Newborn Guide For New Parents: An All In One Guide

Everything first is always special, and memorable to us, the same goes for your first newborn too. Your first baby is coming home, it’s high time to prepare yourself to take the best care of the kid. Are you ready?

From the first bath to the first word even the first step, first medical test, vitamin shot, first walk outside home, and many more. And all of these first experiences can go otherwise if you are not prepared enough. 

So here I’m sharing my experience about newborns as a newborn guide for new parents.

Newborn Guide for New Parents: Parenting 101 

When I learned this fantastic fact along with others, I was shocked at the same time sort of envied Lily as I had to wear a glass all the time. Now, you’re a new parent and determined to take the best care of your little one, which I’ll guide you below.

KYB (Know Your Baby)

Newborn babies don’t come with any instruction but crying that only their mother recognizes. This means you have to always be careful about every sign they create. 

You have to notice every movement, sound, and time and over time you’ll know their need.

Before that, you may have many questions and doubts about their behavior which is normal for a fresher. Here is some facts that you have to face with confidence such as

1. Umbilical Cord 

Your newborn’s umbilical cord takes about a week to dry and drop off. Within that period if any discharge or bleeding happens, contact your midwife or medical attendant ASAP and never panic.

2. Birthmarks & Newborn Spots 

You may have noticed a red V-shaped mark on the forehead/neck or upper eyelid, known as a stork mark or salmon patch. Strawberry marks are also common which may appear a few days after birth.
These are completely okay and may disappear over time. But spots and rashes especially those that change your baby’s behavior contact your GP ASAP.

 3. Baby Instincts

 Babies come to this world with a few instincts such as sucking. They balance their breathing and sucking within the first few days naturally. If they get brushed against their cheek or the upper lip gets stroked they will turn towards the nipple opening the mouth and ready to drink. 

4. Baby Jaundice 

Jaundice in newborns is quite common and harmless mostly. Within the first 2-3 days a yellow look on the skin, sclera, and mucous membrane appears on some babies due to the breakdown of old red blood cells.
It usually fades in 10 days but in more severe cases, contact your attending physician ASAP. Within the first 72 hours, a doctor, nurse, midwife, or health visitor will conduct a thorough physical examination of your baby to detect any abnormality. So, if you don’t notice any trouble somehow, they’ll take care of it.

5. Genitals & Chests In Newborns

You’ll find a little bump in the chest, even some milk extraction, which is normal for both boys and girls. 

Moreover, the genital parts may also appear swollen which lasts about a few weeks. Here, baby girls’ genitals sometimes discharge white or cloudy substances even some blood.
On the other hand, a boy’s testicle may take some time to descend into the scrotum which a physician will check and confirm during the thorough examination. All of these swelling, liquid discharge, etc. are a sign of hormones passed from the mother. 

Baby’s First Test

Within the first 3 days of your newborn’s life, doctors or health professionals will conduct a thorough test of your baby. This examination consists of several tests which assess the overall condition of your baby. The common examinations are:

1. The Agar Score 

It’s an abbreviated form of 5 criteria named appearance, pulse rate, grimace aka reflexes, activity aka muscle tone, and respiration effort. The score is divided into 3 classes 7-10, 4-6, and below 4. However, this test doesn’t assess neurological problems if any exist. So it’s nothing but a regular exam.

2. The Heel Stick Test 

This test assesses if your baby has any serious health issues that don’t show any signs after birth. It’s a blood screening test collected from your baby’s heels within 24-48 hours after birth. 

This test can detect diseases like hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria (inherited from parents), beta thalassemia major, etc.

3. Erythromycin Ointment 

It’s an antibiotic applied under the lower eyelids of your little one within the first 24 hours. It may blur the vision temporarily. But you don’t have to wash it off as it goes off on its own after one or two days.
This ointment protects your baby from STI which can pass during childbirth known as Ophthalmia Neonatorum (ON). No matter what you’re tested clean of STDs, still, your baby must have the ointment.

4. Hepatitis B 

It’s a vaccine that prevents liver infection caused by the same virus. It can infect a healthy person through any form of fluid. But it’s curable if your baby gets the vaccines in time after birth.
It’s a series of at least three doses conducted at first 24 hours, 1st/2nd month, and 6 to 18 months after birth. Children or teens up to 18 years who haven’t been vaccinated can get the doses of Hepatitis B.

