What to Expect During Your Baby's First Month of Life


by Brooke Schuman - Date: 2007-01-08 - Word Count: 489 Share This!

You have a brand new baby. Congratulations!!! Now what? Well here are some things to expect from baby in the first month of life. Some of these things may or may not happen with your baby. All babies are different, so don't be concerned if they do not happen to your baby, in fact your life may be easier if you don't have to go through them.

Jaundice- The yellowing of baby due to an increased amount of bili reuben in the blood. Usually this will disappear within about two weeks or 14 days. In some cases especially in premature babies, babies need to be treated and stay under a special bili rueben light until bili Reuben levels return to normal. Jaundice is more common in boys and in babies that are premature, jaundice is nothing to be to concerned about, your Dr will let you know if baby needs treatment or not.

Infant Acne- You might find it odd as I did, that your newborn little angel has what looks like little zits all over his/her little face. This is most common in breastfeed babies because the baby is getting extra hormones through there mother's milk. Not to worry this will go away just as quickly as it started it might take a few weeks, but it won't leave scars or marks. In a few weeks you will have that beautiful soft as a baby's butt skin you always imagined.

Taking care of the umbilical cord- Don't give baby a full bath until the umbilical cord falls off. Sponge baths will do just fine. Keep the umbilical cord dry and exposed to a lot of air. Clean the umbilical cord with alcohol.

Turn the diaper down and the shirt up. Also try and protect the skin around the umbilical cord. Alcohol can irritate the skin and make it red. Try putting lotion or baby powder around the belly button, and try using a cotton swab to dab on the alcohol.

The umbilical cord stub will fall off in a week or two, and then you can give baby his/her first bath.

Circumcision- To take care of a baby after circumcision is usually not a pleasant experience for you or your baby. To make baby more comfortable use double diapers to help cushion baby from rubbing against the circumcision. Now a days Dr's use a circumcision ring and that will fall off when the area has healed.

Bowel Movements- Your newborn baby should have 5 or more dirty diapers a day. This seems like quite a lot but its normal. In newborn babies watery loose stools are also normal.

Spitting Up- It may seem like more is coming back up then going down, but this is not the case. Chances are a teaspoon or two is all that is coming up although it looks like a lot more. If baby is drinking formula the formula may not agree with him/her, so discuss your concerns with your Doctor.


Related Tags: newborn baby, first month

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