Newborn's Care: What parents Should Know About Their Newborn's Care (cont)

As I have said before Newborn baby care: Complete guide & tips will be provided as,

1. How to take care of your Newborn and

2. How to take care of your Newborn healthy

Already The first(1) section is published. If you have not read the article yet, Click the below link to read the previous article. So that you can able to connect this continuation post.

Newborn's Care: What Parents Should Know About Their Newborn's Care

You can also read: Tips For First Time Moms To Take Care Of Newborn

And in this article, we are going to look at How to take care of your Newborn healthy. Here we go...

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR NEWBORN HEALTHY

Every parent will remember the day when they hold their baby for the first time. Yes, that was a priceless moment and a precious day in your life. Once your baby arrived, the parent's protective instinct will kick in, especially for moms who will start worrying about the baby's health.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR NEWBORN HEALTHY

Generally, a newborn's immune system is still developing, so the baby is at a higher chance of risk of having serious complications from an illness. Usually, for adults germs and bacteria are harmless but in the case of newborns and infants, they will cause serious issues.

Here is my experience am suggesting to you some ways to keep your newborn healthy.

1. BE UP TO DATE ON VACCINES

The most important way to protect your baby is to make sure that they are getting all their vaccines. It helps to protect your baby from a wide range of dangerous and preventable diseases.

Generally, for newborns, breast milk helps to protect the baby against many diseases. If your baby breastfeeds or not, vaccines help them to protect from diseases. Usually, vaccines work by imitating the infection of a certain disease in your baby's body. This improves your baby's immune system to develop  a weapon called antibodies

These antibodies fight against the disease that the vaccine is used. Now your baby's immune system can able to defeat future infections from the disease.

ARE VACCINES DANGEROUS

To simply in a word, No. Vaccines are completely safe for newborns, infants, and toddlers. Vaccines help to protect our children from various serious diseases.

Vaccines can cause some mild side effects like redness, swelling where the injection was given, and sometimes fever too. No worries, all these side effects will go away within a few days. Serious side effects like severe allergic reactions are very rare.

Finally, vaccines are important to keep our little ones safe and healthy. If you have any queries about vaccines, vaccine schedules make sure to talk to your doctor.

2. TUMMY TIME

It is nothing but placing your baby on their stomach when your baby is awake.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

It makes your baby's neck and shoulder muscles are stronger. So they can start to sit up, crawl, rollover, and even they try to walk too. It helps to prevent flat spots on the back of your baby's head. The gentle pressure on their tummy helps in relieving the gas.

WHEN TO START TUMMY TIME

You can start tummy time once the umbilical cord falls off. You can add tummy time to your regular daily routine. Initially, you should begin with 1 to 2 minutes a few times a day, then you can gradually increase up to 10 to 15 minutes several times a day. First, you can start laying your baby across your lap on their tummy. Once your baby grows stronger you can put them on the floor Since your baby spends a maximum of its time on its back. So it is important and necessary.

3. NEWBORN UMBILICAL CORD CARE

When comes to caring for your newborn the important stage in the first month is umbilical cord care. Your baby's umbilical cord can fall off either in 10 days or 2 weeks from birth. The umbilical cord will change its color from yellowish-green to brown and black as it dries and falls off on its own.

It is important to care before it falls off to avoid infection. Here is what you should do:

* Keep the naval area clean and dry. Before handling the navel area keep your hands clean, it is better to disinfect your hands.

* Keep the baby's diaper folded down.

* To clean the navel area, use clean dry cotton and water-absorbent cloth.

* Do not try to pull it off. Let the cord stamp fall on its own.

* If you see any redness, swelling, or it produces any smelly discharge like yellowish pus them it is necessary to consult with your doctor immediately.

4. HOW TO CALM A CRYING NEWBORN

Generally, babies cry for many reasons, and crying is the only way for babies to communicate. Initially, it may be difficult to understand your baby's different cries, but when you spend more time you can able to understand them. When a baby cries a lot, it may be a sign of something that they need your attention.

It is really hard when your baby keeps on crying. You may find that something is wrong with your child. So that you might lose your coolness. No worries, you can handle it.

Some of the common reasons behind babies crying are:

* Sleepiness

* Discomfort/Irritation from a wet or dirty diaper

* Hunger

* Colic, excessive gas, pain/illness, feeling cold

* Fear about stranger

Here am suggesting a few calming techniques that will help you to calm a fussy baby:

(a) Swaddle your baby - It calms down your baby because it creates a womb-like feeling. Parents find swaddling helps their babies can sleep longer and they easily settle down.

