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The moment you decided to have a child, you made a promise to put your baby’s needs before yours. Having a baby often changes your life for the best. Some parents admit that they did not even know they were capable of giving so much love to their child. Parenting is never easy, and it takes a lot of sacrifices to bring a baby up. So if you are a person with a lot of hobbies and love for ‘me time’, you may have to say goodbye to them till your child goes to school! Parenting begins when you have your child in your arms, and how you bring them up spreads deep-seated roots in building their personality. Here are some things that your newborn needs for a healthy psychological head start.
1. Breastfeeding Your Baby
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Breastfeeding is not just food for the baby. It is something your baby needs to calm down, fall asleep, and bond with you. However, it is not as easy as it looks. Breastfeeding in the first few months can bring tears to your eyes. We wish we could say it’s all tears for happiness! Your nipples will get sore with the constant suckling, and nursing all day can seem overwhelming.
You must talk to your doctor and look into making breastfeeding easier. Some new mothers go hard on themselves due to the lack of milk production; however, the production will be as much as your child needs. If you are a working mom and don’t want your hands to be busy while breastfeeding, you can get hold of a good feeding pillow to help your baby rest while you can have your hands accessible.
Preparing yourself beforehand never goes in vain. Before you lie down to feed your child, make sure you keep the bottle of water, your magazines, phone, and earplugs near you. Also, we suggest you keep the phone on silent as if your baby wakes up to the ring, it’s going to be tough to put them back to sleep.
If you feel your breasts are getting lumpy with engorged milk ducts, you can try a warm compress to loosen them. This can be done with a heating pad or flax pillow. Gently massage your breasts with a warm compress to increase milk flow and reduce the blocked ducts.
Bottles are good if you want to keep the feeding independent of your presence. You can introduce bottles slowly from 6-8 weeks after breastfeeding to help your baby understand that milk is the same.
2. Sleeping
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When your baby is not eating, they are usually sleeping. Newborns can sleep up to 16 hours a day in short nap durations. This may make you more exhausted than you can imagine. Also, you can leave your baby sleeping soundly, and the moment you go to eat your lunch or take a shower, your baby will wake up and cry for you.
The first few months or even years for some parents are full of being exhausted constantly. While you won’t complete your sleep, your baby will sleep and be fully charged the next day. But also, it’s magical how parents manage to work without sleeping for ages! It’s the superpower every parent gets on being blessed with a baby.
The biggest mistake parents make is to take it all on themselves. Not one parent can do all the work independently, and it is absolutely normal to take help or do it in turns. When the baby is breastfeeding, the dad needs to take up other duties like boiling the bottles, burping, and napping. Some moms follow the ‘sleep when their baby sleeps’, but this can be done only if you are prepared with all the things beforehand.
3. Soothing
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Comprehending what your kid likes is tough to decipher in the first few months. You will have to learn through a process of trial and error. Several tricks like swaddling, swinging, and shushing will help them calm down and fall asleep. You can also try playing white music to help your baby sleep when there is noise and commotion in the room.
For wiping your baby, use warm water only. It will help your baby relax and also remove dirt and sweat faster. When your baby can take baths, use lukewarm water only to soothe the tiny baby muscles.
4. Going Out With Baby
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A day out might be fun for the baby, but it will be stressful for you. If you are alone, make sure you visit baby-friendly places such as cafés, bookstores, or libraries.
Never take a step out without the diaper bag. No matter how fast you think, you will return, carry a bag of essentials your baby will need in an hour.
So now that you know everything your baby needs to have a healthy physiological development, you can always plan your way into it. The idea is to remain calm and be prepared before it hits you out of the blue. So do you have any parenting secrets for newborns? Let us know in the comments section!