5. Vitamin K Shot 

It’s a very safe and effective treatment that prevents serious hemorrhage in your child. If your baby gets the shot very soon after birth, it can stop/reduce a life-threatening condition VKDB.
It can occur in the first few days of life, up to six months of age. Breast milk contains Vitamin K but the amount is very low. Whereas a mild dose of 0.5-1 mg IM shot can stop this kind of internal bleeding in your baby. 

Daily Care Of Your Beloved

It’s like day-to-day care of your baby such as bathing your baby, changing the nappy, and more. As a mother, most of these activities may seem very interesting to you, you may even never feel bored doing them. But sometimes you may get tired but your baby needs you.

 1. Bathe Your Newborn Baby

Your newborn’s first bath may occur after the first 24 hours or within the first week. Here you need to sponge your baby 2-3 times a week before the umbilical cord falls off which usually happens after 1-3 weeks after birth. 

Afterward a nice and quick bath with some lukewarm water and when the room temperature is between 21-26C.

First, gather your ingredients, gently put your baby in the tub, and start using a baby-friendly soap on the face, hand, and diaper area, unless he/she is dirty. 

Gently wash off with clean water rest of the body. Remember, never use force on the baby’s body. Now rinse, dry, apply some baby lotion, and put up the dress.

Are you a working mother? How do working mother manage their work? Let me share some of my own experiences.

2. Swaddle Your Baby

 If you remember, you’ll find your baby coming out to you with neat clothes wrapped, only the head poking out. And the way he/she was wrapped is called swaddling. 

It’s a century-old method of carrying a freshborn baby that keeps the body safe from external movements. Now, what if you don’t know, how to swaddle your baby?

It’s a very easy process that consists of 5 steps. First, spread the blanket on a flat surface in a diamond shape. Later, keeping your baby’s face up on the blanket gently straighten the left arm, and now, bring the bottom of the swaddle up. Finally, wrap the remaining part of the blanket. 

3. Changing The Diaper

Diaper changing is not your favorite part, I can feel it completely. But the baby needs a change, or else rashes or other skin disorders may start forming. To change the diaper with no hassle first, you have to bring something that can distract and hold the attention.  

Afterward, collect a fresh diaper and start opening the existing diaper very precisely so that he/she doesn’t feel anything. If your baby is already sleeping then, change with the fresh diaper without waking him up. Now clean the area and put on the fresh one.

4. Traveling With Your Little Star

Traveling with your beloved star may feel like you’re returning home with your mother, meanwhile, you’re talking about all the things you’ve seen, done, want to do in the future, etc. But your star is a few months old, how do you like to carry him outside?

As a working mom, I used to go out with Lili in a bassinet as she was under 6 months of age. Though on a plane journey, I had to take her in a stroller. And if you want to know how to travel with a baby on a plane, I’m happy to share my experience.

Skin Care Of Your Baby

Newborns are too delicate to tolerate earthly substances, that’s why they come with a coating of vernix caseosa. A white creamy substance that forms in the last trimester of pregnancy. Its higher water content protects the skin from losing moisture.

Again the antibacterial properties of the layer protect from infections if not washed off. Though the layer absorbs in the skin within 24 hours. However, there are some other facts that you must keep in mind

Washing Your Newborn

Pediatricians prefer washing your kid with an interval of day 1 or 2 still, there are some doubts about it. There are some conflicts about washing your kid can vary from age to age. 

Parents always try to keep their kids clean from all kinds of substances including pee-poop. This reduces the necessity of daily bathing of the newborn. Again, if you wash your baby daily it may dry the skin very fast which you don’t want at all. 

When Can Your Newborn Face the Sunlight?

As I said earlier. Newborn’s skins are very soft, and delicate. So no direct sunlight exposure until he/she is aged 6 months at least. But before you go, your kid must be dressed in lightweight protective clothes. A baby-safe protective screen would be better.
If you love walking with your little kid, I would love to share 6 of my favorite tricks for a memorable trip. 

As John and I both are tall, I had to look for an umbrella stroller best for tall parents. The benefit of these strollers is you can carry some extra items and provide a little bit of shade while going out with your kid. Before you go for a walk please consider, the place you want to go out.

Skin Care In Cold Weather

When it’s cold outside and the internal temp is dipped, your baby’s skin can dry out easily, if not taken care of properly. For instance, shorten the bath time with hot water and fragrant-free cleanser, and a lotion or moisturizing cream is best. 

As it’s cold outside your baby has to be covered with warm clothes you have to always keep an eye on their diaper and stuff like that to clean it instantly. It’s a bit tiring I know.

Skin Care In Warm Weather

The dress up of your beloved in warm weather has to be lightweight cotton made. These kinds of clothes are very good for ventilation. As I mentioned earlier you have to use sunscreen with good SPF metrics. A pair of sunglasses with UV protection will be good.

