Bringing Baby Home

Bringing your baby home is an extremely exciting feeling. It’s also the time, when as parents, you tend to get a little nervous thinking of the tremendous responsibility.

Being new to the world, your baby’s immune system is still getting developed. Until they begin with their immunizations, they would need all the help they can get to fend off illness and germs. These below mentioned hygiene tips will help them in getting the healthy start they need.

Wash your hands

Germs roam around your house on your hands. It sounds terrifying, but washing your hands with soap and water is one of the easiest ways to stop the spread of bacteria and germs. A liquid hand wash ensures that the germs are not spread.  Handwash protects you from 100 illness causing germs.

You should wash your hands:

• Before breastfeeding or preparing formula milk
• Before and after preparing food
• After going to the toilet or changing a nappy
• After cleaning or touching something filthy (feces, vomit, saliva, urine)
• Whenever you feel your hands are dirty

In case you don’t have access to water, use Baby Wipes to disinfect your hands

Clean surfaces before and after use

As a new mum, you’ll always have your hands full, but by establishing a foolproof hygiene routine at home you can safeguard the whole family from harmful germs. Surfaces that you come in contact with on a regular basis should be cleaned and disinfected. These include:

• Kitchen surfaces before and after you prepare food
• Baby changing mats and nappy bins
• Door handles
• Toilet seats, flushes and taps
• Light switches and bin lids

Once your baby starts utilizing a high chair, it’s imperative that you keep it hygienically clean. Hygiene Liquid will get rid of 99.9% of germs that are present.

Prevent infection from visitors

You can bet money on the fact that the moment you reach home, friends and family will be queuing up to say hello to the newest member of the family. Don’t be hesitant to ask them to wash their hands before and after they touch your baby. Also, ask people who are ill to postpone their visit to meet your baby until they are better.

Immunizations for your baby 

Immunizations – or vaccinations – are a fast, safe and extremely effective method to protect your loved ones from infectious diseases, such as tetanus, diphtheria, polio and whooping cough. Once vaccinated, your baby’s small body will be able to fight diseases in a more efficient manner.

The advised age to start vaccinations for your child is two months. Get in touch with your doctor to plan your vaccination schedule, so that your baby gets the right vaccinations at the perfect time.

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Baby`s First Word

Before babies learn to talk in a real language -- English, say, or Spanish -- they babble and coo, playing with sound. That's baby talk, and baby talk sounds similar the world over.

But when will you hear your baby's first words? Critical milestones for a baby learning to talk happen in the first three years of life, when a baby's brain is rapidly developing. During that time, your baby's speech development depends on your"baby talk" skills as well as your baby's.

When Will You Hear Baby's First Words?

The first "baby talk" is nonverbal and happens soon after birth. Your baby smiles, grimaces, cries, and squirms to express a range of emotions and physical needs, from fear and hunger to frustration and sensory overload. Good parents learn to listen and interpret their baby's different cries.

Just when your baby will say those magical first words varies greatly from individual baby to individual baby. But if your baby misses any of the following milestones in speech development, talk to your pediatrician or family doctor about your concerns.

Baby Talk Milestones

• Baby talk at 3 months. At 3 months, your baby listens to your voice, watches your face as you talk, and turns toward other voices, sounds, and music that can be heard around the home. Many infants prefer a woman's voice over a man's. Many also prefer voices and music they heard while they were still in the womb. By the end of three months, babies begin "cooing" -- a happy, gentle, repetitive, sing-song vocalization.

• Baby talk at 6 months. At 6 months, your baby begins babbling with different sounds. For example, your baby may say "ba-ba" or "da-da." By the end of the sixth or seventh month, babies respond to their own names, recognize their native language, and use their tone of voice to tell you they're happy or upset. Some eager parents interpret a string of "da-da" babbles as their baby's first words -- "daddy!" But babbling at this age is usually still made up of random syllables without real meaning or comprehension.

• Baby talk at 9 months. After 9 months, babies can understand a few basic words like "no" and "bye-bye." They also may begin to use a wider range of consonant sounds and tones of voice.

• Baby talk at 12 months. Most babies say a few simple words like "mama" and "dadda" by the end of 12 months -- and now know what they're saying. They respond to -- or at least understand, if not obey -- your short, one-step requests such as, "Please put that down."

• Baby talk at 18 months. Babies at this age say up to 10 simple words and can point to people, objects, and body parts you name for them. They repeat words or sounds they hear you say, like the last word in a sentence. But they often leave off endings or beginnings of words. For example, they may say "daw" for "dog" or "noo-noo's" for "noodles."

