Newborn Care Tips
Let us talk about Newborn Care Tips. I am a newborn caregiver. What that means is generally I come into the home after the baby is born and I help in every which way possible.
I make sure that the baby is cared for; I make sure that mommy is cared for. I look forward to staying with the family anywhere from two weeks to three months minimum and sometimes a lot longer.
Bringing a new baby home comes with some level of anxiety whether it is your first or not. I am here to help relieve some of that anxiety. Let’s get right into it.
Tip #1: Scheduling
That’s tip Number One if you’re writing that down is scheduling.
I know some mommies are going to jump up and down at me and say, oh, I don’t have a schedule. When I just go by when the baby wakes up chaos ensues.
As soon as the baby is born, my theory and my professional opinion on it has been to get babies on a schedule.
For example:
Every two to three hours, baby should be changed, fed, and put back to bed. We’re talking about zero to three months thereabout.
I’m not saying until they’re one year old, you’re doing the same thing; however, some of the things will be similar. For zero to three-month-olds, they eat approximately every two hours.
That feeding time takes anywhere from ten minutes to about an hour, depends on how the baby has latched or depends on if the baby is bottle-fed.
Tip #2: Consistency
Tip Number Two is consistency. These newborns grow into the beautiful humans you see above. I used to think scheduling was hand in hand with consistency, but what I will tell you is consistency just means doing the same thing every day so that the baby gets used to some type of consistency.
And, so that I as the parent got used to some type of consistency, that I knew, okay, there’s a relief coming or there’s time to do something different.
If you’re consistent in the things that you do with babies, with newborns up to at least a year old, they will learn a schedule. It really helped me with some normalcy.
I know that might sound regimented; however, trust me, it builds discipline for them later on because when they’re babies, they can’t really tell you except by their cries what’s happening with them.
Consistency also helped me to see what’s working and what’s not. If you’re consistently feeding them every two to three hours, and at an hour and a half, the baby is screaming, then you can determine if it needs to be cut down as far as time and consistency or they need to be changed more frequently.
Consistency is going to be key in the beginning when you’re home with a newborn.
Tip #3: Delivery Service
I am a huge fan of my Amazon Prime A delivery service is newborn care tip number three. Right now, getting to have help as far as maids or laundry or things like that may not be the best thing because people aren’t coming to homes per se; however, delivery for groceries is a huge deal.
Delivery for the things that you would normally go out for that you can get at home, whether it be an Amazon membership or something like that, you can definitely do during this time.
A lot of places are delivering via Instacart. I don’t have to take my newborn out of self-quarantine to go to the store if I don’t have a husband, or a significant other, or a grandma, or a friend that’s quarantined with me etc.
Right now, delivery services – and they’re not that costly when you think about the benefits are definitely a plus.
I wanted to do everything myself :(. We want to be super-mommies. Trust me, there’s no judgment here; there’s no guilt.
You are a great mom even if you choose to have the groceries delivered during this time. It’s not going to take any sweat off of your brow; it’s just going to help, okay.
Tip #4: Master Baby Blues
Tip Number Four is dealing with the blues. That is huge. Maybe it should have been tip Number One, but I did want to make sure that I got it in there. The tips don’t have to be in order; they just have to be completed I think.
Now, dealing with the blues, baby blues are going to happen. They may be consistent for you. You may not have baby blues at all; however, recognize that it’s a possibility. You may start to feel like the baby in the middle of the pic above.
If it does happen, start to learn yourself as a new parent or as a recurring parent what makes your blues come on.
However, for the majority of us, the blues are just, oh, I’m weepy all the time. I don’t know if my baby is getting enough food. Are my breasts full enough? Am I being able to sustain my baby? Is my baby gaining weight?
These are normal type things that will happen after birth for with a newborn or a recurring child; however, I did want to point out to make sure to pay attention to what type of blues you have. It can be minor. I don’t want to be bothered right now. Put the baby down, walk away.
If it gets extreme, please seek help. I can’t stress that enough.
Tip #5: Survive
In conclusion, your top priority is to keep baby and you alive, okay, and thriving, and happy.
Laundry, to the side. Oh, you have to cook dinner right now because you want a specific meal. Have somebody else do it.
Oh, my nails got chipped. Brush it with a quick file and get back to making sure your self-care and your health is first.
That is priority Number One is you and baby are well.
Remember, live life awfully simple. See you next time. What are some of the things that reading this brought to mind for you? Leave a comment below.
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