If you’re a dog lover, then pushing your baby’s stroller with a dog could be a wonderful trip. Here you’ve to take care of a few more things such as proper hydration, diaper change, and sweat check. And for that, the time-to-time break would be great.

Rashes You’ve To Look Out

A baby’s soft skin can easily get rashes or bumps. This kind of issue can irritate your baby and hamper her daily activities. Not to worry about it as most of them are curable. Such as

1. Heat Rash 

Heat rashes generally form around your baby’s face, neck, and torso. A cool bath and splash of talcum powder afterward will cure it in no time.

2. Diaper Rash 

No need to say about the area of this kind of rash. To prevent it, you’ve to always stay alert and change the diaper right after he/she poops and cleans the area.

3. Infant Acne 

These tiny red bumps appear on your beloved’s skin because of the hormones you left before giving birth. Instead of using soap and other, you need to wash the skin with fresh water only. Over time, it will disappear. 

4. Cradle Cap 

Yellowish patches form because of the overactive glands of the baby. After the first 24 hours of birth, you can loosen the cradle cap with mineral oil and wash off the flakes with baby-friendly soaps. 

5. Milia 

it’s very common around the nose of both kids and adults. If it appears on your newborn’s nose, chin, or cheeks, no need to worry, just don’t touch it and keep it clean. Over time it’ll disappear.

6. Eczema 

One of the very disturbing types of skin problems. This type of rash is generally dry and flaky which can be treated with a gentle lotion scrub.

Put Your Baby In Sleep

According to pediatricians, newborns need to sleep 14-17 hours a day besides the meal break. On overage newborns sleep at night for 2-3 hours at a time and it’s normal. Though some baby sleeps for a long period. Again some sleep soon at night while some join the owl club along with their parents. 

Here are some tips from my own experience, you may get some hand

• Keep the lights low.
• Try to maintain room temperature between 15.6 to 20 Celsius. 
• Keep your voice as low as you can.
• Put him/her in bed as soon as eyelids get closed.
• Never waste time after you’re finished with feeding or changing their diaper.
• No play at sleeping time.

Always try to maintain a fixed time putting your newborn to sleep and waking him/her up. It’ll help in recognizing the time difference, more specifically the 24-hour body clock will be balanced.

Soothe Your Crying Beloved

Why is your baby crying? Babies have no verbal language except crying which only the mother can recognize and pacify accordingly. Every time you see them cry out means they need something such as

• Food.
• Changing a wet diaper.
• Cravings for a cuddle.
• Too hot or too cold to tolerate.
• Sleeping time. 

Besides these timings, your baby may cry relentlessly for nothing or something that you couldn’t figure out. For most babies a common time for this crying is evening. It normally starts and lasts between age 4-8 months. 

So, why is it important to soothe a crying baby? Sometimes it can be hard for you, as you’re working parents and after a day-long labor your body just thrives for a good sleep that you can’t. 

Calm Down Your Crying Baby

Whenever your baby find something uncomfortable or want something they start crying. And this is where you can check your patience level. Though there are some tricks that I used to pacify my kids Lily and Max. Such as

• Try to sing any of your favorite songs that you used to hear during pregnancy keeping a very low volume.
• If you’re still breastfeeding, then hold him/her to your breast to drink for a while and fall asleep.
• Some rhythmic gentle strokes on the kid’s back while holding them against you or lying face downwards on the lap can also help to pacify your kid. 
• Put your kid in a stroller and go for a walk. But keep an eye on their comfort on the road so that he/she can sleep peacefully.
• Rocking your baby on a pram forward and backward.
• Sometimes a quick warm bath also cams down some babies instantly, though some speed up their crying.
• If your baby has finished drinking breast milk then lie him/her down and start stroking gently while humming any of the favorite songs on a low volume.

If you still can soothe your dear one, you better ask for a health visitor’s help.

How To Check Your Baby Is OK? 

As babies have no language but crying it’s always a bit tricky to detect their illness, especially when you’ve no medical experience. But here’s a catch, as a mother know your baby better than anyone else, so trust your instincts and you’ll know it gradually. 

Here is what I used to do, such as

Temperature Check

The normal temperature of a baby is about 36.4C and 38C or more is considered as high temperature. You can do it with your bare hand but there might be something different.

Such as body temperature is very high on a thermometer but hands and feet are cold comparatively. Or high temperature that overrides paracetamol or similar drugs. Hot or cold feeling on touch even shivering, very high or very low temperature, and many more. 

