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“10 Tips for the First Two Weeks with Your Baby”
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Nov 152013
Oct 022014
Few subjects cause so much controversy as the question when you are allowed to take your newborn outside. Not only do generations answer differently to this question, there are also huge cultural and religious differences.
Traveling through Vietnam, I hardly saw any newborn baby, while there were lots of 6 months old babies and toddlers on the streets. A conversation with my guide in Hanoi made me understand why I didn’t see them; the first 2 months of Continue reading »
Sep 042014
Most new moms have an advantage over first time dads; they already spent some time babysitting for neighbors and family to earn pocket money during their teenage years, so they know more or less how to handle a baby. The tinyness and fragility of a newborn freaks out every new parent, but changing diapers or helping a baby to burb is pretty much the same, whether they are 4 days or 4 months old.
Combine this with the fact that a mom-to-be feels her baby grow and move inside Continue reading »
Jul 032014
Most babies love water. Not really surprising, it was their habitat for the first 9 months. Bath time doesn’t only wash away the acids of wet diapers from their bums and milk traces from their faces. It also helps them to relax.
Every baby is born with a couple of amazing reflexes that potentially makes him an excellent swimmer, right from the start. When you expose your baby to more than just bathing during the first months, and let her experience the joy of swimming all by herself, you will Continue reading »
Jun 052014
Listening to advertisers of cleaning and sanitation products, you might come to believe that the world is a very dangerous and dirty place, full of agressive bacteria waiting to attack your, and your baby’s, health.
While expecting a baby, our existing fear of infection is carefully fed by manufacturers of antibacterial soap and hand gel.
Of course it is important to practise hygiene while taking care of your Continue reading »
May 012014
Anxiously, she is waiting for my verdict. She just told me, how terribly wrong things went last night.
Her three day old son cried and cried and she didn’t know what to do. Eventually she panicked and ran outside the bedroom, yelling at her husband that she couldn’t do this, so he better found a solution…
She is deeply ashamed about her reaction. So she sits and waits until I label her as ‘unfit mother’ – she obviously thinks about herself as a very bad mom. Continue reading »
Apr 032014
Plus other good reasons to never let your toddler alone with your newborn, not even for 3 minutes…
When I close off the period of maternity care, I always have a conversation with the parents about safety in and around the house. Besides the obvious topics of the approachability of electrical equipment, hot beverages and cleaning products, if a couple already has an older child I also discuss the safety perils of brotherly and sisterly love.
At first the parents usually think that I am overly concerned about the behavior of their toddler. Sometimes they even see it as a sign of distrust, so they get a bit upset Continue reading »
Mar 062014
If your milk supply is plenty and you have to express milk to finger feed or cup feed your newborn, don’t express every few hours. Here is why;
Most moms who start pumping within 48 hours after giving birth do so, because their milk supply is insufficient and they need a little help to start producing lots of breast milk.
Some moms however, have plenty of milk right from the start. In most cases their babies only lose 3% of their birth weight and start gaining weight after the second Continue reading »
Feb 062014
Trying to soothe a crying baby for several hours a day can wear you out. No matter how much you love your baby.
All babies go through periods of time when they cry a lot, without obvious reason. This increased crying starts around 2 weeks and peaks around 2 months. On average, a baby of 2 months old cries for about 2,5 hours a day. Some babies even cry for more than 5 hours a day. Most parents get really stressed and some even lose confidence in their parenting skills by this crying, especially when nothing seems to soothe or comfort their child. So, if you find yourself in despair, Continue reading »
Dec 312013
Keeping your baby warm
The best way to stabilize a baby’s temperature, is to have skin to skin contact. This works even better than the use of hot water bottles, caps and warm blankets together. Besides stabilizing temperature, skin to skin contact is great for bonding. Oxytocin levels rise and stress hormone levels fall, in parent and infant.
But we’re not always in the position to cuddle for hours with our baby. For these times, we need a back up to Continue reading »
Dec 312013
A temperature between 36,5° and 37,5º C is normal
It is very important to keep an eye on your baby’s temperature during the first weeks. Newborns can’t regulate their own temperature yet. They can’t shiver, neither can they move effectively to become warm again.
On the other hand, if they get too warm, they can’t effectively sweat. Continue reading »