Tips for a Newborn
Having a newborn is an exciting experience for new mothers and fathers. You finally get to see this beautiful baby that you’ve been growing for 9 months. You will experience a lot of positive things when you’re looking this beautiful baby in the eye. Keep in mind that with everything positive, there are some things to keep an eye on. After you have your beautiful baby, keep these tips in mind.
I got many great tips from readers when creating this post. See all their great advice in our Facebook Thread full of Newborn Tips!
Tips for a Newborn
{aka The Fourth Trimester}
Babies don’t need to take a bath every day: There is a misconception that babies need to take baths every day. This is far from the truth, giving your baby a bath every day can eventually dry out their skin. It’s not as if your baby is running marathons to get sweaty and dirty. You can easily use a washcloth to wash them up. Also, hold off a full bath until their umbilical cord stump has fallen off, generally around week 3. When bathing, don’t let the cold hair shock them. A happy baby is much easier than a miserable one. Cover your baby with a warm washcloth or two.
Ask for help if breastfeeding isn’t going okay: Breastfeeding is hard. For some moms, it comes easy and for other moms, it takes a lot of work. It’s okay to ask for help whenever breastfeeding isn’t going okay. Don’t make yourself feel like there is something wrong with you if breastfeeding isn’t going as smoothly as you thought. If you are having latch-on issues while breastfeeding your baby, you can use breast shields to help the process. One of the best resources I had before my first baby arrived what this book – The Nursing Mother’s Companion. I took lamaze class but I only read one book before baby, after all labor is only hours, breastfeeding is months!
Line up people you can talk to and receive advice: Having a newborn, especially for the first time, can make you question everything. In fact, you will probably have a million questions. Line up several people you can ask questions, just in case you have them. It’s nice to be able to text your mom, sister, aunt, or cousin, just in case you want reassurance. When the advice gets too overwhelming, follow your own mom instinct.
Let yourself heal from childbirth: Allowing yourself to heal from childbirth is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your body. Give your body time to heal. In fact, take as much time as you need. If you want to sit and watch movies the week after you give birth, then do it! Your body has been through so much in the past 9 months, it needs that healing time. This is a great time to snuggle and get to know your newborn.
Be Loud: Guess what?! The womb is a loud place. Don’t’ be quiet for baby when they sleep, you will regret this when they wake up at every other sound when they are older. Vacuum, turn on the TV, let the older kids play, and make some noise. Let them get used to sleeping with sound, especially if they are not the only baby.
Don’t feel like you need to have everything down the first week: Being a mom to a newborn takes some time. Some moms leave the hospital thinking they will be 100% awesome at everything that has to do with having a newborn. Slow down and remember that it takes time to learn something new. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t have everything down the first week or even the first month. Everything will come in time!
Join a mama group of some sort: During the next few weeks after having a newborn, you are going to have lots of questions. You are going to want to know answers to all of the questions you have. You are going to want to make sure you’re not alone in some situations that come along with having a newborn. Join a group to relieve some of those new mama anxieties. This also gives you a good time to get out of the house so you feel like you are taking care of yourself and not only baby.
Take turns taking care of the baby with your spouse: Make sure your baby has ample time alone with Daddy. His touch and voice are different than yours, and this will begin a bonding process for baby and daddy. One of the best things you can do as a new mom is let your spouse help. Even if your spouse is resistant, pressure them into helping. Of course, you can do this is in a nice way. Not every person feels comfortable with newborns, but you can easily work your way into helping them feel comfortable. Getting comfortable with newborns comes with experience. The more your spouse is able to help, the easier it will be on everyone.
I hope you find these tips for newborns helpful. If there is one thing you do after having a baby, embrace it as much as you can. There are not any words to describe how fast the newborn stage goes. It seems to go slow at first and then takes off like a rocket ship. Do you have any tips for those with newborns? I’d love to hear your tips!
Enjoy these New Mama Newborn Tips, Hacks, and Tricks! Pin to Pinterest.
Enjoy these Monthly Baby Photo Ideas. Pin to Pinterest.
Also check out these
Tips for the First Trimester – Pin to Pinterest.
Tips for the Second Trimester – Pin to Pinterest.
Tips for the the Third Trimester – Pin to Pinterest.
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