Any new parent is both excited and scared when they first bring their newborn home. Let’s face it. After nine long months of waiting, or if you’ve waited for an adoption that took a long time to come, you’ve doubtless spent months getting ready. However, even though you’re as ready as you can be, you might also be a bit nervous and even scared. No matter how prepared you are, you can always use a little extra help. So here are some important baby care tips to keep in mind.
Baby Care Tip #1: Bath water temperature
Of course, your newborn’s skin is much more delicate than yours is, so bath temperature is one thing you have to be very careful as in order to avoid making the bath temperature too hot. When the baby first comes home, it can’t be immersed in water for about the first month, so simply give sponge baths at first.
However, once the baby is about a month old and the umbilical stump has fallen off, you can give him or the first bath; of course, you should check with your pediatrician or nurse to make sure just when you can do this. Once you get the go-ahead, though, there are special bath inserts specially made for this purpose that you can put in your sink to lay baby in so that the baby is not fully immersed, but can still get wet enough to be bathed even before he or she can sit up.
In regard to water temperature, test the temperature by putting the inside of your wrist on the water’s surface. Your skin here is very sensitive, similar to baby’s, so you’ll be able to test the temperature based on how the baby will actually feel it. The water itself should feel room temperature against your wrist.
Baby Care Tip #2: Swaddling your baby
Of course, newborn babies will be very sensitive to cold temperatures, since they’ve been in a nice warm uterus for the past nine months. Therefore, tiny babies should be dressed relatively warmly. In addition, it may make your new baby feel much more secure to be swaddled. Swaddling simply means that you wrap the baby snugly (but not too tightly) in a blanket so that he or she feels securely encased, similar to how he or she felt in the womb.
In addition, this can help the baby stop crying. Remember that crying is the only way for a very new baby to communicate. So if the baby is crying, it may not mean that he or she is hungry or has a dirty diaper that needs to be changed. It may simply mean that he or she does not feel secure. By properly swaddling the baby, you can help him or her feel much more secure.
Need more information?
If you need more information, no doubt you can ask your pediatrician or other health professional for more advice. However, simply asking other, more experienced parents what they have done in similar situations will give you valuable advice. The Internet is also great way to look for more information; there are also many self-help groups for new parents out there. If you’re a new parent, don’t worry. Pretty soon, you’ll get the hang of it and be giving advice of your own to others.