September 2023

7 Essential facts About Babies For New Parents

Motherhood / By / September 29, 2023

Parenting Advise – Tips for New Parents (baby upto 6 months) Part 2

My Motherhood journey taught me quite a few things which I am sharing here. I hope my personal experiences will help some new mother out there and let them know that it’s okay to be worried but know that they will eventually figure things out. This post is about those essential facts about babies which all new parents must know.

Don’t Worry, It’s Normal!

I think every mother / parent feels this at some point or another – I don’t know how to be a mother, I can’t even do this, or that. I’ll tell you this – don’t worry, it’s normal. However many books you read or videos you watch in preparation, you can actually never be prepared for the reality. So just take each step as it comes. And always, keep learning.

Being a New Mommy

As I approached the date of delivery, I started to get nervous. Till now, all I had to do was to take care of myself and the baby was doing all the growing inside the womb. Now, he would be out in the world, a vulnerable, helpless human being who would be totally dependent on me/us for every single thing. How would I do it? I knew nothing!!! Furthermore, I hadn’t even read any parenting books. I started to buy one when I realized that the reviews were mixed and said that books don’t really help.

The First Few Days...

That first night, I was even afraid to take him in my arms…what if I did it wrong? But as I learnt, it was instinctive to be extremely careful, to handle my precious one as if he was breakable. The first night in the hospital, the nurse offered to let him keep me overnight and I refused; I didn’t think I could handle it yet.

Apart from feeding him at the hospital, I had not handled him until the time he was handed to me at the time of leaving the hospital. That first time of handling him gave me the confidence, and gradually I started to believe I could and would be able to take care of him.

Essential Facts About Babies Main

The Challenges of a Newborn's Parent

The challenges of being a parent are innumerable however those initial days are the hardest. There were many bad days when we just didn’t know what to do. The tension in those moments was so high that arguments were galore but we got over them by putting our heads together.

Now, we know that we can work out the reason and solution logically. For example, there was the day he just wouldn’t stop crying. We did various things – feeding, rocking, stomach-ache meds, humming, etc. and ultimately we could calm him down. Another day he wasn’t sleeping the whole day; again we talked to the doctor and adults and could figure out the issue. Then, one day went by without him pooping at all (vs. pooping 3-4 times). A phone call to the doctor helped ease our minds.

Advise: Never be afraid to ask for help! Parents and doctors play a big role in sorting out the problems.

7 Essential Facts About Babies New Parents must Know

Here are a few common things you will worry about at some point but are actually normal baby behaviour – because babies are unpredictable, as said correctly by Dr. Abhijit Misra.

  • He sleeps too much! Don’t worry, babies can sleep upto 23 hours! It’s also normal to sleep during the day and stay awake at night.

  • He is okay on my lap but wakes up as soon as I put him down! All babies do that, they crave the warmth and softness of a mother’s lap.

  • He is peeing a lot! He can pee as many times as he feeds or more. The thumb rule is: he should pee atleast 6-8 times a day.

  • Is he eating enough? He should take a feed 6-8 times a day, more if required.

  • If he feeds 6-8 times, pees 6-8 times and doubles his weight in 4-5 months, the baby is fine. Relax!

  • He hasn’t pooped today! Well, if your baby is breastfeeding, then he can go without pooping for 7-10 days !! For formula fed-babies, he should poop everyday.

  • I think he’s cold or is he hot? Why is he fussing? Well, he feels whatever temperature you feel. So don’t over-wrap or over-expose.

For other pointers, check out this page: https://drabhijitmisra.com/?s=Newborn+

Coming up in the next part, parenting advise straight from my personal experiences. Keep an eye on this space. Subscribe to my blog to receive emails as soon as the new article is posted.

Tips for New Moms: Embracing Motherhood

Motherhood / By / September 29, 2023

Parenting Advise – Tips for New Parents (baby upto 6 months) Part 1

MOTHERHOOD TALES PART 1

My little boy just turned 2! I can hardly believe it. To celebrate it, this month I am launching the motherhood section of my blog.

I intend to share tips & tricks, and stories of my mommy life. The first couple of parts are about the baby stage upto 6 months. Then we move on to the baby stage upto 2 years and after that, comes the toddler stage of so-called terrible twos which I will share as we go on.

This first part hopefully helps out new moms, soothe the anxieties and help guide through the new challenges.

The main question - How Do You Know?

And the simple answer: Well, you don’t.

So, don’t panic!

You guess or you develop an instinct. This basically goes for almost any question under the sun regarding your newborn. Is my baby hungry? Is he full yet? Is my baby sleepy? Is he cold or is he hot? Should I pick him up or not? Shall I let him sleep in my lap or should I put him down? Is he in pain or is he just cranky? If so, WHY is he cranky?

It’s almost impossible to tell, because, of course, your baby can’t tell you what he wants or what his ailment is. But, there are certain pointers which I will be sharing here which can give you a hint as to what can keep your baby happy and healthy. Otherwise, as a mother and, in fact, as a parent all you can do is gauge reactions and learn and improvise.

It's a Learning Curve

Motherhood is a learning curve, one where you learn something new every day. Babies are unpredictable but there are atleast some things you can note and learn and then adapt accordingly. Ofcourse, there are people to guide you – doctors, parents, friends and family who are parents already – but, those are just guidelines which can act as pointers. In the end, decisions have to he taken by you and whatever good or bad (touchwood it doesn’t) happens, the responsibility is yours and your spouse’s.

You will gradually learn to distinguish which cry of your baby means he’s sleepy, which is a tantrum to be picked up, or which one means he is simply hungry. Incessant crying, though, usually means he’s in pain or is uneasy.

When something works, keep in mind for next time what did the trick and got him/her to be soothed.

Does Motherhood Really Mean Sleepless Nights?

The other all important question which you might have – is your precious sleep no more?

If you’re lucky, it doesn’t have to be. But for very very few people have I heard so.

Yes, there will be sleepless nights, night after night when the baby will be crying and you won’t know why he just won’t sleep. Then, he’ll be sleeping throughout the day when you need to eat and bathe and do your household activities. That leaves you precious little time to sleep. And then the cycle starts again. The saying “you should sleep when the baby sleeps” is just a myth. That said, you should still take atleast a couple hours nap because you need to rest and heal; a sick you is no help to the baby. 

Awake at 3AM!

How long till Baby's sleep cycle normalizes?

The consensus is, apparently, that it takes 3 months to stabilize and come to a proper routine. But here again there are various opinions and experiences; some say 4 months, some say 6 while others say it was never an issue!

Well, for me, up to 5 months, my baby slept at dawn and woke at noon! So, it’s all different from baby to baby.

But rest assured, the hardest part is upto 6 months, there-on it gets better sleep-wise.

Is It Worth It?

Of course it is!

The pregnancy, the birth and then the sleepless nights, the endless worry, the hyper-awareness and the zero me-time – are all of these worth it? One simple answer – yes!

Every time I look at the tiny bundle I created, it fills me with joy and wonder. Every time I do something that makes him smile, I’m incandescent. Every time he does something new, I feel so proud! So yes, it is worth it.

I get to see cutely funny sights like this...

In my next post...

How did you like the introduction? Drop me a line to let me know your thoughts.

In my next post, I will share the advise – in actual numbers and names – as received from my well wishers and which were my guidelines in those first 6 months of new-mommyhood.

Stay tuned.

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