What to Do With Newborn Baby All Day

(CNN)Bringing a new baby dwelling house tin be nervus-wracking for any parent. If it'south your starting time, the fear of making a mistake can be overwhelming. It'southward inevitable you won't do everything just correct, merely read on and you lot can cross these mutual mistakes off your list.

1. Motorcar seat safety

Some parents make the mistake of not practicing various infant care chores earlier the baby comes. While how to change a diaper many be intuitive for most, not everything is. Take car seats, for example.

"Since hospitals require you to have infant habitation in an appropriate car seat, exist sure you have it installed before delivering," said pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu, co-author of "Heading Dwelling house with Your Newborn." "Enlist the help of a child rider safety technician, if needed."

Figuring out how to correctly -- and safely -- install car seats can be a real challenge for many parents, so much so that many fire stations used to help parents with it. Today, fewer practise so, but you can detect a trained technician through the National Child Passenger Safety Certification site.

Just even while parents may have purchased the seat, and even learned how to install it properly, birth educator Polly Gannon finds that some haven't gone to the trouble of using it earlier the baby comes.

"Some parents oasis't even put a blimp animal in there before the baby comes so they know how to get a newborn in there comfortably," said Gannon, who works at Calabasas Pediatrics in Calabasas, California. "Most hospitals, for legal reasons, cannot put the baby in the car seat for yous, or even testify you how to utilize it."

A 2016 report of nearly 300 families, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found 91% of those parents made serious mistakes while installing their car seats or putting their newborns into those seats. Lxxx-six per centum of those errors were in positioning the newborn in the seat, and nigh of those mistakes were "critical" and increased the child'due south risk for injury in any accident. Over one-half of the families had older children, which should take given them practice for the job.

For newborns, parents should make sure their infant's caput doesn't flop forward, which could restrict animate. That involves installing the seat at the correct angle to keep the baby's feet up, with the body reclined and so baby can turn her caput to the side and breathe normally.

If the baby slouches downwards or to the side in the seat, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests placing a tightly rolled receiving blanket on both sides of the infant, or using the newborn insert made for that car seat brand -- do non mix or friction match with other manufacturers. Don't place a blanket or gyre across the elevation of the baby's head or put padding under your baby.

ii. Back to slumber

The national "Back to Sleep" campaign of the 1990s brought a great deal of attending to SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, and other slumber-related deaths among infants. Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics insist that every baby should sleep on their dorsum, in their own crib, without whatsoever toys or soft bedding. During and after the campaign, sleep-related deaths sharply declined, but contempo data shows the risk continues. Each year, some 3,500 babies continue to die from slumber-related causes.

A 2015 study past the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found one in five mothers report putting their baby to sleep on their side or tummy, and 39% of mothers said they use soft bedding in the crib with the babe.

"Wow, that'southward alarming because you'd think anybody would know the recommended way to put their babe to slumber," said pediatrician Dr. Tanya Altmann, author of the new book "Baby and Toddler Basics." "Only what a lot of parents however don't know is that you should non use bumpers anymore, and you don't want pillows, toys or actress stuff in the crib."

3. Not feeding on demand

Some new parents make the error of letting babe slumber too long between feedings, likely due to exhaustion and their own need to get a bit of residue. Simply that's a mistake, say experts.

"The first few weeks, the baby does demand to be fed ... every two to three hours, even if they don't demand it," said Altmann. "Simply once they have regained their birth weight and y'all get your pediatrician's OK, it's fine to cross your fingers and hope that y'all get a stretch of three to five hours without the infant waking to be fed. But in the starting time few weeks, babies exercise need to be woken up."

If you're doing everything right and your infant is growing and developing well, said Altmann, it's perfectly possible to become a baby to slumber through the night by 2 or 3 months of age. Just be aware that some babies regress betwixt three and four months and begin to wake upwardly more oft and feed more oftentimes.

"If yous jump in and turn on all the lights, start playing with them, and basically take a party in the middle of the night, they volition go on to wake up," Altmann said.

"I usually tell parents if every time y'all wake up there was chocolate cake on your nightstand, you would start eating information technology every nighttime and yous would wake up expecting it," she said. "Same with babies, right?"

4. Not burping baby properly

Ane of the central mistakes many new parents can brand is failing to take the time to properly burp their newborn.

"I think many new parents are nervous virtually handling their newborn," said Gannon. "They will often put the baby downwardly quickly after feeding because they are scared they aren't holding it properly."

The result of failing to burp is that the infant may spit up and gag, losing some of that precious milk, or wake up in an hour or then screaming in pain.

"I'thou getting calls all the time where parents say that the baby is really peaceful later on feeding, but and so babe wakes upwards screaming and is up for the next 2 1/ii hours," added Gannon. "My favorite line is 'cheat the baby, cheat yourself.' If yous cheat the babe out of a expert burp and fail to get all of that air out, you lot and the baby are both going to endure."

At that place are several burping techniques you lot can endeavour until you lot detect the one that works best for your baby. In the nearly well-known, the-over-the-shoulder burp, you place your babe loftier on your breast with her chin resting on your shoulder and face up turned to one side, tummy firmly against the breast. Pat or rub the baby's dorsum gently until she burps.

"It might take y'all an additional 10 minutes at the stop of the feed," said Gannon, "but the baby volition exist happy."

Another common technique is to place baby face down across your lap, and pat and rub. Other techniques include babe exercises. Lay them on a blanket on the floor and begin bicycling their legs, or moving their legs up and effectually in a circular move in each direction.

