Best care for newborn baby

Newborn feed:

Breastfeeding is a natural process, so you might feel that it should come easily. The truth is, it takes practice for both Mom and Baby. "It really is something that Mom and Baby both have to learn. It gets simple, but it's a new experience," says Alan Greene, M.D., pediatrician and author of Feeding Baby Green. But the work is worth it. Not only does breastfeeding secure a strong bond between parent and child, breast milk has the perfect combination of nutrients your baby needs to grow to be strong and healthy - such as antioxidants to build the immune system -- and breast milk is easier for Baby to digest. It also benefits the mother by burning calories, shrinking down the uterus, and reducing the risk of ovarian and breast cancer, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Stop stressing. Remind yourself that you're a first-time parent with little prior experience in most things baby, from changing diapers (especially for a newborn boy who loves to make a splash) to burping(your baby, not you), so you can't be expected to be in the baby-care know right off the bat. And even if you do mess up a little in the first few weeks, relax- first of all, blunders are a rite of parenting passage, and second of all, chances are your baby will be very forgiving. Actually, your pipsqueak probably won't even notice your inexperience and certainly won't remember that you waited a few too many days to trim those nails or that you didn’t get every speck of grime out of the cute folds in his baby neck.

All your need-to-know newborn info, from belching techniques to umbilical-cord-stump care, is just a few clicks away. And the more you learn about caring for your baby -and the more you get to know your bundle’s little quirks- the more comfortable you’ll start to feel in those new-mom shoes. Before you know it, you’ll be grooming and bathing your newborn without batting an eye.

Even though babies grow faster than you can imagine, one thing stays the same: Mother knows best. That being said doesn’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, and lots of it -whether it’s tapping an experienced mommy friend for swaddling suggestions or asking your mother-in-law to babysit.

So whether you’re a laid-back lady looking for a few first-time parenting pointers or you worried throughout your entire pregnancy, when it comes down to it, you want to do as much right as possible for your precious newborn. Luckily, with a little practice and some extra guidance you'll be a pro in no time.

Bath time & Grooming:

Bath time can be a lot of fun for your little one. But it can also be tough to keep your baby safe while trying to get her clean. Learn how to give baby a bath and safely make bath time a special time.Bath time can be a fun, special time to share with your baby. It's also a time for caution, though. Keep these bathing tips in mind so your little one stays safe while he gets squeaky clean:

The first and most important rule is this: Never, ever leave your baby unsupervised, even for a minute. Children can drown in less than an inch of water. So gather all the supplies you'll need ahead of time, and keep at least one hand on your baby while he's in the water. If the doorbell or phone rings and you feel you must answer it, scoop up your baby in a towel and take him with you. Make sure the bathroom is comfortably warm. Babies can get chilled quickly. Don't put your baby into a tub when the water is still running.

Make the family tub safe: Bathtubs are incredibly slippery, so outfit yours with a rubber bath mat for more secure seating. A cushioned spout cover can protect your baby's head from painful bumps. Also, be sure that any sliding glass shower doors are made from safety glass. Make the bathwater comfortably warm Babies and toddlers generally prefer a much cooler tub than you probably do. Fill the tub with only 2 to 4 inches of water for babies. For kids who can sit up, a bath ring may provide you with an extra "hand." But don't let it give you a false sense of security-babies can tip over or get trapped under them, so it's no substitute for keeping your eye and a hand on your baby at all times. Teach your baby not to stand in the tub.

Wash your baby in plain water if you want to, as long as you clean the diaper zone and skin folds well. Soaps and shampoos can dry your baby's skin and may cause rashes. If you do use soap, choose a mild one designed for babies and use it sparingly. To avoid having your baby sit too long in soapy water, play at the beginning of the bath and save the soap and shampoo for the end. Don't use bubble baths. They may be irritating to the urethra, which in turn might increase the risk of urinary tract infections. Set your water heater to 120 degrees F. It takes just three seconds for a child to get third-degree burns from water that is 140 degrees F – the default setting on many hot water heaters when they leave the factory. Don’t allow your child to touch the faucet handles. Even if he can't move them now, he'll be strong enough to do so eventually – and that could lead to serious injury Keep electric appliances away from the tub. Some general things to look for when buying a bath seat:

Make sure the label says it meets the latest safety standards. Make sure the seat has a T-bar or strap that runs between your baby's legs. If it's a model that clamps to the side of the tub, measure the thickness of your tub's wall to make sure the clamp will fit. Will your baby fit into it? Not all babies are built alike - yours may not fit comfortably into a particular seat, or be able to be pulled from it easily. Consider a seat that comes with attached toys to make bath time fun. Watch out for rough edges that could scrape your baby's skin. As with any children's product you buy or receive as a gift, check our product recall page regularly to make sure it hasn't been recalled.

