The
first six weeks at home with your baby - possibly the most exciting and most tiring days of your life! Read about how to survive the
first six weeks...
The first few days
Both of you are exhausted following the birth and hopefully some of your much needed sleep will coincide! You may be also recovering from a complicated pregnancy or birth, so be sure to take care of your own needs also and ask for help and support whenever you need it. The main focus for the baby at this time is usually establishing feeding - the baby received all its nutrients from you in pregnancy, and now you both learn together how to meet baby’s needs outside of the womb.
If you are at home then ensure you have arranged sufficient support, for yourself and any other children. If you are in hospital or a birth centre your meals and ‘hotel services’ will be taken care of, but it can be difficult to rest in an unfamiliar, noisy environment.
Keeping baby clean in those first few weeks
Your baby will receive their first bath - which they may or may not love - and learn how it feels to be clothed and this is something else they may object strongly to! Initially your baby may have vernix on the skin (creamy protective substance that covers their skin in the womb), which will be re-absorbed gradually.
The cord area should be kept clean and dry, as the cord shrivels and drops off over the next week or so. Sometimes there will be the odd spot of the blood on the nappy or vest as the cord separates - but the cord site should never ‘bleed’ as such. It may be smelly for a day or two, as the cord drops off by a process of dry gangrene. Check that the skin around the cord is normal and pink (not inflamed or red). Letting the fresh air get to it will help it heal quicker.
If the baby’s finger nails are long and scratchy, the best solution is to gently tear them - do not use scissors as this may also cut the skin.
You will learn how to ‘top and tail’ your baby - washing the face, cleaning the eyes with cooled, boiled water if they are sticky, and keeping his nappy area clean.
This is a major feat in the first few days as his first few ‘poos’ will be black and sticky (meconium); this soon changes to green, then yellow, as the milk moves down the gut. Mustard yellow is the normal colour for ‘baby poo’ for as long as they are taking milk only.
The genitals of boys and girls are self cleaning - unless a dirty nappy has been explosive! In which case gentle cleaning with cotton wool and water will suffice.
Little girls may have a ‘pseudo period’ causing a little red discharge, as your hormones are excreted from their body.
Little boys sometimes pass urate crystals in their urine, which leave a pink mark on the nappy. If you are unsure, ask your midwife to check the nappy to check whether it is normal.
Settling your baby in the first six weeks
Unfortunately there is no magic answer to this one - if only we knew what was wrong! However, having a checklist of common baby problems may help.
- Could baby be thirsty or hungry?
- Possibly tired?
- Wet or dirty nappy?
- Could baby have wind or be constipated?
After offering baby a feed, checking the nappy and patting their back, it is now down to a little imagination. You can pace the floor (a sling is useful), put some music on and dance with your baby, try walking out with your pram. Basically there is no ideal solution, it is trial and error!
This can be extremely exhausting, however, so ensure you ask for help (do not be proud about accepting any offer of help - people genuinely want to help a new mum out). Occasionally you may have to let your baby cry - leave them in a safe place (in their cot, or strapped into their pram) and walk away to somewhere else in the house or garden for a break. Crying babies can be wearisome!
Keeping baby safe in those early weeks
Sun protection for a new baby
There are 3 main principles - remember to do them all!
- Apply high factor sunscreen
- Cover the skin with protective clothing
- Keep baby in the shade
Cot death prevention
This can be summarized by 4 main points
- Lie babies on their back and place baby’s feet at the foot of the cot, to ensure baby does not wriggle under the covers.
- Do not let baby get too hot or too cold. (Feel your baby’s chest or the back of their neck - hands and feet are always cold in new babies.)
- Do not smoke, or allow anyone else to smoke, near baby
- If you are concerned for your baby’s well-being, then see your doctor
Car seats
Ensure that you have a properly fitted car seat for every journey you do with your child.
The first couple of weeks
In order to enjoy this time and get sufficient rest, do limit your visitors to the ‘useful types’- the ones that arrive with a ‘kiwi plate’ and leave with your ironing!
The baby’s routine is likely to be chaotic, chances are that you are having little sleep and have one or two worries about baby or your own recovery. Some babies get a rash, some get sticky eyes, some do not move their bowels for days on end. All these worries can be checked out with your midwife, who will be visiting you regularly at home. Any major concerns should be taken to your midwife/ doctor immediately - you will have access to your midwife 24 hours a day.
2 - 6 weeks after the birth
This can be the most stressful time if you are not managing to get much sleep and your support is less now that your partner has returned to work/ mum has left to return home. In most cases the feeding does settle into some sort of routine at this time (be warned- a growth spurt often occurs around 6 weeks and baby wants to feed like never before!). The night feeds are usually still frequent, although they may settle to 2 feeds a night by 6 weeks of age?! Try not to compare with friends too much - every baby is different and feeds differently at various stages, so easy nights now do not always guarantee easy nights to come.
How does something so small command so much attention - day and night!
Useful New Baby Websites and Articles
To read more about the role of a Doula,
click here.
Feeding Your Baby by midwife Paula Skelton gives information on the advantages and disadvantages of breast feeding and bottle feeding
www.childalert.co.uk/absolutenm/templates/newstemplate.asp?
articleid=182&zoneid=1
This website has comprehensive advice on prevention of cot death
www.cry-sis.org.uk/cryingbaby.html
Although this is a British organisation their web site offers excellent ideas about crying babies.
Paula Skelton is a qualified nurse and midwife, a midwifery and childbirth educator, and the mum of three lovely girls. If you can't find what you need in this Babies section,
drop us a line, and Paula will add it to the website.
Article
First Six Weeks written by Paula Skelton.