Tips and Hacks on How to Care Newborn Baby

Newborns! Adorable squished up little things that don’t come with an instruction manual.

Congratulations, at last the long wait is over. Your baby, the little one you’ve eagerly been expecting for nine months, give or take, is finally here. As you hold this tiny, warm, sweet-smelling bundle in your arms for the very first time, you’re probably already in love. But you’re also probably wondering what to expect from your newborn. Your baby’s development will be a work in progress, but she’ll be making progress surprisingly quickly in the month ahead. In fact, she’ll probably have some serious skills right from day one, like being able to lift her head briefly when on her tummy. Remember, tummy time should always be supervised time, and it’s so much more fun on your tummy or chest.

How about some face time? Your baby will love focusing on your face as much as you love gazing at hers. The sound of your voice will be both familiar, your little one has heard it for months now, and super comforting. It will also encourage babies to start making sounds of their own, like the sweet coo you may hear by the end of the first month. Your baby, like most babies, is probably a born sucker, which comes in handy at feeding times. He may even have figured out how to deliver those teeny fingers to that teeny mouth for further sucking satisfaction. It may seem that your baby has little on her mind besides eating and sleeping, and of course pooping. But look more closely and you’ll see your newborn actually has six states of mind.

When the baby’s quiet alert, motor activity is suppressed, so he can spend all his energy watching and listening. You can think of this as his secret agent mode, super stealth. When she’s actively alert, her arms are moving and her legs are kicking. She wants to focus more on objects and less on people, taking in the big picture. A baby’s best-known state, of course, is crying, which your newborn will do when he’s hungry, gassy, uncomfortable, bored, or just needs a cuddle. The other three states? Drowsy, those super cute, glazed over, milk-induced coma moments when nodding off. Quiet sleep, when baby’s eyelids are shut tight and that usually wriggly body is still. And active sleep, aka REM or dream sleep, when baby will seem restless as she rests, her eyes darting under closed lids, her arms and legs on the move, her tiny mouth sucking, pouting or even, hold on to your heart, smiling.

Are you still feeling like a newborn newbie? Not to worry, by month’s end you’ll feel like a seasoned pro in the baby game, at least compared to today. And each month I’ll be here to support you, and to answer some of the questions you’re bound to have along this incredible, magical, memorable first year of your baby’s life.

Here are my top newborn tips and hacks I have learned along the way.

1. Crying is your baby’s way of communicating. If your baby cries, they could be hot or cold, have a wet or dirty nappy, need winding or most likely be hungry. Newborns feed every two to three hours, but it could be more if there’s a growth spurt and there are growth spurts at three weeks, six weeks, three months and six months so when in doubt just get it out.
   
2. One breastfeeding hack to remember which side you last fed on is to put a clip on your bra strap, or a bracelet which you swap from wrist to wrist, or even an elastic band. There are loads of fancy apps out there for breastfeeding, but I find that these simple ways are the most effective. If you are breastfeeding, make sure that you eat well and if you keep up your fluids. It can be hard to know if your baby is getting enough but as long as they’re putting on weight from three weeks, and having about 5 to 6 wet or dirty nappies a day, you’re doing great. Newborn babies can only focus on objects that are up to 15 inches away, which is conveniently where your face is to the breast when you’re feeding your baby so talk to them, look at them and relax. By doing these things it can even help your milk flow.
3. Winding is as important as feeding. If you don’t get the wind up, it can go down to their tummies, and need to come out the other way which can be really painful. To wind your baby a gentle pat on the back can work, a circular motion, leaning them forward or straightening their back out. Or one way that I found really effective is getting your partner to do it. Men are a bit heavy-handed; they don’t smell all yummy like milk, and they’re really good at getting the wind up. If the wind does go down to their tummy and they’re in pain, you can help them by pulling their knees up or doing a cycling motion with their legs.
   
