When to call the doctor for your newborn

If it's your first time caring for a newborn, how can you tell what's normal and what's not? Here's a quick list of symptoms that may signal a problem in the first couple of days at home. If you spot one, call your doctor right away. If the doctor's office is closed, the answering service should direct you to an advice nurse, the doctor on call, or an urgent care clinic. And of course, if your baby has any other symptom that worries you, play it safe and make the call.

Dehydration

Signs that your newborn is not getting enough fluids include:

• Fewer than three wet diapers per day
• Acting excessively sleepy or lethargic
• Dry mouth and lips

Poop problems

• No bowel movement in the first 48 hours at home
• Whitish mucus in the stool
• Streaks or flecks of red, which are signs of blood in the stool

High or low temperature

• A rectal temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher or lower than 96.8 degrees F

Breathing problems

Signs of respiratory distress include:

• Grunting
• Flaring of the nostrils
• Chest retractions (sucking in the skin above the collarbone, between the ribs, or below the ribs)
• Consistently fast breathing
• Heavy, noisy breathing (audible wheezes, whistling sounds, or crackly sounds during inhalation and exhalation)

NOTE: If your baby is taking more than 60 breaths per minute or turning blue around the mouth, call 911.

Umbilical cord stump problems

• Any odor, pus, or persistent bleeding from the umbilical cord stump 
• Any redness or swelling around the navel, which could be a sign of an infection

Jaundice

• Yellow color in the eyes, chest, abdomen, arms, or legs

Prolonged crying

• Unconsolable crying for longer than half an hour

Extreme sleepiness

• A sleepy baby who will not wake up enough to feed three or four hours after the last feeding

Signs of illness

• Coughing, diarrhea, or paleness
• Forceful vomiting at more than two feedings in a row

Poor appetite or suck

• Feeding fewer than six times in a 24-hour period
• Sucking that becomes noticeably weaker

For more information:

• Find out when to call the doctor for your baby during the first year.
• Test your knowledge about when to call the doctor for your baby by taking our quiz.
• See our baby symptom guide to help determine what's making your child sick.

Tips to Baby Care - Things You Should Know

Wonderful moment has arrived - you had a baby! Now what? Caring for your baby is a skill, lucky us it can be easily acquired and learned. Baby care and nurturing is going to fill your days for the first few month to the maximum, and here are some tips to help you reduce stress and make parenting more enjoyable!

• Talking to, touching, and holding your new baby in the delivery room is good for you and your baby.
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• This is a wonderful time to start breastfeeding. Tell your care giver not to let anyone else feed your baby so that your baby will only get your breast milk.
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• Your health care giver will examine your baby right after birth, checking appearance and color, reflexes, breathing, heart rate, and activity to see whether your baby needs any special care.
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• Ask to have your newborn placed beside you in bed. Touch and hold your baby, and get to know how your baby feels.
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• Your baby may look different from the way you expected. Ask the hospital staff if you have questions about the way your baby looks.
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• Ask the staff to show you how to take your baby's temperature and read the thermometer.
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• All infants should be protected against hepatitis B. Some doctors recommend the first shot be given before going home from the hospital.
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• You should take your baby to see the doctor when your baby is about 1 week old unless you are told to come in sooner. Call your baby's doctor right after your baby is born for an appointment.

Before you and your baby leave the hospital, a few drops of blood will be taken from your baby's heel to check for some rare problems.

You will need a car safety seat (marked "federally approved") to bring your baby home. It is the law-your baby must always be in an approved safety seat when traveling in a car, van, or truck. Ask your health care giver, the hospital where you deliver, or health department about programs that loan federally approved car safety seats.

If you or the baby's father have any questions about how to pick up, hold, feed, bathe, diaper, or dress your baby, ask the hospital staff to help you. Your new baby needs all of the love and comfort you can give. You cannot love a baby too much. Your entire family can share in the joy of this love.

Caring for your baby at home ...

Most newborn babies spend most of their time sleeping and eating. You want to make sure that baby has a safe place to sleep and is put to sleep in a safe position.

A safe crib will have slats no more than 2 3/8 inches apart and corner posts less than 5/8 inch high above the rails.

Baby should sleep on a firm mattress that fits tightly in the crib, cradle or bassinet.

Do not put pillows, comforters or other soft padded materials in the bed under the baby.

Put healthy infants to sleep on their backs or sides.

Keep the sides of crib raised when baby is sleeping in it.

Try to keep sleeping newborns away from pets, other children and large overstuffed toys.

Don't let people smoke around your baby. Your baby's lungs are delicate. Babies are not as resistant to respiratory infections as their parents.

Hopefully these simple tips will help you enjoy your new responsibilities to its fullest and fill your days with joy, not stress.

And now I invite you to discover some great baby gift ideas or perhaps explore your options for the baby shower gifts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/364185

Baby Care and Baby Health Techniques - Use of Baby Care Accessories in Health and Safety of Babies

What are the aspects of child rearing that are most important to the modern parents of today?

When we look at this issue, we can only symphatise with the modern parents of today because most of them are working or running some full time jobs. There is so little time to spend with the children and babies, if both parents are working , and where the mother is not working, taking care of a baby is a demanding full time job itself that keeps the mother busy at all times. Indeed, taking care of a baby is a 24 hour job, because even a baby can wake up at any time during the night when the parents are trying to catch up on sleep, and so the parents are basically on call the entire day and night.

That is why we need modern tools and equipment, even toys and apparatus that can help parents raise up children in a safe and healthy environment, and still be able to shower love and affection on the little children.With these modern conveniences, parents of today can breathe a little easier, and get some help from these tools to raise up their children in easier ways.

First and foremost, as parents, we need to care for the health of the baby, and secondly, we need to care for the safety of the baby. So our modern tools and aids to help raise a baby are concentrated towards these two important points. By using these tools and aids, parents can still get to work in their professions, and raise up a healthy child. These tools and aids are what we call Baby Care accessories.

Top on the list of baby care accessories will be the accessories that relate to the health of the baby - these are the baby's health reporting tools and instruments that monitor the baby safety. Most of these tools and aids are fashioned with the baby in mind, and are attractively designed to please the baby's mind after a lot of research. Most of these accessories are therefore shaped in the form of toys, of lovable animal shapes and in bright colors that can bring a smile on the baby's face. In this way, the baby does not fear seeing bulky ugly looking instruments but will even enjoy these instruments as if they are their own toys. These tools help parents to monitor the health of the baby and their safety all the time, and therefore free the parents of some important time for them to run their work and jobs, while their babies can grow in a healthy and safe environment.

Baby care accessories that relate to the safety of the baby are:

1. Baby Safety Video Monitor or Cam

2. Baby safety crib

3. Baby Staircase Access Blocker

4. Baby Strollers

5. Baby Chair

Baby Instant care accessories that relate to the health of the baby are:

1. Thermometer or baby wireless thermometer

2. Parental heart listener

3. Duck Bath thermometer, elephant bath thermometer or the hippo bath thermometer

4. Teddy bear digital thermometer or a ear thermometer

5. Pacifier

With these baby care accessories, parents have less of a worry during the time their babies are under child care while they are busy at work, as they know the health and safety of their babies are well taken care of while their babies are not under their direct supervision.

Looking for baby care resources and accessories to ensure the complete safety, and healthy development of an intelligent baby? Angie Kim has more free resources and information on baby care products at Aussie Babycare Zone [http://aussie-babycare.reviewadvisors.info]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/592098