Gannon finds that a sitting posture works all-time for her clients. She places the babe sitting upright on her lap, facing the side. Using one mitt to back up the infant's head in the front (making sure to avoid holding the neck) she puts her other hand on the baby's back.

"Keeping the baby'due south bottom firmly planted on my lap I motility their whole trunk in a small, slow circular motion to the left for a while, then to the correct for a fleck," explained Gannon. "I sit the baby upright a few times, and usually get a good, hearty burp, even without a gentle pat on the back."

5. Failing to pre-burp

Most of us recollect about burping later on the baby eats. Merely experts say that you should also have the time to pre-burp your baby.

"I endeavor to pre-burp babe for at least two minutes earlier starting any feeding," Gannon recommended. "This helps eliminate the common spitting up and gassy trouble that newborns oftentimes have for the first 30 days."

"If you lot start out without gas in the tum, and and then do a actually skillful feed and get the gas out at the finish, they are going to be much more than comfortable and more likely to be happy and content on their own," added Altmann.

6. Mistakes in mixing formula or breastfeeding

Making a mistake measuring formula and water happens oft plenty in her practice, said Altmann, that she makes it a do to quiz parents on how they fix infant'southward meals. She asks the same of breastfeeding moms, too.

"When I have new babies come into my practise," said Altmann, "whether they are breastfeeding or formula feeding, I take a step dorsum and inquire these questions: 'Exactly how are yous feeding your baby -- what practice they look like when they are latched on? How are you mixing the formula? How are you putting it in the canteen?'"

On occasion she finds that i of the parents might exist mixing formula wrong, by making information technology likewise full-bodied or dilute.

"Commonly, it'due south too dilute," said Altmann. "So the infant isn't getting enough diet and that's when they fail to thrive. You lot always desire to be sure you lot're reading and following the directions on the formula properly."

And some moms may not have the baby fully latched onto the breast, so while the baby looks like it'due south nursing, he or she isn't actually swallowing and feeding, said Altmann.

"Information technology's a skillful idea for breastfeeding moms to check in with a lactation consultant if they accept any concerns or pain during feedings," said Altmann. "Then check in with your pediatrician regularly to make sure your babe is gaining weight appropriately."

vii. Not enough tummy time

Altmann says an unfortunate error many new parents make -- and go along to make as babe grows -- is keeping baby constrained in a car seat, bouncy seat or other sleepers.

"I'll see parents out with their infant, at a eating house, at the park, talking to friends, and they are carrying the baby in the auto seat," said Altmann, who is besides a spokeswoman for the American University of Pediatrics. "I'yard ever telling parents, 'Automobile seats are for cars, but don't bear them to and fro in the motorcar seat.'"

Not simply can spending too much time reclining create a soft spot on the back of their caput, says Altmann, merely not interacting with the baby tin crusade language delays and other problems due to a lack of stimulation.

"When your baby is not sleeping or not in the car traveling, they really should be on their tummy or held by a parent," Altmann said. "They shouldn't exist strapped downwards, they need to motion, stretch, roll and button their head up."

eight. Nether- or overreacting to a fever

Fevers in newborns can be serious. If your babe is younger than three months and develops a fever of 100.4 or higher, call your pediatrician or medical professional immediately. But when it comes to a fever in babies and children older than that, the advice is more complex.

"For the older babies, I'm usually telling parents non to freak out by what the number says on the thermometer," explained Altmann. "Instead, accept a shut await at your child to effigy out what is happening with them, because not every fever needs to exist treated."

Wait at your babe and discover. Are they drinking fluids? Are they happy and playing? Are they sleeping OK? Are they having whatsoever trouble breathing? Those are the questions to enquire yourself, Altmann said. Experts say well-nigh fevers are harmless, and probable the outcome of a mild infection.

"Don't simply treat the number on the thermometer," Altmann added. "It doesn't thing if it'south 101 or 103.5, it'south more important how they are acting."

9. Proper temperature for baby in the domicile

Another concern for parents: how warm or cool their baby should be. Shu said she is ofttimes asked by parents for the proper temperature setting for the home. The answer, she says, depends on the time of twelvemonth and the insulation of the home, just in general "a thermostat setting around 68 to 72 is probably comfortable for infant."

While Shu says she thinks many parents go on infant also warm, Gannon has found the contrary. At homes in her practise, she said, new parents may have their infant in a T-shirt and diaper, unswaddled. She said a babe's skin should always be warm, not hot or cold, to the touch.

"If the infant is chilled, then his body will need to burn actress calories to raise his body temperature, instead of those calories going toward a healthy weight gain," said Gannon. "And so even if the infant is feeding well, he or she may not be developing properly because they have to burn down a lot of calories trying to become warm."

Shu warns that newborns don't take good apportionment at first, so "having cool hands and feet is normal."

x. Taking newborns into crowded places

Some parents want to accept their newborn to a large family gathering so everyone can ooh-and-awww over their tiny miracle. That could exist a mistake, experts said.

"It does scare me a bit when I come across newborns out and virtually, especially during common cold and flu flavour," said Altmann. "The starting time ii months of your baby'southward life, you lot actually need to protect them from exposure to germs and people that are potentially sick. Your baby's immune organisation is weak, and still growing and developing."

That doesn't mean y'all can't leave the house, however. Experts encourage daily walks and say information technology'due south fine to sit in your backyard or on the front porch.

"But don't accept them to crowded spaces," Altmann said. "That'southward when you lot can betrayal them to people who potentially have the flu or some other contagious illness that could spread, even if they are a few anxiety abroad."

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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/health/newborn-mistakes-parents/index.html

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