During your newborn’s first month, your baby is just getting used to this big, strange new world. And you are getting used to taking care of his many needs.
Now is a time when you are ready to go home with your little munchkin and ready to begin a new life with him. Now’s the time to start the bonding process with the newest member of your family. When you bring your baby home, you may not know what to do next and what to expect, especially if you are a new parent. Here in this article I will tell you about the normal behavior of your newborn.
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Your baby’s first month of life
Here are some of the normal behaviors that you can expect from newborn baby.
1. Losing weight in first few weeks
It is very normal for your newborn baby to lose some weight in first week after delivery so don’t worry about that, they are just losing fluid, which is very normal. In 10 to 15 days they will be back on their birth weight. On an average, new babies gain 1 to 2 pound weight in a month.
Formula feed babies tend to gain faster than breastfeed babies because formula milk has more calories than breast milk.
Here are 13 tips of breastfeeding for new moms to make the breastfeeding easy
2. Your newborn baby will take frequent breastfeed sessions
A newborns baby takes frequent breastfeed sessions. It is always recommended to feed babies every 2 to 3 hours for first few months. That means, you may need to breastfeed your baby more than 10 times a day. I know, that’s very tiring, because your body also needs rest after labor. Only trick is to take naps whenever your baby is sleeping and ask someone to help in household tasks.
3. They poop and pees a lot
Yes, that’s true. Newborn can poop up to 12 times a day in first month and some babies poop after every food. That’s very normal, actually it can be good sign that your baby is getting enough fluid. As your baby’s stomach fills up, the milk stimulates her digestive tract, giving him the urge to do a poop. Your baby may have diarrhea also like if you see changes in the stool, such as more than one poop after every feed or if it’s really watery.
How to handle and take care of a baby during first few months, here are some tips
First poop of your newborn baby can be green, yellow or brown. It can be runny, seedy or curdy. It’s completely normal, this will settle down in few days.
Newborn pees a lot also, because they are only taking breastfeed. You can expect up to 6 to 8 diapers a day or sometime 10 also. Newborn can pee every 30 minutes to 1 hour also and if the weather is cold they can pee every 20 minutes also.
4. Different sleep pattern and time clock
Newborn babies have different time clock than adult. Their sleep pattern is also different. They lives 9 months in womb and don’t know the difference between day and night. They take a nap of 2 to 3 hours and take feed every 2 to 3 hour as a result you may not be able to sleep for long 6 to 8 hours for few months. Just try to stay relax and clam. Some babies sleeps longer after 3 months and some can sleep full night after 6 months. Some can even take a year or more to sleep full night.
5. Newborn babies cry a lot
Crying is the only way of communication for them. Newborn cries lot. They cry when they are uncomfortable, hungry, sleepy, and gassy or if they get wet. You can calm babies by observing the reason of their crying and you can feed them to calm, pat his back, swaddle him, give a walk or experiment new ways that work for you to calm your baby.
6. They sleep a lot
Newborn sleeps a lot but not for long stretches, you may need to feed him every 2 to 3 hour for first 3 months. After 3 month babies can sleep for 6 to 8 hours in one stretch. After 3 months you can try for setting up a day and night routine also. During day time don’t let him sleep for more than 3 hours per nap but in the night 6 to 8 hours are ok, if after 3 months he had gained some weight.
7. Skin can be dry
Newborn skin is very soft and silky when you touch. But it’s very normal for them to have dry skin after few days of birth. That is very normal. They live in water for 9 months and this external environment is completely different for them, so this is very common for newborns to have a dry skin.
8. Sticky eyes are normal
It’s common for newborns to develop sticky or discharging eyes during the first few weeks of life. Mostly it is because of blocked tear duct. This will get better by itself. Gentle eye cleaning and massage is enough. Check with your doctor if eyes are red and sticky.
9. Handling newborn baby can be tiring for you
You must be very happy and excited when you hold your newborn baby after waiting for 9 months but soon you will know that this is very tiring. Your body also needs rest, sleep and nutritious diet to recover but frequent feeding and diaper changing sessions won’t let you do that. You will not get enough and long 6 to 8 hours sleep in one stretch. This can be sometime frustrating, but this is will end soon. Try to stay relax and calm.
10. Umbilical cord of newborn baby
Umbilical cord can look like black and unwieldy and this is normal. It will get dry in 2 to 4 weeks after birth. Till than only give sponge bath to babies.
When to worry about your newborn baby
Here are few things that you should notice during this time and consult to your doctor if you find any of the symptoms
- If baby is crying a lot more than 3 to 4 hours a day, he can be colic
- Baby is Looking tired
- He is not sleeping enough
- Baby is feeding properly
- Not able to latch on nipple or breast
- Not moving hands or legs
- If baby’s face is looking yellow
- Having fever
- Losing weight even after 10 days of birth
- If baby is not gaining enough weight
- Not responding to loud voice
