First-time parents and grandparents are so excited about the arrival of “our”baby that we forget some basics. Read on for 5 essential tips for encouraging great infant care.

Caring for a newly born, particularly your first child is one of the biggest challenges of life. Your partner and you will definitely feel overwhelmed in the beginning trying to remember all the many things you need to learn. There is nothing to fret about: here are some important tips you to get started with.

How To Pick Up And Hold Your Baby

There are many safe and comfortable ways of picking and holding your baby. Whatever the position you select, just make sure that you always support the baby’s neck and head. A newborn baby can’t hold up his head. Start by laying your baby flat and then scoop him with your two arms one should be under his bottom while the other should be under his head. Once you have scooped him up then rest his head on your elbow and his bottom on your hand, while your other hand is free to caress gently.

How To Feed Your Baby

Newborn babies need to be fed after every three to four hours; some babies are hungry after two hours. Babies who are breastfed need to be nursed more frequently as breast milk gets easily digested. As the baby grows, his feeding will become less frequent, but his mealtimes will increase.

Here are some signs your baby will give you regarding its eating habits.

• Your baby will give you signs when she is full, normally by turning away from the bottle or nipple.
• Healthy infants hardly become dehydrated, so there is no need to give them extra juice or water supplements.

Burping Babies

Infants tend to take in the air while they are being fed, this causes them to spit up or become fussy if they are not burped after the feed. Try some of these common burping tips.

• Hold your baby gently against your shoulder and then gently pat his back with your other hand.
• Sit the baby gently on your lap supporting is chest and head while you pat his back.

How To Put Your Baby To Sleep

Remember Rip Van Winkle is the only one who sleeps more than the infants. Normally newborns sleep 10 hours a day, while other sleep as much as 20 hours. They usually mix up days with nights in the initial few weeks. Mostly, some babies don’t sleep the entire night till they are four months old. To teach your newborn that daytime is for staying awake and playing while nighttime is for sleeping try these tips.

• Avoid prolonging nighttime diaper changes or turning on the lights, make sure that you put down the baby right after feeding and diaper changing.
• If your newborn takes a nap longer than 3-4 hours, then wake her up and play with her.
• Remember, newborns love to sleep long hours during the day which means they will stay up during the night.

Calming The Crying Baby

People cry for a range of different reasons: they cry when happy, sad or even when they have to fill their tax forms. With newly born it’s opposite, their source of tears is not obvious. If you have changed the diaper and fed the baby, and if he is still crying then try these following methods.

• Burp up your baby frequently so that they don’t show discomfort, if you breast feed the baby then burp after every time you switch the breast. If the baby is on bottle feed, then consume three to two ounces of formula. Stop feeding the baby if they turn away from the bottle or nipple.
• Rock your baby gently in your arms from side to side, while talking, playing or humming soft music this also helps in quelling tears.
• Motion is quite effective on calming newborns; take your baby for a ride in the stroller or a car.
• Give your baby warm baths, keep the baths short and not more than a couple of minutes and limit these baths to three times a week.

Author Bio

Sylvia Cher is a passionate blogger and a jewelry lover. She is a person who stays updated with all the fashion trends and works with custom made dress shirts provider company as their fashion blogger. She is particularly fond of bespoke shirts, rings, and different jewelry items.

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