Taking Care of a Newborn
It’s not easy for a new parent to be certain when an infant is ill. Health care workers are so used to requests for information that a parent’s genuine concern can sometimes be treated too casually. It’s enough to make a mama doubt her own instincts.
It will come as a relief to know that there IS a way to objectively measure a baby’s health.
THE FIRST SEVEN DAYS
From the start, newborns will need to nurse for no less than 15 minutes, 8 times per day during the first week of life. Listen and you should hear the baby swallowing milk. Muconium, baby’s first black sticky stool, will pass. You should see it progress from greenish-black to a brown soft play-dough consistency. By day 4 or 5 the color will be yellow. During the first two days of life, a child should begin to have wet diapers. At first this will be 2 or 3 per day and increase in number by the week’s end.
An ill baby will show definite physical signs of his condition. Nursing for less than fifteen minutes fewer than 8 times per day, showing no desire to eat and having a sucking reflex that is week are all signs for a parent to be concerned. Signs that something is wrong can include a clicking sound when the baby nurses, cheeks that pucker inward and dimple when the baby sucks, or the inability to stay awake for a full 15 minute feeding. If the pattern of stools don’t progress and transition and there aren’t wet diapers within two days of birth, this is not normal. Two days of these symptoms indicate that you should seek medical help.
THE FIRST MONTH
A healthy baby will continue to have healthy signs for the next month. For weeks 2 through 4, the baby will continue to nurse at least eight times a day and have 2 to 4 yellow bowel movements per day. Track your baby’s wet diapers. You should see between six and eight of them each day with clear urine, not yellow. The baby’s suck will gain in strength; You should see some milk at feeding and hear your baby swallowing. Your baby’s alertness will increase as well as his size.
Take special note of anything out of the ordinary: infrequent feedings, small stools or missed stools, decreased urination or bright yellow urine. Your baby should gain weight and grow longer. A baby that has a weak suck, doesn’t make swallowing noises during nursing, becomes sluggish and lacks quick responses and doesn’t sleep between feedings, is a reason for concern. If you observe these behaviors for more than two days in a row, contact a health provider for assistance.
THE 5TH THROUGH THE 10TH WEEK
During this stage, the baby’s feedings may go down to seven per day. This is due to your growing baby’s ability to hold more food. Again, you will notice a change in bowel movements to either several small stools per day or a large one as infrequently as every couple of days. In breastfed babies, this is normal because the body assimilates much of the milk with little waste. Check the wet diapers to make sure the urine isn’t bright yellow; there should be six to eight wet diapers daily. Along with increasing alertness, you should continue to see a strong suck, milk dribbles, and hear an audible swallowing at feeding time.
During the 5 to 10 week mark a baby that doesn’t nurse at least seven times a day and produce the right amount of wet diapers (without dark yellow color) should be watched carefully. Length and weight should increase for baby. A baby that isn’t getting enough nourishment may have a weak sucking reflex and may nurse without an audible swallow. If your baby becomes slow to respond, sluggish and stops sleeping between feedings, contact a health care provider. A couple of days in a row of these indicators mean that something is not well with your baby.
HOW TO KEEP UP WITH IT ALL
Remembering how often and when a baby ate can be a challenge when you are well-rested. Expecting a new, sleep-deprived mama to do this can be overwhelming. One solution is to keep a pencil and a notebook near the sleeping baby. At each feeding or changing, jot down the time and any other notes. One example of an entry might be: “10:00 a.m. – BIG BM, brownish green, nursed 30 minutes.” Start with a clean sheet each day. Write the date at the top of the page.
This way, should anything seem out of the ordinary, you can refer to your notes and present them to a doctor if needed. Your notes can also help you bond more effectively with your little one. Your weariness may make it difficult for your to identify the cause of your baby’s crying, but your list will provide you with the information you need to know if it’s been too long between feedings or bowel movements – identifying the cry as hunger or constipation. In turn, you begin to interpret your baby’s cries and what they mean. In turn, the new mother gains confidence in her ability to identify and meet her child’s needs.
However, older mamas give sage advice when it comes to newborns and new mamas. The first few weeks are to be enjoyed to their fullest. Other things can wait while you take the time to get to know your baby. They aren’t little for long.
Interested in more child training tips? No Greater Joy is a ministry dedicated to helping parents bring up children they enjoy. They have written a bestseller called To Train Up A Child that has helped thousands.
