New Baby Care

The joy of a new baby is certainly special and something that all new parents experience. However, a lack of sleep is also part of having a new baby and new parents notoriously get very little sleep, if any at all. Fortunately, there are some strategies and tips to help new parents get some sleep when the new baby comes. Of course, with a baby you will never get an over abundance of sleep, but these tips will help you at least get enough sleep to keep your sanity.


Tip #1 Take Turns
When the baby starts crying both parents generally wake up, even if only one attends to the baby. However, in the first couple of months both parents might get up each time the baby cries. This will lead to a lack of sleep for both parents. The best plan is for mom and dad to make a plan of who will get up when to comfort the crying baby. Generally, taking turns is really the best option and will help everyone get just a little more sleep.


Tip #2 Nap With Baby
If you are caring for the baby and are tired and the baby goes to sleep then you should take a nap as well. This will allow you to get some much needed sleep. So, whether the baby naps in the morning, afternoon, or early evening you should also get a little rest because you never know when the baby might wake up.

 Tip #3 Accept Help
Frequently when you have a new baby there are plenty of people willing to help from parents, siblings, friends, and other family members. So, when you really need to get some sleep just accept some of the help that is being offered. Having your mom care for the baby just a couple of hours will allow you to get some much needed sleep.

Tip #4 Keep Baby in Nursery
The baby should sleep in the nursery and not with the parents. Many times it is tempting to allow the baby to sleep with the parents, but this is not healthy for the child or the parents. So, put the baby to sleep in his crib in the nursery. Then, when the baby cries one parent can easily go attend to the baby without disturbing the other parent. This allows a little more sleep for new parents.

Tip #5 Feed Baby Before You Sleep
If your baby has been asleep for several hours and it is around 11 pm and you are getting ready for bed simply wake baby for a feeding. Most babies wake during the night because they are hungry, so if you feed baby late before you go to bed it is likely they will sleep until early morning or 6-7 hours. This will allow you to get some continuous sleep, even if it is not as much as you want.

Body After the Birth

Many new moms concentrate on one thing, and that is taking care and looking after their new born baby. After all, they have just given birth to a little one that is completely helpless and reliant on you to take care of them. It certainly is a big responsibility. However, the very best way you can look after your new baby is to look after yourself too. The better you take care of yourself during this time, the better you will be able to take care of your baby.

fat is bad news for baby

Paediatric endocrinologist, Archana Arya, treats obese children at the Centre for Child Health in Gangaram Hospital all the time, but even she was surprised to see a 14-month-old baby weigh 17 kg last week.
The boy's weight should have been between 8 and 11 kg. After ruling out all clinical causes of his obesity — hypothyroidism, pituitary gland disorder or genetic syndromes which may cause weight gain — Arya concluded that the baby was obese because he was being fed every one hour.

baby Breastfeeding

In the era of plastic breasts, fast life and artificial baby feeds and multiple baby pacifiers, breastfeeding is becoming redundant and old-fashioned. Mothers want to maintain their figures like those of celebrities; they care less for their infants and more for their perfect figures.

Breast milk is the most wholesome and nutritious diet for the new born. It consists of nutrients and antibodies against various bacteria and immunoglobulins which are absent in formula and packaged baby powders or even cow's milk and buffalo's milk. It fulfills all the needs of the baby. Breast feeding is usually advised for six to nine months in normal infants and for twelve to fifteen months in pre-term infants. Breast feeding protects the infant from many infectious diseases, prevents or delays many lifestyle disorders, and also strengthens the emotional and intellectual bond between mother and infant.

baby Teething

How long has it been since you've had a decent eight hours sleep at night? So what's with your baby anyway? What makes him cry at night just as you're dropping off to sleep? He's had a nice, warm bath and a good feed and he should be sound asleep. Yet he is irritable, fussy, and cranky? It couldn't be...? Oh... but it could! And most of the times, it is... teething – that transition from a toothless wonder to a chomping, chewing... whatever. As you already know, babies have no fixed time to do anything. And you have no say in the matter. Teething is one of those ‘anythings.'

Though most babies usually cut their first tooth before four to seven months, some babies may begin teething as early as three months and may continue up to three years. For some babies the process may hurt and for some, the course of sprouting those little incisors may be absolutely worry-free and pain-free. And since you are the one who's losing sleep, we'll explain to you a little about teething blues.

A budding tooth may cause painful, swollen gums. Chomping and chewing on just about anything brings relief to the gums. And if you're breastfeeding the baby, be careful, you're liable to get hurt. But keep in mind that red, swollen gums get back to normal once the tooth appears.

Here's where your sleep gets disturbed. The tooth moves through the bone and gums in stages and is more active at night resulting in irritability and fussiness. And if you've seen your infant pulling his ear and thought he had gone crazy, relax. Like ear infections, pain in the jaw during teething reaches the ear canal and he's simply trying to get rid of it. He's not crazy.

You are used to his intermittent drooling – no problem there. But don't panic when he starts to drool heavily. That's the first sign of teething. But there's a small point here to be noted. Not all drooling infants start teething.

There's another point to be noted and this one's important. Sometimes drooling may be so heavy, babies can choke in it. Rashes may appear on the child's chin, neck, or chest because of constantly wet clothes. Use a bib to keep the skin dry.

Don't be overly alarmed if your baby cries to be breastfed again. Due to swollen and inflamed gums spoon-feeding may hurt him. Conversely, your child may prefer solid foods because biting on food creates counter pressure that brings him relief. Now that you know why your child keeps you awake at night, grab a bit of sleep during the day