Knowing some of the top newborn care tips can help you cope with those first few weeks after the birth of your baby.
Bringing Baby Home
The birth of a baby is an exciting time. Planning baby showers, choosing names, decorating the nursery, and preparing for the birth fills the days, weeks, and months before baby actually arrives. Once he or she is released from the hospital, however, the reality of the daily care of a newborn sets in. For many parents, the next few weeks become a blur of feeding, changing, rocking, and simply taking care of their newborn's needs each day. While you may experience love at first sight when you first hold your infant, you still may feel at a loss as to how to meet the unending needs of your little one. LoveToKnow Baby has comprised a list of top newborn care tips that will hopefully ease the confusion and lighten the load.
A List of the Top Newborn Care Tips
The following list of top newborn care tips offer common sense ideas that can be adapted to fit your own unique situation.
- Food, food, food-Stock up on food in the days and weeks before your delivery date. Freeze casseroles, breads, etc. to pull out as needed. Fill the pantry with quick fix options, like canned veggies, pasta sauce, and macaroni and cheese mixes.
- Childbirth classes- If you're a first-time parent, sign up for a childbirth class at your local hospital or birthing center. These classes will help you understand what to expect during the labor and delivery process and may provide baby care advice as well.
- Breast pump-Purchase a good, electric breast pump as opposed to a manual one. Even if you plan on breastfeeding only, a breast pump will allow you to freeze extra milk for those times when baby needs to take a bottle.
- Accept help-If you are lucky enough to have a large group of family and friends, now is not the time to be all independent and refuse their offers of help. People often want to help but don't know how. Be specific with your needs. Ask one person to do your grocery shopping, another to do some cooking, and another to do your laundry.
- Create a visitor policy-Well-meaning family and friends will want to visit with you and the baby. While you may welcome their visits on some occasions, you may need some down time as well. Create a visitation policy, and don't be afraid to enforce it. Enlist your partner's help as well.
- Rest when possible-Probably the best advice you'll receive is to sleep when baby is sleeping. You'll be tempted to do housework or catch up on bill paying, but try to leave those activities until later or ask someone else to do them. It is important to sleep when your newborn sleeps.
- Day by day-Babies don't come with instructions, but you'll quickly learn the best way to take care of your baby. Don't be hard on yourself, but instead realize that each day will bring with it new lessons you've learned about yourself as a parent and about your child.
- Advice, advice-You'll soon discover that everyone wants to give you advice. Some of it you'll listen to and a lot of it you won't. Develop a thick skin, smile sweetly at the advice giver, then take care of your baby the way you want to care for him or her.
A Bit of Final Advice
Keep in mind that even on those days when you haven't had any sleep and your baby won't stop crying, these first few months will fly by. Soon, your child's newborn days will soon be far in the past. Enjoy each moment you can. Even when times are tough, treasure these early weeks, months, and years.