In such cases, first, you have to contact your physician. Before the team arrives, you mustn’t do a few things, such as undressing or sponging, covering with more clothes/bedsheets, feeding aspiring, feeding ibuprofen to the baby with asthma, etc.

Breathing Check & Other Signs

Breathing checking is a very easy part here, just hold one or two fingers near the nose count the number of inhales per 10 seconds, and multiply it by 6. Now what if the breathing is not normal such as

• Rapid breathing or panting.
• Throathy noise with each breath in.
• Trouble breathing in, even sucking the stomach area below the ribs, etc.

Again there might be some other kind of problematic signs such as

• Irregular colors like blue, pale, and grey on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet.  
• The child seems disoriented or in a dilemma with something.
• Hard to wake up from sleeping.
• Abnormal crying with a loud voice that is impossible to pacify. 
• Green vomit,
• Hard to feed 
• Unusually dry diaper (a possible sign of dehydration).
• Severe allergic reaction

And many more. Whatever the condition is, just stay confident and trust your instincts, and ofcourse cooperate with medical professionals.

Bonus

1. Always Support The Head

Newborn babies come with a very soft and small body weighing around 7.5-10lbs whereas the head weighs a quarter of the whole weight. The whole body is under under-development, especially the neck and head. So always keep a hand under the head while picking up and holding for a while.

2. Swaddle Your Little Star

A mother’s touch always works as magic for every child. There’s another thing that also keeps them calm and quiet, which is swaddling. It’s a century-old technique of wrapping the child in a way that secures all the body parts and body warmth.

3. Use Mittens For Nail Injuries

Newborn’s nails tend to be very soft and sharp, and their constant movement makes it very hard to cut off. So to prevent injuries use mittens – a soft cotton-made glove for babies. 

4. Cradle Cap

It’s like some rough scaly patches on your baby’s scalp comes out of anywhere. It happens when your baby’s body produces an excess amount of sebum. To get rid of it use baby oil or petroleum jelly overnight and wash with a baby shampoo in the morning.

5. Routine Bedtime & Waking Up

It plays a very important role in regulating circadian rhythm which is a 24-hour body-cycle. If you put your baby to sleep and wake up in the morning daily at the same time, it will make them recognize the morning and night time and set the body clock.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Weight Is Normal For A Newborn? 

On average babies come to this world with 7.5 lbs of weight. Whereas weight between 5.5 lbs to 10 lbs is a good metric for a healthy child.

2. What If My Baby Has A Sunken Fontanelle?

A baby is born with several fontanels aka soft spots which help the baby’s skull to gain as much flexibility as it needs for a normal delivery. Sunken fontanel is when your baby has 1/2 soft spots with an inward curve. Contact a physician ASAP if you detect it. 

3. Is Vernix Caseosa Harmful For Your Baby?

It’s a white, creamy, natural biofilm that coats the fetus and protects the delicate skin of the baby after birth. Its anti-bacterial properties prevent any kind of skin infection, and the high water content helps to lock the moisture of the skin and prevent skin dry-out.

4. Is It Okay For  Babies To Suck Thumbs?

Thumb sucking aka nutritive sucking is a normal process that starts before birth and continues afterward. You may find them sucking almost all their fingers from time to time, even pacifiers, blankets even corner their clothing.  

5. How Do I Stop Newborn Hiccups?

For newborns, there’s no certain method that stops the hiccups for sure but you must try. Taking a break with a new holding position, and frequent burping are some of them. You can also try feeding your infant more frequently in smaller quantities.

6. Is It Normal To Have A Conehead?

It’s completely normal to have a conehead for your newborn and it usually revolves on its own probably within the first few days. The pressure from the tight birth canal causes the baby’s skull to shift and overlap with other bones.

Conclusion

Taking care of a newborn child is a tough but very much possible task for both new and old parents. Everything starts with a wonderful feeling, a dream of having an opportunity to bring life onto the earth. And with birth, the real parenting phase starts.

The very first step to the newborn guide for new parents is knowing your baby which includes umbilical cords, birthmarks, newborn spots, baby’s instinct, genitals, and chest area. The very next steps are their medical test, daily care, skin protection, putting the baby to sleep, soothing their cry, disease checkup, and more. To be honest, there’s no limit to expertise, the more you try the more you earn perfection in work.

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• The working parent’s survival guide: 16 tips for caring for a baby
• Do I need a bassinet stroller? Pros and cons
• How to choose a baby bassinet (9 Important Factors)
• How much should you realy pay for a baby babssinet?