Newborn

Nutrition

After a brief period of weight loss, your baby will begin to gain approximately one ounce per day.
Babies at this age get all their nutrition from breast milk or formula.
Many babies spit up when they feed. If your baby spits up often, keep his or her head raised for at least 30 minutes after feeding. Spitting up small amounts is harmless as long as your baby is gaining weight and is not in pain. Spitting up usually ends by age six to nine months.
After feeds, gently burp the baby by holding the baby on your chest, upright and gently patting or stroking the back. Do this for 2 to 5 minutes. Your baby may not burp after every feeding.
Do not prop bottles in your baby’s mouth. Do not add cereal to your baby’s bottles. Do not give your baby extra water. Do not give your baby honey.

Wellness Visits

Breastfed babies should nurse on demand when he or she is showing hunger cues at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours. If your baby is sleepy, you may have to undress him or her, tickle the feet or rub the back to wake him or her for feeds.

Breast Feeding

Make sure to always use iron-fortified formula. At first, give your baby 1-2 oz of prepared formula every 2 to 3 hours, which amounts to about 18-24 oz per day. As she grows and appetite increases, you will need to prepare largeramounts. If your baby doesn’t finish all the prepared bottle, you may refrigerate it and use it for the next feed. Do not mix this formula with new formula. Further, if the formula has been heated and has been out of the refrigerator for 1hour or more, discard it. Never heat a bottle in a microwave; if you wish to warm a bottle, a hot water bath is recommended. If you are thinking about switching brands of formula, talk to a doctor first.

Formula Feeding

Most infants sleep 12-20 hours a day in 2-4 hour stretches. Most babies are loud sleepers. Observe your baby’s noises to learn the difference between active sleep and real awakenings. Your baby may be signaling they are between sleep cycles rather than truly waking. Maximizing the difference between night and day (for example, dim vs. abundant light, hushed vs. normal noise) helps your newborn establish a circadian rhythm, though this may not occur right away. A supine position (“back to sleep”) is best for babies, including premature babies because it reduces the risk for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Room sharing is recommended with the baby in a separate, but nearby sleep space. Bed sharing (sleeping in the same bed as the parents, another adult, or a child) is not recommended because it increases the risk of SIDS. Likewise, sleeping together on a non-bed surface, such as a sofa or chair places a baby at risk for entrapment, suffocation, and death.

Sleep

Stool frequency varies from one every feeding, to once a week or less. Bottle-fed infants' stools are usually soft and green or brown. Nursing infants have frequent, loose, watery, yellow stools. Apply a barrier cream such as Aquaphor between diaper changes to protect the skin from irritation.

Elimination

PLEASE MAKE EVERY RIDE A SAFE RIDE! Use an approved infant car seat, facing backward in the center back seat of the car until your infant is 2 years old.
Check your hot water heater to be sure the water temperature is no hotter than 120 degrees F. Always be near your baby while he is in the bathtub.
Never attach a pacifier around your baby's neck.
If you feel your baby is crying a lot (not related to illness) and you are at your wit's end, put your baby in a safe place and take a break. Call a relative, friend, or the Parent Warmline (612-813-6336). If your frustration is increasing, call Crisis Connection (612-379-6363) or Minneapolis Crisis Nursery (763-591-0100).
Never leave your child alone in a car for any reason, even briefly. Start developing habits that will help prevent you from ever forgetting your baby in the car. Consider putting an item that you need, like your purse, cell phone, or employee ID, in the back seat of the vehicle, so you will see your baby when you retrieve the item before leaving the car.

Safety

Welcoming an infant into your life is one of life's major stresses! Whether this baby is your first or fifth, the next few weeks will be a time of adjustment. Recognize this and give yourself the time, rest, and support needed to deal with the unexpected changes. It is normal for you to feel uncertain, overwhelmed, and very tired at times. Making sure to rest and sleep when the baby sleeps is one way to help you maintain your sense of well-being. Another is to let your partner and other family members participate in the care of the baby by holding, bathing, changing, dressing, and calming him.

Siblings need to hold, touch, and feel close to the baby. Some siblings get overly excited and helpful but can also feel displaced and rejected. Negative behaviors are often directed toward mom or dad because they are the ones who are holding the new baby, saying "just a minute" or "don't do that!" and are also more tired than usual. It's common to see more temper tantrums, clingy behaviors, sleep disturbances and toileting regressions. Talk openly about how the older child feels and find some uninterrupted "special time" daily to spend alone with him or her.

Family Adjustments

All newborns receive an initial hearing and heart screen before being discharged from the hospital. If the hearing screen was not done yet or was failed, your baby will be referred to a hearing specialist for testing. The results from the newborn blood test collected in the hospital will be available around the time of your baby’s 2 week visit.

Screening

If you feel your baby is ill (for example, is more irritable or lethargic than usual, is not eating as much as usual, is coughing more than usual, etc.) or has a temperature over 100.4 degrees (always taken rectally at this age), call us right away.

Your baby's next regular health care visit is at age TWO WEEKS. Please try to be at least 15 minutes early for all scheduled well-child visits.

Enjoy your new adventure!