family - Baby First Days - Early days - (you finally got your baby home...)

Wow! After all those months of preparation and anticipation, you've finally got your baby home! But just what can you expect during these first weeks? Let us steer you through the early days

Sleep
Newborn babies sleep, on average, around 16.5 hours a day. By four weeks you can expect this to drop to around 15.5 hours as he becomes more alert. He won't yet know the difference between night and day, so this sleep will at first be equally spaced across any 24-hour period. However, you can start encouraging him to sleep more at night and less during the day from the start: stimulate and play with him as much as possible during the day, while keeping night changes and feeds functional by keeping the lights low, avoiding eye contact and not talking.

Feeding
All babies' feeding patterns are different, but with only a tiny stomach  you can expect your newborn to feed little and often; every two hours is quite normal to begin with. Over the next two months he will gradually take  bigger feeds, less often. If  he screams at the end of a feed, he may have wind; ask your health visitor to check your winding technique, or buy a remedy such as gripe water. If the feeds seem to go on forever, ask her to check your position as he may not be feeding efficiently.

Physical Changes
Don't worry if baby loses weight to begin with; this is entirely normal, particularly if he is breastfed. Most babies regain their birth weight by about day ten. His hair may fall out (and could grow back a different colour!), while any lanugo  (body hair) should rub off within the first fortnight. His eyes may also change colour - all babies are born with blue eyes and it may take up to six months for your baby's final eye colour to develop. Your baby's cord should fall off by about ten days - your midwife won't discharge you until it has. Boys and girls are born with swollen genitals and even breasts as a result of your hormones; these will settle down to more average proportions within a few days. If his head was contorted as it squeezed through the birth canal, it should return to a normal shape within the first two weeks.

Source: "Baby & You" magazine


Parents' ALERT!!!

Remove all playthings strung across a crib or playpen once a child reaches  five months of age and has learned to push himself up. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also  cautions against allowing toys to dangle into the crib; wall decorations with ribbons or steamers attached to them are also safety hazards if they are hung near a crib.  Never  shake a baby; even playful tossing and jostling may cause serious head and neck injuries that could result in blindness, brain damage or even death

Source: "Parents" magazine
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