Skin Care:

There's nothing quite like the soft, delicate skin of a baby. And nothing like a cranky infant irritated by diaper rash, cradle cap, or another skin condition. While your baby is perfect, your baby's skin may not be. Many babies are prone to skin irritation in the first few months after birth. Here's how to spot and treat common baby skin problems. The good news about your newborn's rashes: Most cause no harm and go away on their own. While caring for baby's skin may seem complex, all you really need to know are three simple things: Which conditions can you treat at home? Which need medical treatment? And how can you prevent baby from experiencing skin problems to begin with?

If baby has red skin around the diaper area, you're dealing with diaper rash. Most diaper rashes occur because of skin irritation due to diapers that are too tight; wet diapers left on for too long; or a particular brand of detergent, diapers, or baby wipes. Avoid it by keeping the diaper area open to the air as long as possible, changing your baby's diaper as soon as it's wet, washing with a warm cloth, and applying zinc oxide cream. Baby "acne" is not really acne, like the kind teenagers get. In fact, recent research suggests that it may be related to yeast, not oil production. Pimples on baby's nose and cheeks usually clear up by themselves in a few weeks. So you don't need to treat baby acne or use lotion.

Lots of babies have birthmarks -- more than one in ten as a matter of fact. Birthmarks, areas of skin discoloration, are not inherited. They may be there when your baby is born, or they might show up a few months later. Generally birthmarks are nothing to worry about and need no treatment. But if your baby's birthmark worries you, talk to your pediatrician. Cradle cap can show up during baby's first or second month, and usually clears up within the first year. Also called seborrhea dermatitis, cradle cap is caused in part by excess oil and shows up as a scaly, waxy, red rash on the scalp, eyebrows, eyelids, the sides of the nose, or behind the ears. Your pediatrician will recommend the best treatment for cradle cap, which may include a special shampoo, baby oil, or certain creams and lotions.

Showing up as small pinkish-red bumps, prickly heat usually appears on the parts of your baby's body that are prone to sweating, like the neck, diaper area, armpits, and skin folds. A cool, dry environment and loose-fitting clothes are all you need to treat prickly heat rash -- which can even be brought on in winter when baby is over-bundled. Try dressing baby in layers that you can remove when things heat up.Babies can inhale the very fine grains of talcum powder or the larger particles of cornstarch, which could cause lung problems. So it's best to avoid using them on your infant.

As many as one in two newborns get the little white bumps known as milia. Appearing usually on the nose and face, they're caused by skin flakes blocking oil glands. Milia are sometimes called "baby acne," but baby acne is related to hormonal changes. In this case, baby skin care is easy: As baby's glands open up over the co Yeast infections often appear after your baby has had a round of antibiotics, and show up differently depending on where they are on your baby's skin. Thrush appears on the tongue and mouth, and looks like dried milk, while a yeast diaper rash is bright red, often with small red pimples at the rash edges. Talk to your pediatrician: Thrush is treated with an anti-yeast liquid medicine, while an anti-fungal cream is used for a yeast diaper rash. Avoiding skin rashes will keep your baby smiling and happy: Use a gentle detergent to wash everything that touches your infant's skin, from bedding and blankets, to towels and even your own clothes. You'll cut down on the likelihood of baby developing irritated or itchy skin.

Crying Gas :

Here are the most common reasons babies cry. If your little one is wailing and you don't know why, work your way down the list. Chances are you'll find something that helps.This is probably the first thing you think of when your baby cries. Learning to recognize the signs of hunger will help you start your baby's feedings before the crying stage. Some signs to watch for in newborns: fussing, smacking of lips, rooting (a newborn reflex that causes babies to turn their head toward your hand when you stroke their cheek), and putting their hands to their mouth. Some babies let you know right away when they need to be changed. Others can tolerate a dirty diaper for quite a while. Either way, this one is easy to check and simple to remedy. Sleep isn’t babies lucky? When they're tired they can simply go to sleep – anytime, anywhere. Or so adults like to think. In reality, it's harder for them than you might think. Instead of nodding off, babies may fuss and cry, especially if they're overly tired.

Tummy troubles associated with gas or colic can lead to lots of crying. In fact, the rather mysterious condition called colic is defined as inconsolable crying for at least three hours a day, at least three days a week, at least three weeks in a row. If your baby often fusses and cries right after being fed, he may be feeling some sort of tummy pain. Many parents swear by over-the-counter anti-gas drops for babies or gripe water. Get your doctor's okay before using either of these. For more help, discover more than 20 strategies for soothing a colicky baby. Even if your baby isn't colicky and has never been fussy after eating, an occasional bout of gas pain can make him miserable until he works it out. If you suspect gas, try something simple to eliminate it such as putting him on his back, holding his feet, and moving his legs in a gentle bicycling motion.Discover other possible causes of babies abdominal pain, including reflux, stomach flu, milk allergy, lactose intolerance, constipation, and intestinal blockage.

