How to take care of new born baby?

The treasure of your life

The birth of your baby is the most precious moment in your life. Your baby becomes the treasure in your life. With the advent of your child you find your life style changing and you feel your world centering on the newly arrived life. You want the best for your baby and you go way out to make everything comfortable for her.

‘A baby will make love stronger, days shorter , nights longer, bank balance smaller, home happier ,clothes dirty, past forgotten , and the future worth living for.’-anonymous

I recently read this and felt it aptly described how a baby can bring so much of happiness in your life. But many feel confused as to the proper way of looking after their baby. The first most essential factor is the gentle handling of the baby. She is so tender, so handle her with extreme care. Always support the baby’s head and back while holding her.

They are hyper sensitive!

Babies are hyper sensitive and they can understand the warm and loving touch of their mother. Crying is the way a baby communicates about her wants. My mother used to say that with practice it will be easy for the mother to find whether the baby is crying out of hunger, pain, discomfort or sheer wanting to be carried in the comfort of her mother’s arms.

Respond with love!

You should respond immediately when your child cries and pick her up tenderly and hold her with love on your chest. When the baby stops crying immediately after you hold her in your arms, it means she needed the loving warmth of you. If she persists in crying even after holding her, then might be she is crying out of hunger.

Babies communicate with crying!

If she refuses to have milk, she might be suffering from some discomfort. It can be gas, a wet nappy or it can also be some insect bite. You should always be on the alert and check immediately the reason for your baby’s crying.

Cotton diapers are always better

Always keep your baby clean. Though the market is flooded with diapers, my choice is always soft cotton triangle shaped cloth diapers. It is cheaper and more comfortable for the baby. You should change the diapers as soon as it is wet.

There are no plastics involved in reusable diapers and so is very soft on the baby’s skin and also Eco-friendly. But care should be taken to wash the diapers properly in warm soap water and after rinsing, it should be soaked in a disinfectant and dried in the sun. It should be folded neatly and kept in the shelf to be reused.

Eye contact means a lot for your baby!

When holding the baby, have an eye contact with her and talk with her. You will be amazed by the way your baby reacts to your talk. When my daughter was a baby I used to sing rhymes to her and she will really like it. I used to deliberately stop singing and surprisingly she would get disturbed and start crying. When I begin to sing the rhymes again she will have a beautiful smile in her face and her feet would be taping in joy.

Nothing like mother feed!

It is important that you mother feed your baby at least for six months as nothing can be more nutrient for the baby than mother’s milk. Additional to its nutrient benefits, it gives an emotional security to your baby when she is held close to her mother. Your baby feels the comfort of mother’s womb when she is cradled in your arms.

Perfect hygiene mean a lot!

You should maintain perfect hygiene while feeding the baby, your breasts should be clean and you should feed your baby often to satisfy her hunger. If you are bottle feeding her, make sure the feeding bottle is properly sterilized. The nipples should be changed often.

Baby care

Bathe your baby daily. The water must not be too hot. Warm water will be perfect.

Always use a quality and soft soap and shampoo. Moisturize your baby’s skin with soft baby oil.

You can cut your baby’s nails after her bath as the nails will be soft and easy to cut immediately after her bath.

If your baby gets agitated while cutting the nails, the best choice to cut her nails would be when she is sleeping. Be careful while cutting the nails. Do not cut too deep as you might hurt her.

Dip a ball of cotton in warm water and softly clean the ears. Do not use buds to clean her ears as you might hurt her tender ears.

Do not use any form of drops for the ears as it would cause her discomfort and is medically inadvisable.

Clean her eyes softly using wet cotton. Your every action should be careful and tender.

These are certain tips to look after your baby.

But there is another most important aspect in bringing up your baby, which should never be overlooked.

Do not fight in front of your baby. You might wonder how she will understand your verbal tiffs. Nothing can be more wrong. Babies are hyper sensitive and they do react to such tense situations. You should maintain a happy atmosphere for your baby and you will enjoy and cherish to see your baby grow up healthy, physically and emotionally.

‘A babe in the house is a well- spring of pleasure , a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth , a link between angels and man’-Martin Farquhar Tupper.

Your baby is indeed a bundle of happiness and so love and treasure her.