Recovering The SelfA Journal of Hope and Healing

Health

Early Childcare: Keeping It Simple

Guest Blogger: Tom Clark

New parents may feel quite awkward with the whole routine of their infant’s care. Here are some helpful tips that will make the early stages of childcare less complicated.

Tips on Breastfeeding

It’s important for a nursing mother to eat a healthy, balanced diet and avoid foods with additives or those lacking in nutrients. In the early stages, newborns need to be fed about every two to three hours. To prevent sleep disruptions, it may be more convenient to keep your baby in your bedroom for a while when doing night feedings. As you may have already discovered, feeding a baby can be a messy job; so keep dozens of absorbent bibs handy and also drape your shoulder with a wide, absorbent towel when holding your baby. Babies often get distracted while feeding, and will often yank, scratch, and pull on their mothers. A few things that you can use to protect an active baby from scratching itself and you while feeding include:

Wearing a breastfeeding necklace
Clipping your baby’s nails
Purchasing baby mittens

Calming a Crying Baby with Swaddling and Other Methods

Swaddling has been shown to calm a baby considerably. As an alternative, you can use a sleep sac to keep your baby snug and secure. Some other steps to prevent excessive baby crying include:

Putting them in a quieter room
Playing soothing music
Humming or reading books
Keeping the baby’s room airy and cool

Suggested Remedies for Colic

Your doctor may diagnose your baby with colic based on frequency of their crying and discomfort they experience within a month. Treatment varies with each child, so experiment with a few of these suggestions:

Herbal gripe water
Switching formulas from cow to soy-based milk
Special formulas made with smaller molecules that digest easier
Tea made of chamomile and lemon balm
Using a bottle with a tilted teat
Massages after feedings
Nursing mothers should avoid members of the onion and cabbage families
Don’t rush feedings
Practice consistent burping

Safety Tips When Putting a Child to Bed

Sadly, the root cause of SIDS is still unknown. However, preventative measures can help keep your baby safer. It is recommended by many researchers that babies need to be placed in their cribs on their backs. In addition, a baby monitor can allow parents to monitor a baby’s movement if they need to reposition them during the night. Parents should also avoid placing bedding and toys that are too soft or squishy, as this could cause suffocation.

Hearing Tests

If deafness runs in your family, a hearing test is crucial to adjust to the challenges ahead of caring for a child with a hearing impairment. The sooner this is done, hearing aids, surgery, training or other forms of assistance can be implemented.

Cradle Cap

Cradle cap is a natural condition that will eventually wane in occurrence over time. Prevention may involve frequently shampooing your child’s hair to curb excess oil accumulation on the scalp. If the condition is severe, your doctor may recommend a special medicated baby shampoo containing salicylic acid or sulfur or hydrocortisone cream to treat the redness and rash.

 

About the Author

Tom Clark is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast. His blog Nannyinterviewquestions.com focuses on job interview. You can follow him on Google+.

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