pass in a week to 10 days. If these feelings persist after that, or worsen, mom may be having true depression, and should contact a health professional or counselor immediately! Ignoring signs of true depression can be dangerous. These feelings may also indicate a purely medical problem-low thyroid hormone which also leads to weight gain. So please, call your primary care practitioner, obstetrician, or our practice if you have any concerns.

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