How to care for your newborn in the first two weeks!
Having a newborn can be overwhelming! Here are some things to expect in the first 2 weeks of life.
Feeding - Babies should feed on demand (that is, as often as they want to eat), and in the first 2 weeks should not go more than 4 hours between feeds. Babies will start out at very small amounts, about 10-15 mL per feed, but quickly go up to 2oz a feed after the first 2 days. Sometimes babies will be very hungry and will eat every hour; other times, they will go the full 4 hours between feeds. If it’s been more than 4 hours since your baby fed, wake them up and make them eat.
Sleeping for parents and for baby - babies can sleep up to 22 hours out of a day. They tend to be more awake and want to feed more at night, and want to sleep more during the day. We recommend always putting your baby on its back to sleep with nothing loose or fluffy in the crib - this prevents sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Do not underestimate how tired you will be in these first few weeks! It is very easy to fall asleep while holding your baby, so make sure if you’re feeling sleepy you always put the baby down in their crib or basinet. Remember that your baby will be more awake at night, so it is VERY important that you take naps during the day when your baby is sleeping. If you plan to be awake most of the night, and make yourself sleep during the day, you will be much better off.
Babies need to be dressed in one layer more than what you are wearing to be comfortable, and need to have a hat on most of the time for the first week or so. They lose a lot of heat through their skin and especially through their scalp. Babies will usually be more comfortable if they are swaddled tightly - if you find your baby is getting out of their swaddle, it’s not that they don’t like it - you didn’t do it tightly enough.
Pooping - babies should poop at least once in the first 24hrs. At first, the poop will be black and thick. As they eat more, the poop will turn into a yellow or green poop that is mostly liquid and looks like it has small seeds in it. Babies poop on their own schedules - some babies poop 8 times a day, and rarely some babies will go up to 8 days without pooping. They will grunt and strain and turn red in the face as they are trying to poop. All this is normal. If the poop comes out in hard small balls, then they are constipated - talk to your doctor about it.
Peeing - babies should pee once on the first day of life, twice on the second, etc until they are peeing 6-8 times a day. If your baby ever goes more than 12 hours without peeing, they are probably dehydrated and you need to talk to your doctor.
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True projectile vomiting (throwing up everything they eat; the vomit literally goes across the room like in the Exorcist) is not normal. Any baby might do this once, but if they do it over and over they need to be seen. This is paragraph text. Click it or hit the Manage Text button to change the font, color, size, format, and more. To set up site-wide paragraph and title styles, go to Site Theme.
Cord care - the cord should be left alone and kept dry. Do not put your baby down in water until the cord falls off. It generally falls off somewhere in the first 2 weeks. Cords can rarely get infected - if you see pus coming from the cord or redness of the skin growing from the cord out, then see your doctor.
Bathing - babies do not like baths because it makes them cold. At first, you will do only a sponge bath until the cord falls off. After that, you can put them in water but do it quickly (a bath should take less than 5 minutes). Babies don’t need baths every day, and giving too many baths can dry out their skin. Give them a bath about once every 2-3 days at the most.
Fevers and illness - it can be hard to tell just from looking at a small baby if they are seriously sick or if they just have a cold. If your baby has a fever at any time in the first 6 weeks of life, they need to go to the ER. A fever is a temperature of 100.4 or more, measured rectally. You don’t need to check their temperature all the time, but if they feel too warm, they are acting sick (coughing, etc) or if they are acting strange (you can’t wake them up), you should check a temperature.
After your baby is 2 months old, you can trust how they look to tell you if they’re seriously sick. We won’t make you run to the ER just for a fever any more.
Because we don’t want you to have to go to the ER, try not to let your baby get sick in the first 6 weeks or life. For this reason we recommend limiting your baby’s exposure to other people. Going outside is fine, but limit your time in public spaces because people will want to touch your baby. Make everyone who comes to your house wash their hands and make them stay away if they are sick. If you are sick, make sure you wash your hands and don’t breathe directly on the baby or kiss them.
Skin care - most term babies will have peeling skin in the first few weeks. It’s fine to use plain lotion that is hypoallergenic, but most babies don’t need a lot of lotion. If you have a strong family history of eczema, we recommend you start using lotion every day right away even if their skin doesn’t seem dry.
Baby noises - hiccups, yawning, throat clearing, and sneezing are all normal baby noises. Because baby’s nose is so small, and because they only breathe through their nose, it can sound like your baby is very congested when they aren’t. Instead of listening for the congestion, look for trouble breathing. If a baby is pulling in their skin under their ribs or between their ribs every time they breathe, they are having trouble breathing. First, suction out their nose with some saline. If they are still having the pulling or retractions, they need to be seen right away.
Sometimes less is more - babies really just need your time and attention. Most babies don’t need any medicines; avoid giving them any kind of medicine unless you talk to your doctor about it. Even medicines that seem simple, like cough medicines, can have bad side effects for babies.
Avoid any screen time for babies. They need time to explore the world and learn, and screens stop them from doing that. Try not to allow your baby any tablet time, phone time, or TV time until they are 2 years old at least.
Car Seats - your baby needs to be in a rear-facing car seat until they are 2 years old. While the car seat is the safest place for your baby in the car, it’s not a safe place for them to sleep outside of the car because they can slump down and have trouble breathing. Any time you’re not in the car and your baby is sleeping, move them to their crib.
Colic - at least 20% of babies will get colic, which is crying for more than 3 hours a day for no particular reason. If your baby is crying, first try everything that you know to make them better - undress them and change their diaper, make sure they are warm enough when you redress them (for the first few weeks, a onesie with socks, covered by footy pajamas, a hat, and swaddled), feed them, rock them. If none of this works but you find you are getting frustrated, take a quick break. Hand off your baby to your family, or just set them in the basinet for a few minutes. Once you take some deep breaths and you feel calmer, try it all again. It can be very frustrating when your baby is crying, but if they feel your frustration it will be even hard to get them to settle - getting yourself calm and organized really helps.
Postpartum depression - babies are wonderful, but also exhausting! It’s normal to be very tired, to cry at times, and to wonder if you’re really up for this parenting job! If, however, you find that you are sad all the time, that you can’t enjoy being around your baby, or that you see no hope of this tiredness getting better, you could have postpartum depression. Please call your OB right away to talk to them about it.