4. Watch your baby’s poo. Your baby’s first ever poos will be black, thick, sticky meconium poo, and then, after a couple of days, it will go from a green and then finally to a bright yellow Dijon mustard poo. Doctors and midwives will recommend that you use cotton wool and water to change your baby’s nappies in the first few weeks. I loved using these pure water wipes. When your baby’s umbilical cord is still on, it’s important that you keep it outside of the nappy, so it can dry up and fall off. You can either fold the nappy down, or do two little cuts and fold it down that way.
5. Hacks on changing nappies. If you have a baby boy, you may have noticed that as soon as you go to change the nappy and the air hits their private parts, they have a wee. The one thing that I did do is either wait for them to have that, or wipe a baby, wipe across their tummy and that can also make them go. That way it’s not hitting the ceiling, or you.
   With my newborn I got in the habit of just checking or changing their nappy every time that I fed them. Baby’s skin can be sensitive and this will help avoid nappy rash. An easier way to check if your baby’s nappy is wet is to just look at the yellow stripe on the outside of the nappy. If it is turned blue then it is wet. Nappies can leak from time to time, so make sure that you pull out the frilly bit around your baby’s leg to make sure that you keep it all in. If your baby does have an explosive poo, and it gets onto their vest don’t worry. Baby vests are designed to come down over their shoulders as well as up. There’s a really wide neck so just pull it down and then you don’t have to pull the mess over your baby’s face.
   
6. A great hack is to make up a little changing basket. Take it with you around the house wherever you are. So just get a basket, add some nappies, wipes, barrier cream, a change of clothes and a mat and you’re good to go.
7. To help settle your baby, hold their head and bum and rock and sway. This will make them feel secure and like they are back in the womb and this is something that you will probably do instinctively. Some babies also like to be swaddled to mimic the feeling of being in the womb, so just get a big muslin or a swaddle blanket and wrap them up like a little fajita.
   
8. A little sleeping hack that I have learned is to layer your baby’s bedding. Like : mattress protector, sheet, mattress protector, sheet, and then pram sheets are great for catching spit-up. This will save you loads of time in changing your sheets, especially if there are accidents in the middle of the night.
9. Babies also get colder than you think, so one hack that I did was to download a little chart on Pinterest of what layers a baby should wear in what temperature. You could even print this out and put it on your nursery wall. The best temperature for your baby’s bath is 37 and the best temperature for your baby’s room is 19.
10. Don’t be afraid to ask visitors or guests to wash or use hand sanitizer before holding your baby. One great hack that I did was to make my eldest son who’s nearly six the hygiene police, and he took great pleasure in telling our guests that they needed to wash their hands if they wanted to hold the baby.
11. Baby wearing! If you have older children, this is a must. This is such a good way to get stuff done while also keeping your newborn happy. They can hear your heart and they are nice and warm so you can make dinner and they can have a sleep.
    
12. A great hack for going out is to make yourself a little clothing bundle. You can throw in your baby bag should there be any accidents when you’re out. Just lay out a baby grow and then a vest on top of it, and place two socks in the middle of it with the openings facing out. Roll up the whole bundle and fold the socks down and you have a full change of clothes ready to go. You could even put this into a Ziploc bag, so that you have somewhere to put wet or messy clothes when you’re out.
13. Use oils. Babies can also have quite dry skin; you probably would too if you had been in water for nine months! So you can use sunflower oil or olive oil on their skin to help moisturize it.
14. Newborns can also have long fingernails, especially if they’re born past their due date. It’s better to nibble or bite their little nails off, rather than cut them, because cutting them can make them quite sharp. You can also buy great baby grooms that have scratch mitts built-in so that they can’t get them off.
15. Before you have your baby, it is worth stocking up on a few bits like saline drops, a nose sucker and baby paracetamol like Calpol. Illnesses can strike in the middle of the night. A fever or blocked nose can really upset them or affect their feeding so it’s great to have these things in stock. Always go with your instinct. If you think something’s wrong with your baby it probably is, so call your doctor. There is a lot to be said for mother’s instinct.
    

There’s no doubt about it, having a newborn is exhausting, and babies don’t typically smile till they’re 6 weeks old. So it can be really tough having a boss that gives you no reward. But just try to remember this newborn phase is over so fast, so just hold them, kiss them, smell them, take too many photos and enjoy it before they are running around.