First meeting
Newborn babies on postcards and pictures look like angels: rosy-cheeked, plump, with folds. Perhaps because of this stereotype, new mothers are surprised by the sight of their own newborn baby: wrinkled skin, uneven color, covered with something white, a disproportionately large head, thin, twisted arms and legs... Such a sight is not at all for the faint of heart. Therefore, every mother immediately has a question: is everything okay with her baby? The fact is that the appearance of newborn babies is always so strange. It's quite normal. The appearance has its own characteristics, which disappear some time after birth (several days, months). Most often this is:
- The head is oblong, ovoid in shape. The bones of the skull, passing through the narrow birth canal, adapt to them, so the head immediately after childbirth is exactly this shape. It will become round in a few days.
- The presence of fontanelles - depressions on the baby’s head that are covered with skin. Their overgrowth occurs by the age of one year.
- Swelling of the face. Sometimes because of this, your eyes may not even open. This phenomenon goes away after a few days.
- Physiological hypertonicity is a normal condition in the first days of the newborn period. By about three months of age, the legs and arms stop compressing much. If this does not happen, be sure to consult a doctor.
- It happens that in boys the testicles (both or one) do not descend to the groin area. You don’t have to concentrate on this for up to a year. But if the situation does not change by this age, the baby needs the help of a surgeon.
- Swelling of the nipples, sometimes milk can even be released from them (regardless of the sex of the child), redness and enlargement of the genitals, and bleeding from the vagina in girls is considered as normal. This condition is explained by a hormonal crisis. It can occur 3-5 days after birth and lasts about a week.
Baby development at two months
At two months, the child’s skills that just began to appear in the first month of life are significantly stabilized and strengthened:
- at two months the child begins to hold his head upright, examines his surroundings with interest, turning his head in different directions;
- If you show your baby a bright toy at a distance of 20-30 cm, he will fix his gaze on it for quite a long time. If you move the toy slowly, the baby will follow it;
- If the child is not hungry and is not bothered by tummy pain or any other problems, he can walk for quite a long time and smile.
Baby's bowel movements
Immediately after birth, the newborn poops and pees little. During the first two days of life, he secretes meconium - dark-colored stool. Then, from about 4 days of life, the feces become golden-yellow in color. The frequency of bowel movements is 3-4 times a day. A newborn can urinate up to 25 times a day.
Sometimes it happens that a newborn may experience constipation or stool retention. Rare bowel movements are not evidence of constipation. With artificial nutrition, bowel movements occur every other day, but the stool remains soft. If your baby has persistent constipation, be sure to consult a doctor. If this case is isolated, additional drinking will come to the rescue.
Newborn at home - the first days after the hospital
In the first days after childbirth, the mother needs, first of all, to rest as much as possible. You need to organize time so that you can take a nap with your baby. At first, it will be more convenient to feed your newborn lying down, especially at night, which will allow you to fall asleep gently. A woman should take care of herself - eat regularly, drink plenty of water, take care of hygiene.
Very often, mothers receive the necessary knowledge in the hospital. A newborn should be fed on demand. If the baby sleeps for more than three hours, you can wake him up for feeding, at night too. It is recommended to hold the baby in your arms for at least 20 minutes. The baby should not be fed anything other than breast milk or formula. When formula feeding, you should always remember to evaporate bottles and pacifiers and boil water to prepare formulas.
Hygiene rules for a child up to six months
For newborns, changing sliders should be really frequent. The delicate skin of babies is extremely susceptible to irritation. The first thing to do is change the diaper immediately after the baby wears it, even if this happens both before and after meals. It is recommended to change undershirts twice a day, usually after morning and evening swimming. In the first days at home with a newborn, you will definitely need to take care of the remaining umbilical cord. The umbilical cord will fall off on its own by the time your baby is two weeks old. It is important to keep the umbilical cord dry and clean. When the umbilical cord falls off, a small umbilical wound remains on the baby's tummy. The wound should be treated with a solution of chlorhexidine, antiseptics containing alcohol, or a solution of brilliant green. If the wound becomes red or there is discharge from it, you need to go to the clinic.
It is better to bathe a newborn at home in a bathtub for the first time after the maternity hospital on the day he returns from the hospital. To bathe your baby in the bath, you need to prepare everything you need and take care of the correct temperature of the room and water. The optimal water temperature for swimming is 35–37 degrees. You should bathe your newborn with soap no more than once a week to avoid drying out the skin. Several times a week, you can add chamomile extract to the water for bathing babies. After bathing, you need to dry the baby's skin with a towel, but do not rub it. To cut nails, you need to purchase special children's scissors. Before cutting your nails, it is important to treat your nails and scissors with an antiseptic.
Experts do not recommend leaving a newborn unattended on any open surface. It is better to place the crib in the parents' bedroom so that the baby is always under supervision.
Daily regime
The newborn will experience many new experiences upon returning home, including first walks and familiarity with the environment. It is recommended that the first walks should not be long, 15–30 minutes in the warm season. Gradually, the walking time needs to be increased. It is recommended to divide your walking time into several times a day. Almost all mothers wonder what to do to ensure that their newborn sleeps soundly. Babies sleep a lot but wake up frequently, every 3-4 hours. For sound and quality sleep, the baby must be well-fed and clean. Particular attention should be paid to keeping the house quiet so that extraneous sounds do not disturb the newborn during sleep. It is important to provide the child with a pleasant atmosphere and peace of mind. During the first months it is better to avoid a large number of guests. And mom needs rest too.
The first month of a newborn’s life means a lot of changes not only in the life of the parents, but also of the child. The situation is changing; there is nothing that the newborn is used to during pregnancy. He must learn new stimuli and how his body reacts to them. It is important for parents to learn how to care and develop a daily routine, and for the child to get used to all this.
An immature baby, who is tired and surprised by new experiences, can quite often be dissatisfied. He shows this in the only way available to him - by crying. If he has something to say, he cries a lot. The baby's cry is the only means of communication available to him with the outside world. Crying does not mean that the parents did not do something; the child wants to tell them something important. He does this in accordance with his temperament: loudly, decisively and often, or rarely and quietly.
The most important thing for a baby is to feel the care, love and warmth of his parents. This will allow the newborn to feel safe.
