Baby’s First-Year

During the first few days at home your family will be adjusting to the additional member of your family. If you have other children at home you may be dealing with feelings of jealousy as the newborn baby takes center stage. Make sure that you include your other children in the day-to-day activities that are part of the new baby’s routine.

Let older children help with diaper changing, feeding and just sitting and holding the new baby.

Younger children can fetch diapers, lotion, wipes, etc. They can also help hold the bottle.

You can probably think of other thing your older children can help with. The important thing to remember is you want to keep the whole family involved. Not only will this help eliminate jealousy, it will eliminate some of the work you have ahead of you.

The first few days home from the hospital are just as important to you as they are to your newborn baby. As new parents you will have gone through an exciting birth that will have left you breathless and exhilarated. As s new mother you will be emotionally and physically exhausted. As a new father you will be overwhelmed by your new responsibilities. The first days at home are a time to take a deep breath, sit back and relax, and take some time just for you.

During your first days at home it may be wise to limit the amount of visitors that you welcome into your home. Other than your immediate family and good friends you might want to ask other friends to wait a week or two before they descend on your with gifts and wanting to hold the newborn baby. You need time to recuperate and settle into the routine that a sleeping, feeding, and often crying baby brings into your life.

As a new mother you will need to pay particular attention to the way that you are feeling so those “baby blues” don’t creep up and surprise you unexpectedly. It is normal to feel a bit out of sorts and sad for the first couple of weeks after giving birth.

Your body is going through some major physical changes after the birth of your baby. Your hormones will be changing and you likely will be feeling a lack of sleep. All of this can affect the way that you feel. You should be patient with yourself, understand that all these feelings are normal and that in a couple weeks things will feel better for you.

If you find you are feeling more depressed and find it difficult to care for yourself and your family, you should consult your doctor so that he or she can determine if you are suffering from a condition called postpartum depression.

A sleep routine can be a soothing and comforting part of your baby’s night time ritual. It is a way for you and your family to incorporate sleep into the daily routine without it becoming a battle of mind over baby. As your baby grows, he or she will understand that bedtime comes after bath time, for instance. This may help baby start to settle down and sleep better if the routine is established early on.

There are many ways that you can establish a bedtime routine. Here are some tips and ideas you might want to consider:

1. Start with a bath, some cuddle time, a song or story, a feeding then bed.
2. Sing a special lullaby just before putting baby to bed.
3. Try to do things in the same order with the same people involved at the same time. Your baby will recognize the pattern and associate it with bedtime.
4. Turns lights low and make the house quiet.

Which ever routine you decide on, make it consistent and final. Make baby understand that this is a means to an end. Once you put baby to bed, let him fuss a little if necessary. After a couple days, he will realize there is no point in fighting it and he will fall asleep right away.

Keep in mind, your baby will remember the routine and expect the same thing to happen each time. If you pick baby back up after putting him down because he is fussing a little, this will become the routine he will expect.