• Baby talk at 2 years. By the age of 2, babies string together a few words in short phrases of two to four words, such as "Mommy bye-bye" or "me milk." They're learning that words mean more than objects like "cup" -- they also mean abstract ideas like "mine."

• Baby talk at 3 years. By the time your baby is 3, his or her vocabulary expands rapidly, and "make-believe" play spurs an understanding of symbolic and abstract language like "now," feelings like "sad," and spatial concepts like "in."

Can You Teach Babies to Talk?

Babies understand what you're saying long before they can clearly speak. Many babies learning to talk use only one or two words at first, even when they understand 25 or more.

You can help your baby learn to talk if you:

• Watch. Your baby may reach both arms up to say she wants to be picked up, hand you a toy to say she wants to play, or push food off her plate to say she's had enough. Smile, make eye contact, and respond to encourage these early, nonverbal attempts at baby talk.

• Listen. Pay attention to your baby's cooing and babbling, and coo and babble those same sounds right back to your baby. Babies try to imitate sounds their parents are making and to vary pitch and tone to match the language heard around them. So be patient and give your baby lots of time to "talk" to you.

• Praise. Smile and applaud even the smallest or most confusing attempts at baby talk. Babies learn the power of speech by the reactions of adults around them.

• Imitate. Babies love to hear their parents' voices. And when parents talk to them it helps speech develop. The more you talk their "baby talk" with them, using short, simple but correct words, such as "dog" when your baby says "daw," the more babies will keep trying to talk.

• Elaborate. If your baby points to the table and makes noise, don't just give him more noodles. Instead, point to the noodles and say, "Do you want some more noodles? These noodles taste good with cheese, don't they?"

• Narrate. Talk about what you're doing as you wash, dress, feed, and change your baby -- "Let's put on these blue socks now" or "I'm cutting up your chicken for you" -- so your baby connects your speech to these objects and experiences.

• Hang in there. Even when you don't understand what your baby is saying, keep trying. Gently repeat back what you think is being said, and ask if that's right. Keep offering your loving attention so your baby feels rewarded for trying to talk.

• Let your child lead. During playtime, follow your child's attention and interests to show that communication is a two-way game of talking and listening, leading, and following.

• Play. Encourage children to play, pretend, and imagine out loud to develop verbal skills as they become toddlers.

• Read aloud. Lifelong readers come from young children who have plenty of fun, relaxing experiences of being read to out loud.

If You're Concerned About a Speech Delay

Watch for any sign of a major speech delay in your baby, and talk with your doctor if you sense there's a problem. A speech delay can happen for a number of reasons, but the earlier a speech problem in babies is diagnosed, the more time you'll have to correct it and help your child reach his or her full potential before school age. After consulting with your pediatrician, here are things to do to help with delayed speech:

• Have a hearing test done. As many as three out of 1,000 newborns have hearing loss, which can cause delayed speech development. Be sure to have your infant screened for hearing loss before leaving the hospital right after birth -- or by 1 month old at the latest. Give your baby a full hearing exam by 3 months of age if he or she doesn't pass the initial hearing screening.
• See a speech-language pathologist. A speech therapist can diagnose and treat specific speech, language, or voice disorders that delay speech. Treatment may include giving parents tips and games to improve speech problems in babies and improve a child's language skills.
• Consider developmental screening. Up to 17% of children in the U.S. have a developmental or behavioral disability such as autism, intellectual disability (also called mental retardation), or ADHD. Ask your baby's doctor about screening for these developmental problems, which can cause speech delays.

Baby Care Tips For First Time Mothers

It is not easy being a first time mother. First of all, you have no experience. Secondly, you are totally racked up with the experience of giving birth. In short, you are still reeling from the absolute unreality of the fact that you have now become a mother and have a little newborn baby who is completely dependent on you. What you need at this point of time are the right baby care tips. 

Most first time mothers take baby care tips from books and look them up on the Internet. However, you will get the best baby care tips from mother and grandmothers who have the experience of handling newborn babies. Centuries go by and there are many medical advancements, but nothing helps as much as some old fashioned native wisdom when it comes to handling babies. 

Elderly women or your friends who have had babies before can tell you everything that you need to know. So consult them but use your own brains too. Do not get intimidated just because you are a first time mother. Here are some baby care tips that you can use just in case you need some first hand knowledge. 

Motherhood can be a scary experience and these baby care tips will help you ride out the initial panic and make the happiest memories of those early days as 'mom'.

