Soothing It’s often hard to decipher exactly what baby wants in the first murky weeks. You’ll learn, of course, by trial and error. 11. “The key to soothing fussy infants is to mimic the womb. Swaddling, shushing, and swinging, as well as allowing babies to suck and holding them on their sides, may trigger [...]
Sleeping If your infant isn’t eating, he’s probably sleeping. Newborns log as many as 16 hours of sleep a day but only in short bursts. The result: You’ll feel on constant alert and more exhausted than you ever thought possible. Even the best of us can come to resent the severe sleep deprivation.
Breastfeeding It’s been six weeks since our daughter, Clementine, was born. She’s finally sleeping better and going longer between feedings. She’s also becoming more alert when she’s awake. My husband and I, on the other hand, feel like we’ve been hit by a truck. I’m amazed that we’ve muddled through. Here are tips from [...]
Baby’s Feet What’s Normal: Babies are tightly curled while in the uterus, so it’s natural for a newborn’s feet to turn inward from the toes. This should self-correct within a few months because baby is now kicking freely in the outside world.
Baby’s Breasts and Genitals What’s Normal: At birth, the breasts of male and female babies can vary in size from tiny to nearly an inch in diameter, and the degree of enlargement can differ between breasts. This is due to pregnancy hormones and is harmless. The breasts shrink over the first few weeks of life.
Normal Eyes and Skin Baby’s Eyes What’s normal: You may see small, red hemorrhages on the whites of the eyes from tiny blood vessels rupturing during delivery. These red marks normally disappear within a few days. Plus, the eye medication doctors use at birth to prevent infection may irritate baby’s eyes, causing some [...]
Baby’s Head What’s normal: Meet your little conehead! Don’t be alarmed if your newborn’s skull has an elongated shape; it’s made up of multiple soft, movable, bony plates that allow the head to be molded during labor so it can pass more smoothly through the birth canal. His oblong head will return to normal [...]
An Uneasy Decision When you welcome a new baby into your life, you may also be welcoming a grandma or two into your guest room. With all your energy focused on the coming baby, it’s easy to forget that the extended postpartum visit is in itself a rite of passage. For those new mothers [...]
What Not to Worry About: #6 to #10 6. Constant hiccupping. Experts aren’t exactly sure why young babies hiccup so much; some say it’s due to a miscommunication between the brain and the diaphragm, the abdominal muscle that controls breathing. Regardless of their cause, hiccups are a harmless part of babyhood.
What Not to Worry About: #1 to #5 1. Touching the soft spots on baby’s head. If you’ve done this, don’t worry about it! When you touch your baby’s soft spots, known as the fontanels, you’re not touching his brain. So what are you touching? A thick, very protective membrane. The soft spots exist [...]