Post For Parents

 

Whether you baby is getting enough milk and gaining enough weight is often the most critical concern of new mothers especially those who are nursing.  Get support early from your health care professionals and the La Leche League in your area.  Many hospitals also offer consultations classes and support groups from lactation specialists.  The first three weeks are the hardest so getting guidance early on helps you avoid issues such as sore nipples and positioning problems.  Most professionals advise trusting your baby’s hunger cues and ignoring the clock or a schedule. Because you are so tired at this time and recovering from the birth, it might help to write down the time your baby nurses to see if there are patterns. Newborns eat every few hours and sometimes more.  Most new moms are doing better than they think they are and just need a little reassurance. 

 

Bottle feeding might be a little easier but it too has its quirks. The Web site AskDr.Sears offers tips on bottle feeding.  Warm up the bottle by running warm tap water over it, rather than in the microwave.  Test the temperature on your wrist but be sure to shake the bottle first.  Let the nipple fill with milk to avoid air swallowing.  If you are using bottle liners it’s easy to press the air out first from below.  Babies know when to quit eating , so don’t worry if they don’t finish the bottle-newborns will drink an ounce or two per feeding.  Again, just take your cues from them.

 

The other big concern for new parents is what to do if the baby is fretful or worse yet-screaming!  Hearing a baby cry is stressful to mom, dad and their relationship.  Remembering these 5 S’s might help-swaddling, swinging, sucking, side-lying, and shhhhh which is your baby’s favorite instinctual soothing sound.  It’s important to remember that you can’t spoil a newborn. Newborns are not habit forming which means that they haven’t realized that if they do such and such they’ll get such and such from mom or dad.  Remember to do whatever is working for you and ignore advice on what you should be doing.  All babies are different and all parents have different parenting styles.

 

Always trust you instincts and let your other expectations go.  This is a magical time in your life and you should enjoy the journey.  The time with a newborn  will get away from you much too soon.