Burping  Care:

Babies often take in a lot of air while feeding. If your baby seems uncomfortable, he may need to burp. Learn why burping is important for babies, how to burp your baby, and how often.Feeding a baby is an exciting experience for any new parent. It can also be a little intimidating, especially if you don't know what to expect. So here's a quick guide to an important aspect of feeding — burping. Burping helped to get rid of some of the air that babies tend to swallow during feeding. In some babies, not being burped frequently and too much swallowed air can lead to spitting up, crankiness, and gassiness. When burping your baby, repeated gentle patting on your baby's back should do the trick — there's no need to pound hard. To prevent messy cleanups when your baby spits up or has a "wet burp," you might want to place a towel or bib under your baby's chin or on your shoulder. Try experimenting with different positions for burping that are comfortable for you and your baby. Many parents prefer to use one of these three methods:

Your baby's chin should rest on your shoulder as you support the baby with one hand. With the other hand, gently pat your baby's back. Sitting in a rocking chair and gently rocking with your baby while you do this may also help. Support your baby's chest and head with one hand by cradling your baby's chin in the palm of your hand and resting the heel of your hand on your baby's chest. Use the other hand to pat your baby's back gently. Support your baby's head and make sure it's higher than his or her chest. Gently pat your baby's back. If your baby seems fussy while feeding, stop the session, burp your baby, and then begin feeding again. Try burping your baby every 2 to 3 ounces if you bottle-feed and each time you switch breasts if you breastfeed. If your baby tends to be gassy, spits a lot, has gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), or seems fussy during feeding, try burping your baby every ounce during bottle-feeding or every 5 minutes during breastfeeding. If your baby doesn't burp after a few minutes, change the baby’s position and try burping for another few minutes before feeding again. Always burp your baby when feeding time is over. For the first 6 months or so, keep your baby in an upright position for 10 to 15 minutes (or longer if your baby spits up or has GERD) after feeding to help prevent the milk from coming back up. But don't worry if your baby spits sometimes. It's probably more unpleasant for you than it is for your baby.

Sometimes your baby may awaken because of gas — simply picking your little one up to burp might put him or her back to sleep. As your baby gets older, you shouldn't worry if your child doesn't burp during or after every feeding. Usually, it just means that your baby has learned to eat without swallowing excess air. Babies with colic (3 or more hours a day of continued crying) might also have gas from swallowing too much air during crying spells, which can make the baby even more uncomfortable. Using anti-gas drops has not proven to be an effective way to treat colic or gas, and some available medications can be dangerous.

Shaken Baby Syndrome care:

Shaken baby syndrome usually refers to the same thing. When a caregiver shakes and injures a child, it's sometimes called shaken baby syndrome. Shaking a baby is the most common form of AHT. It occurs most frequently in babies younger than 1 – typically when an adult is overwhelmed by a crying baby and tries to get him to stop. It can happen when an adult is frustrated with a toddler or preschooler; too.AHT is also the term doctors use to describe a serious brain injury that results from blunt force. Receiving a blow to the head and being thrown or dropped because similar injuries to violently shaking a child, so doctors refer to all such injuries as AHT.

When a child's head is shaken back and forth, his brain bumps against the skull, causing bruising, swelling, pressure, and bleeding in and around the brain. The impact often causes bleeding in the retina – the light-sensitive portion of the eye that transmits images to the brain. A child with AHT may also have a damaged spinal cord or neck as well as bone fractures. The extent of the damage depends on how long and hard the child is shaken or how severe the blow to the head is. But in just seconds, a child can suffer severe, permanent damage or even death.

The normal ways that most parents interact with their children don't cause AHT. Bouncing a baby on your leg, swinging him in his swing, jiggling a child in your arms, or tossing him gently in the air won't cause AHT. An accidental fall is also extremely unlikely to cause the condition. AHT results from a deliberately violent back-and-forth motion. Unfortunately, an angry adult can quickly unleash that degree of violence on a baby or a small child.

