How to take care of newborn babies

Newborn baby is a gift from God. There are mothers who gave births at such a young age and do not have a single clue how to take care of their baby. And there are also mothers who adopts a baby because she or her husband may suffer from infertilization. Lastly, there are mothers who acts as the baby's mother.

Here are some guides on how to take care of the newborn babies and to understand their behaviors:

1. Responding to your baby's cries - Babies cries so frequent and their mothers may started to panick because they do not know how to make their babies stop crying. The baby cries bacause of several reasons. It is their way to get their mother's attention to tell that they are hungry, uncomfortable with their surroundings or tired and sleepy. The baby wants to release the tension he/she may feel. Yet occasionally, the baby will cry like nothing can console him/her even you tried to feed her or making funny faces. Afterwards, the baby will stare from nowhere like she/he looks alert than before then the baby will feel sleepy and sleep deeply more than usual. It is because the babies wants to get rid of the excess energy to allow to get a soothing and comfortable state.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CRIES

Newborns likely to wake up hungry and crying for food and the mother should respond quickly for the baby to stop crying because baby's hunger cry may turn to a wail or rage. The more quickly the mother respond the lesser the baby cries. The mother should know what makes her baby cry such as look or touch the baby's diaper if it was already full of urine or may have stool. Immediately remove the baby's diaper because he/she may be cold then feed the baby right after.

If you heard a shriek or panicked quality in the baby's cry then you should see if his/her clothes are making him/her uncomfortable so the mother should change the baby's clothes in a comfortable quality of clothes. But it could also mean that perhaps there are strand of hair in the baby's finger or toe.

But if the mother already changed the baby's clothes in a comfortable one, well fed, warm and dry but the crying would not stop then try these consoling techniques:

● Play soft music or lullaby

● Talk like a baby or sing him/her a soothing song/humming

● Sway your baby in your arms

● Burping her to relieve any trapped gas bubbles

● Safe swaddling (wrapping her snugly in a receiving blanket)

● Gently stroke baby's head

● Gently pat baby's chest or back

● Give the baby a warm baths (most babies like this but not all)

NOTE: Find the most soothing techniques for your babies.

BUT WHEN ANY OF THESE FAILS just find a comfortable position and location for your baby such as a crib because there are some babies who cannot sleep when they did not cry however IF THE BABY CRIES DOES NOT STILL STOP THEN CALL YOUR PEDIATRICIAN because the baby may have a Colic or prolonged and intense crying of an infant.

1. Do not shake/hit the baby no matter how irritated and impatient you feel. According to healthline.com shaking a baby or young child can cause their brain to repeatedly hit the inside of the skull. This impact can trigger bruising in the brain, bleeding in the brain, and brain swelling. Other injuries may include broken bone as well as damage to the baby's eyes, spine, and neck.

   NOTE: Always remind this to those who takes care of the baby such as your grandparents, spouse, partner or babysitter.

   3. Always look what your baby does or have someone to look after the baby - Do not leave alone your baby on the bed because the baby may fell off of the bed causing the baby to have an injury and worse you may spent all night at the ER.

   WHAT TO DO: Put pillows on every corners of the bed for supporters to make sure that the baby would not fall or better put the baby on the crib. But the best that you can do is ask someone who can look after your baby.

   4. Check the temperature of your baby - Sometimes baby cries because he/she has an infection. If the temperature falls of in 38°C or 100.4°F then call a doctor to check for your baby. The mother should be alert to respond but remember that you should not panick because the baby may feel it and the tension he/she may feel will only increase which can result to more serious condition.

   5. The mother should take care of herself for the sake of her baby - If the mother is breastfeeding she should avoid drinking coffee as it contains caffeine which can increase the stress hormone levels called cortisol and that could affect her baby.

   WHAT TO DO: Eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of water and get some fresh air. The mother should workout too to get a more healthy body. And sleeps when the baby sleeps. Healthy lifestyle will help you to get energy to take care of your baby.

   6. Let someone visit your baby such as Grandparents, Friends or any loved ones - newborn babies sometimes love to see someone new in their eyes. BUT make sure that you will tell a schedule to the visitors when can they visit and cannot and how much time you have for a visit. Let some trusted visitors to care for the baby for you to have your needed rest.

   WHAT TO DO: Urge the visitors to wash their hands first before holding the baby to avoid any bacteria that could be pass by the baby or infection.

   NOTE: I do not recommend this one because of the pandemic because newborn babies have weak immune system so they could easily get an infection. But when the pandemic's gone and everything get back to normal, you should allow them to visit your baby.

   7. Expect the changes/mixed emotions that you may get - It is normal that the parents/parent may have been tired waking late at night because of the baby cries or change the baby's diaper while having a phone call regarding to your job or think what should you feed for your baby. It is an endless cycle and you may feel impatient and restless.

   Sometimes you might go from admiring your baby and marveling at those tiny fingers and toes and on the next second you might ask yourself worrying about your ability to care for a newborn, "Can I do this? Will I be a good parent if I can't even properly change his/her diapers? Can I provide all his/her needs?".

   WHAT TO DO: Call your parents to get some advice because they are the experts of all the experts, trust me. Additionally, the bond between you and your parents will be stronger than before as you now have more understanding to each other. Tell them what bothers you such as financial problems or difficulty caring for the baby. Remember that "Pride cannot help when someone is asking for help", that is my motto in every circumstances.

   8. Take a morning walk - take the baby for a morning walk it is good for the baby's nutrition and growth as well as for you.

   9. Accept a helping hand - if your loved ones or friends lend their hand on you then accept it. If you are tired ask them for a favor but do not abuse it. If you need them to run for your errands suggest it---whatever would help you most.

   10. Know when to seek for additional help - if you notice that your stress level imcreased too much then call for a doctor for you to know what to do and what not to do. And for the doctor to guide you on taking care of your baby. Or if your condition gets serious they will diagnosed and offer you some medicine to help you ease the pain.

   11. Lastly, the newborn babies should feel love - give your baby the attention that they need and tenderness to make them feel that you love them. According to philosophy, babies recognized their mother easily if they always see them. If a mother always gives her breastfeed the baby will feel comfortable to his/her mother which will be easier for the mother to take care of her newborn baby.

Babies are so fragile that anyone can be afraid to hold them, they are like glass who needs concentration when being touch to not be broken.

I hope that you learn something from this article whether you're a mother or not. Honestly, I got inspired with the vlog of a young mother on how she handles everything while taking care of his daughter that's why I want to share my thoughts to help those who are struggling right now to take care of their babies.

I did some research for this article and some of those advice were from my Nurse Professors and just wrote it on my own way for you to easily understand what the Healthcare Professionals wants to educate for any one of us.

With God's luck, have some faith that everything will be back to normal. I wish everyone to be safe on their own homes. Godbless. Thank you for your time reading this article.