Beginner’s Guide to Motherhood: 10 Most Valuable Advise
Parenting Advise – Most Valuable Advise for New Parents (baby upto 6 months) - Part 3
I am not a doctor, or any way qualified professionally but personally – I am slowly graduating to a pro. Hence, here I am, sharing my learning which are based on my own experiences. So here are my Most Valuable Advise, straight from the war-zone (hah!).
Read this in conjunction with the first 2 parts here and here.
“Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.” – Rumi
10 Most Valuable Advise - My learnings
- The very first lesson – holding the baby : one hand should always, always be at the back of his neck and the other on his back or on his rump. Their spines are not hardened yet.
- There are 2 main reasons why a child cries – he’s hungry or he’s sleepy. Try to feed him first and if he doesn’t take, then try to put him to sleep. Whichever works, note the type of cry for future reference. I have learnt which cry means he’s sleepy.
- If he cries non-stop even after the above two, then he is in pain – either stomach-ache or ear-ache.
- Keep medicines for colic and paracetamol. Administer the colic medicine first if baby is crying incessantly. If even that doesn’t work, give some paracetamol. However, consult your baby’s pediatrician about which medicines to give and what doses.
- After baby’s umbilical cord has fallen off, start bathing baby. Before that, give sponge baths but take care of the cord and dress it as per advice from hospital/doctor.
- Babies often wake up with a start or jerk during sleep; keep something slightly heavy over his chest or turn him on his side to prevent this. For me, the former didn’t work but the latter did.
- Diapers make the baby uneasy and can give him rashes. Keep him in soft cloth nappies as long as possible. I kept him in diapers at night only to ensure sound sleep, because he may have woken up during nappy change otherwise.
- Baby nails grow alarmingly quickly, and they tend to scratch themselves. Nail cutting should be done only when he is in deep sleep and then too, not to the very edge since soft skin lies underneath. You can also try mittens to eliminate the scratching. We did that when we couldn’t cut his nails just yet.
- Hot Oil massage is important for a baby’s strength and development. He will kick and throw punches at an early stage if so.
- Trust your instincts about your baby’s health and well-being. Be patient, give yourself and your baby time to know each other.
Help is a call away...
These are all things that have worked for me; to have a happy and healthy baby. Most of this advise came from my parents or doctor or my advisors (friend’s sister and brother-in-law). I filtered out what worked for me so I can give first-hand advise rather than those of books.
I hope this helps someone out there!
This concludes the newborn phase of the series. In the next part, I talk about the growth stages of a baby upto 1 year, what to look out for.