Most abusive head injuries happen to babies younger than 1 year old  . But sometimes kids as old as 5 get AHT. Babies and young children are especially vulnerable to this kind of injury because their head is proportionally larger than the rest of their body, and their neck muscles are relatively weak, making it harder to support their large head. A baby's immature skull is thinner, and his blood vessels are more susceptible to tearing than those of older children and adults. Babies younger than 1 also have a flatter skull, which allows for more sheering force when a baby is shaken. An estimated two to three babies out of 10,000 are victims of AHT in the United States each year. About one in five of these babies dies, and only about a third will survive without severe disabilities. Boys are shaken more often than girls, and it's usually a parent or parent's partner who does the shaking. Most often a father, stepfather, or boyfriend abuses the child. Poverty and stress are risk factors for child abuse, which may explain the rise in AHT during hard economic times.It depends on how long and hard the child has been shaken or the extent of the child's other head injuries. Some of the most common effects include:

Eye damage or blindness, hearing impairment, speech disabilities, damage to the neck and spine, learning disorders, intellectual disability, behavioral problems, permanent vegetative state, developmental problems, seizures, cerebral palsy, death.The signs of abusive head trauma depend on the extent of the damage. The most common signs include:

Not eating or difficulty feeding, rigidity, glassy eyes, unable to lift head, unable to focus on an object, vomiting, lethargy, irritability. As brain cells are destroyed and oxygen is depleted in the brain, neurological changes continue to occur. In severe cases, a child may have difficulty breathing or suffer from seizures or heart failure. He may lose consciousness and become comatose.

Arm yourself with information and know that you are not alone. Learn how to comfort your crying baby as best you can: Find out 12 reasons babies cry and how to soothe them, 22 ways to cope with colic, and what to do if your baby cries for no reason. If you find yourself getting angry or frustrated with your baby, take a deep breath, gently place him in a safe place leave the room, and try to calm down. Remind yourself how young, helpless, and vulnerable your child is. It's normal for babies to cry, and crying jags may be very intense in a young baby. But caring for your baby will get easier as time goes by, and before you know it, this stage will be over. If you feel that you can't control your anger, call a friend or relative to come and stay with your baby for a bit. Take a walk or a shower if you think that might help you and also can search online for crisis intervention services and hotlines in your area. The people who staff these phones are available 24 hours a day and know how to help you. If you often struggle with frustration or anger over your baby's crying, seek help from a counselor.

Pediatricians & Medicine for newborn baby:

It's smart to scope out the pediatrician scene while you're still pregnant. "It's important to have a pediatrician you've already met and respect, because you have enough going on after the baby is born without having to worry about finding a doctor," The benefits of committing to a pediatrician early aren't just for parents. Which she co-authored, found that babies who see the same doctor for their first six months are up to twice as likely to receive important health tests before they turn 2. "You don't want to have to reinvent the wheel every time, like going over whether the immunizations are up to date," she says. "If you have a continuing relationship with a doctor, you have the time and comfort to go deeper."The best time to start looking for a pediatrician is between 28 and 34 weeks into your pregnancy, when you likely know what you want and have at least a few weeks to do your homework. The process may seem daunting, but realize you're not trying to find the Best Pediatrician in the World -- you're looking for the best one for your child and a personal connection for you.

Your child's health-care professional should be a pediatrician or a family practitioner who has received considerable training in the care of children. Make sure the doctor you choose is board-certified in pediatrics or family medicine. The physician should also be licensed by the state in which she practices, and the license should be posted prominently in her office for your review. Also make sure the doctor is affiliated with a hospital near your home to avoid lengthy trips in case an emergency should arise.

To find the right physician, ask your obstetrician/gynecologist or nurse-midwife for a referral. Friends, especially other parents in your neighborhood, are also good sources for referrals. If you've just moved to a new community, call the public affairs department at the nearest teaching hospital or a respected local hospital or medical center for a recommendation.  If the public affairs department isn't able to recommend someone, ask to speak with a pediatric floor nurse. Someone in that position is likely to be aware of the best doctors in town. You'll want not only medical expertise, but a feeling of partnership with this professional whom you trust to address your baby's needs as well as your own need for information, help, and reassurance. You'll want him to be someone you feel comfortable calling with even minor concerns.

Some parents interview pediatricians to get a feel for their style. During such an interview, ask the doctor how accessible she is, whether she's available to take calls during the day and evening, how quickly she gets back to parents, how reliable her answering service is, and whether she has weekend and evening office hours -- a must for parents who work outside the home. Pay attention to how well your doctor focuses on your needs, how well you feel your questions have been answered, and whether or not you feel rushed or your concerns are brushed aside. Ask if your baby will see the doctor, a nurse-practitioner, or other service provider during routine visits. You'll want regular contact with a single party with whom you and your child can develop a relationship. If the doctor herself sees patients only for emergencies, you may want to look around since you will both be far more comfortable in an emergency situation with your baby's regular physician.

Find out if the physician and you share attitudes on such key child-rearing issues as breast-feeding, weaning and nutrition. Keep looking if you feel that you and a particular doctor aren't a good match. Convenience is also an important factor in choosing your child's physician. You don't want to have half an hour's drive between your home and the doctor's office, especially when your baby is ill. You may also want to consider having a doctor in a group practice rather than someone who has a solo practice. Then, if the doctor is on vacation or ill, your child can see one of her partners, with whom you are more likely to be somewhat familiar.