(b) Give Massage - It is a great way to calm your little one's cries. Use a baby massage oil or any baby lotion while massaging. Use a gentle touch and make a small circle and do a massage on the stomach, especially near the belly button.

(c) Do Colic Carry - Colic carry is nothing but to help your baby to relieve from gas and colic. You can follow the below steps to relieve a gas:

--> Lay your baby on his/her tummy on your forearm, use your other hand and rub his/her back.

--> Lay your baby on his/her back and push their knees up to the baby's tummy for 10 seconds and then release. Repeat the step until the baby is relieved from gas.

(d) Get Outside - Fresh air can work wonders on cranky babies. The change in light, temperature, and the environment can improve your baby's mood.

5. TAKE YOUR NEWBORN FOR A REGULAR CHECKUP

It is important to schedule a regular checkup for your baby to make sure that your baby is growing normally and receiving all the necessary care. Some symptoms you should keep in your mind when your little one faces any of these below problems:

* Dehydration

* Bowel movement problem - White mucus in stool

* Sudden overly high or low temperature

* Continuous crying

* Umbilical cord problem

* Other illnesses like diarrhea, continuous cold, and cough

If you notice anything abnormal or you find any of the above problems immediately you should consult your doctor.

6. HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE GENITAL AREA OF NEWBORN

Generally,  the baby's private area will be very soft and their skin is very delicate and fragile. Cleaning the baby's private area is most important because their poop and pee can dry on the skin and cause irritation. Use a gentle touch while cleaning such areas, keep in mind that you should not hurt your baby in any way. Initially, you might be worried to get your baby's private area cleaned. Your worry is right, if there is no proper care then it leads to infections and other health problems that may develop around the private area. So you need to be very gentle and soft while handling your baby and make sure that the baby should not feel uncomfortable. Here am suggesting you some tips you can follow when you take care of your baby's private area:

(a) GENITAL AREA CARE FOR GIRL BABY

For girl babies, whenever you are washing the body all that time it is important to wash her private area. You can use a clean cotton cloth and lukewarm water to clean that area. Do not use any soap or body wash inside the vaginal skin as it may cause skin irritation and a burning sensation.

Hold her legs a little apart and clean from inside to outside and make sure that nothing goes inside her vagina/urinary tract. Avoid using baby powder particularly in their private area because it may irritate the skin. Use lukewarm water and give gentle wash with your hands then pat dry. Use nappies that allow easy airflow. And you should add the baby's private area care to your daily routine.

(b) GENITAL CARE FOR BABY BOY

For a baby boy, you might find yourself in a state of full confusion or might be completely helpless about how to clean their private area. It is basically whenever you are cleaning the private area use lukewarm water and soft clean cotton cloth.

Whether your baby is circumcised or not - it does not matter, the main goal of parents is to keep your baby's private area should be clean, neat, and dry.

WHAT IS CIRCUMCISION

It is nothing but a completely optional surgical procedure to remove the layer of the skin that covers the head of the penis. With the parent's permission, this procedure will be done after two to three days of birth.

If your baby is circumcised, then you should follow the below routine on daily basis:

* The tip of the private is should be applied by doctors recommended ointment to keep the wound covered from sticking to the diaper and also speedy recovery from the wound.

* Gently wipe the tip with clean lukewarm water or with wet wipes after every diaper change then apply the ointment to the tip so it does not stick to the diaper.

* If you find any redness, swelling, irritation, or infection around or tip of the area then it is better and important to consult with your doctor.

* Generally it takes around 7 to 10 days to heal the wound. So try to leave the area free(i.e.,) avoid using more nappies. Allow the air to circulate, this makes quick healing.

And if your baby is not circumcised, then it will be a little easy for the parents to take care of. The head of the baby's private area self-cleansed to an extent. However, you should not slide the foreskin from back to front. Doing this hurts your baby. Then for every diaper change, you should clean that area with lukewarm water and pat dry with a cotton cloth. Always try o keep that area clean, neat, and dry.

FINAL THOUGHT

Being a parent is one of the beautiful feelings in life, especially for moms. However, you may feel a little confused and worry about handling a Newborn. You may find that caring for a newborn is not easy and it has never been easy. But trust me by doing your routine for baby in a few short weeks you will be parenting like a pro...! Suppose if you have any concerns then do not hesitate to consult your doctor.

Hope this post will help you in some way to take care of your newborn healthy.