• Get Rid Of Fear Most women have never ever help a newborn baby in their lives. Your bundle of joy looks so tender and delicate that you are terrified of doing something wrong. Get rid of the fear and trust your natural maternal instincts; they can never be wrong.

• Hold The Baby Right Ask the nurses or doctors who come to attend you, to teach how to hold a newborn baby. The standard way to hold a newborn baby is to support your baby's neck with one arm and hold the legs with the other.  

• Feed Every Few Hours Feeding your baby the colostrum that your breasts secrete for the first 2 days after birth is very healthy. After that you must feed your baby every 2 or 3 hours. Newborn babies need to be fed regularly.
• Breast Feeding Positions You have to learn and choose the best breastfeeding position for yourself. There are four breastfeeding positions to choose from. You have to see in which one you and your baby are most comfortable.
• Keep Baby Warm Newborn babies like to stay warm and huddled up. This is because they are still used to the cozy feeling in the womb. So keep your baby wrapped up tightly and hold him/her as much as you can.
• Baby Burps You have to make your baby burp every time you feed him/her. Newborn babies are still not experts at feeding so they suck a lot air while drinking milk. This can lead to gas and abdominal discomfort. Make the baby burp after every feed.
• Baby Stool Your baby may pass watery stool on one day and normal on the other. There might be days when your baby does not pass any stool. During the first 3 months after birth, the baby's intestines are not fully developed. So don't get worked up about your baby's potty habits already.
  
  
• Newborn Babies Sleep A Lot Newborn babies sleep for 18 to 20 hours in a day. You need to wake them for feeding sometimes. But otherwise, allow your little one to sleep as much as he/she wants.

• Bathing The Baby Your baby may be expected to bathe for the first within a week of its birth. The best way to bathe a newborn baby is in a tub of lukewarm water. Hold your baby in the tub in a sitting position and splash a little.
  
  
• Ask For Help n Accept It As a new mother, you will still be recovering from the trauma of giving birth. So don't try to be a super mom and do everything yourself. Take help from your parents, in-laws and friends. It is always in the best interest of your baby and you as well.

Refer: 

• Newborn Baby Care
• Top 10 Baby Care Tips
• Breastfeeding Getting Started
• Bathing Your Baby
• Baby`s Daily Massage

First Bath OF Your Newborn Baby

Giving your baby her very first bath could be a frightening proposal for a new mom. Babies are slippery and should be carefully supported, which just leaves one hand to do the cleaning. Having everything you require within arm's reach before you get your baby will certainly make it less difficult.
You do not have to start with the conventional baby bath tub and a sturdy hold on your slimy cherub. Actually, you do not have to wash your newborn each day; even if your grandmother says that you have to. The American Academy of Pediatric medicines recommends sponge baths till the umbilical cord stump falls off.
Something that might shock you is that your newborn does not require a bath each day. It will certainly dry tender skin. Many times a week, yet not each day, is the recommendation of the Mayo Clinic. When you tidy up your baby after breast or bottle feeding, burps and diaper changes, you are in fact tending to the places that require it frequently.
There isn't a "good time" to wash your baby. You could feel free to do it when you want to do it. Morning or night, it is your decision. Lots of moms like to benefit from the soothing result of a cozy night bath, including the opportunity of a quiet night, with a tired, cozy baby.
It matters not if you do your sponge baths on a changing table or the kitchen table. What you require is a cozy space with a flat surface. You could also utilize a firm bed if that's the best location for you.
You could utilize a sink or fill a plastic basin with water, which needs to be warm and not too hot. Test it with your hands. It is very important to keep your baby warm and out of drafts with these very first baths. Helpful products to keep near your bath site are mild baby hair shampoo and moisturizing soap, cotton balls and baby wipes. Obviously a change of clothes and a clean diaper are necessary, too, yet you'll quickly learn that you won't go anywhere for more than a year without a clean diaper and baby wipes nearby. Lots of moms like those baby towels with a built in hood so they could dry their angel and snuggle for a minute prior to the clothing routine starts. You can also use a muslin swaddle blanket as a bath towel since they are super soft on a baby's skin and will absorb the water well.
Throughout the sponge bath, clean your baby's face with a damp, yet not leaking, washcloth. There is no need to utilize soap. Clean each eyelid from the inside corner to the outside with a damp cotton ball. Focus on creases on the arms, around the neck, behind the ears and the fingers and toes. Soap is not necessary, yet could be utilized if the baby's condition warrants it. To begin with, it would be a good concept to keep the baby wrapped up or covered with a cozy towel and just revea the parts you are cleaning.
Keep your baby tidy and cozy and your relationship with each other|various other will certainly start with smiles and snuggles.