- 5 mistakes parents make with newborns -- and how to avoid them By Elizabeth Cohen CNN ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- When you take your bundle of joy home from the hospital, it's inevitable you won't do everything right. We asked pediatricians for the five most common mistakes parents make with their newborns. Read More.... Congratulations on the birth of your new baby!
- Jaundice in newborns Q: What is jaundice? A: Jaundice is the yellow color seen in the skin of many newborns. It happens when a chemical called bilirubin builds up in the baby’s blood. Jaundice can occur in babies of any race or color. Read More questions and answers...
- Foods to avoid while breastfeeding Here I will list a few sites that I found very helpful.
- What if you are unsure if a doctor is needed
- How to call the doctor You should always keep your doctors business card with you and on your fridge or by your phone. Make sure to memorize the name of your doctor and their office, including the street address in case you have to call 411 or look it up online. When you call the doctor’s office ask to speak with a nurse that is associated with your doctor and let them know you have concerns about your pregnancy/newborn and want some help. They will assist you on what to do next in accordance to their ability.
- What if you feel the doctor is wrong Second guessing your doctor is not abnormal or wrong. You are trusting someone with your body and your unborn child, you can always request a second opinion by another doctor if you truly do feel that your doctor is missing something and unable to help you.
- What you need to know about SID's SIDS stands for sudden infant death syndrome, a term used to describe the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger than 1 year. Some people call it crib death, because most babies are found in their cribs, but cribs do not cause SIDS. Get the facts...
- Pro's and Con's of co-sleeping
- How to help baby sleep better Just like us, babies have varying sleep requirements. Just like us, babies are individuals, and this goes for sleep requirements too. It may help you to know that in most infant sleep studies, “all night” is defined as five hours. If you are thinking that even five hours of uninterrupted sleep would be a dream come true, here are some gentle strategies you can try to help your baby (and you) to sleep better: Read more.... 15 Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep
- Bathing Baby
- Caring for the umbilical cord Highlights What's the purpose of the umbilical cord? How long will my baby have an umbilical stump? Does the stump require special care? What are the signs of infection? Read more...
- Dressing and Undressing Baby
- Feeding Baby Choices Here are a few sites I have found for you.
- How to bond with and sooth newborn Complete Baby Care - Instructions for New Parents
To make sure your baby’s first week is safe and healthy, it is important that 1. Your baby is checked for jaundice in the hospital. 2. If you are breastfeeding, you get the help you need to make sure it is going well. 3. If your baby is discharged before age 72 hours, your baby should be seen by a doctor or nurse within 2 days of discharge from the hospital.
* Allergies and foods to avoid while breastfeeding
* What To Eat While Breastfeeding (And What To Avoid)
Check with your insurance provider and your doctor’s office to find out if you have access to a 24 hour nurse line for questions. This is a great way to ask questions without having to call your doctor all the time. I have also listed "When to call your doctor" help in my site under different sections; such as: Labor and Delivery Q&A:. If you feel you are in an emergency situation you should always call 9-1-1!! Otherwise, if you truly are concerned - you should go ahead and call your doctor’s office and speak with a nurse who can help you and also speak with your doctor on what he/she wishes to have you do.
Here is another helpful checklist I came across: http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/complications/health-and-safety-issues/pregnancy-symptom-or-warning-sign/
Truth is - most doctors do not get upset about patients getting a second opinion as long as the patient is mature about it and just isn't going around being rude and pushing an issue they want to be the case, even though the doctor is in fact right and it is too hard for the patient to take in.
So, take a breath and work with your doctor calmly and ask as many questions as you like. Take the information home, take time to absorb it, and it doesn't hurt to do some online research. Just don't go to a forum and look for people to tell you what you want to hear, many of those people do not have the same situation you may have and so without knowing everything - there advice may be misleading.
Feel free to contact a second doctor and ask for a second opinion - make sure to check with your insurance provider first on the way they require you to do this so that the charges are covered.
Remember, in most cases your doctor will be right. But, doctors are human and also rely on their nurses and staff to help them and in some cases they can be wrong.
I speak in first hand experience - My now 9 year old daughter would have been dead at 6 days of age if I didn't push the doctor and hospital into checking her out and admitting her back into the hospital. They kept telling me after my 3rd visit in a row to the emergency room that nothing was wrong with her and on that visit I refused to leave and said she is not healthy. They called me a bad mother and I was going to put undue pain and stress on my newborn - but finally they had her checked out and much to their surprise she had pneumonia and breathing problems and needed to be admitted to the pediatric ward and she was there for 2 1/2 weeks. I was later told she would have died in a day or two if I had not pushed the issue.
I do not encourage everyone to not trust your doctors; just don't ignore your instincts either. Get informed, ask questions, and follow your heart.
Here is a piece from the article above stated by pediatricians themselves - "5 mistakes parents make with newborns -- and how to avoid them"
Not trusting your instincts Our pediatricians said too many new parents don't trust their inner voice. "It's all about listening to yourself and trusting yourself," says Dr. Lisa Thebner, a pediatrician in New York City. "But when you're getting a lot of feedback from nannies and friends, it can be hard to block out all that white noise."If you don't trust yourself, you could be putting your baby in danger, says Madden, who's chair of pediatrics at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, and associate clinical professor of pediatrics at George Washington Medical Center in Washington.
"I've had parents who have a feeling their baby is sick, but people around them say the baby is fine," she says. "So even though their instinct says something's wrong, they wait way too long to bring the baby in to the doctor because people reassured them."
And here are three more mistakes parents of newborns make, according to our experts :
•They put their babies to sleep on their sides or stomachs. (The American Academy of Pediatrics says the back is best to avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.)
• They don't vaccinate their babies even though the pediatric academy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and virtually every scientific organization recommends it.
• They don't bring a baby with a fever to see the pediatrician. Any newborn with a fever needs to be evaluated by a doctor.
Sleep Position and Safety / Baby Care Basics
This is a controversial subject - my personal experiance has taught me to advise against it. I did co-sleep for a short period of time with my first daughter. This lead to me not sleeping well as I fell asleep and woke up in the same position as I did not want to roll onto my daughter. Keep in mind - SIDS is linked to co-sleeping and it takes just a small movement of your arm (for example) to slightly cover baby's nose and mouth and your precious little one is so small they can't move enough to wake you and let you know they are sufficating.
That seems to be the biggest worry - your bed has a blanket and pillows etc... all which are known causes of SIDS. Taking a baby to bed with you does not decrease the risk of SIDS, it increases it.
I really like those bedside cribs or bassinetts. You can have newborn with you in your room next to your bed, with out risking sufficating your baby. Plus, since they learn to sleep in their own place, this makes transistion to their own bed much easier.
More information on this topic... The Co-Sleeping Controversy - Pros and Cons By Susan Hawkins
Bathing Newborn Baby:
* babyfeedingchoice.org
* choicesforbirth.org
* Normal Newborn Infant Feeding Guide
-- >>>This is a must see video - I cannot put it in my site, so you will need to visit theirs. It is a 2 min video. click the link....
