You spent nine months taking care of your health so you would have a healthy newborn child. Now that he's been born, you realize how little you actually know; you may be wondering where you can find the most reliable infant care advice--your neighbor, whose children are all grown, your friend with a slightly older baby or your pediatrician. Listen to everyone, and when you have questions, ask the baby's doctor to make sure you're getting solid advice.
Significance
First-time parents reach out to different sources to learn how to take care of their new infant. Ask your doctors and nurses for advice before you and your baby are discharged because they are specialists in infant care and are able to give you the best information available. The neonatal nurses can show you how to pick up and hold your baby and how to feed and change her, suggests KidsHealth. Her pediatrician can tell you what to look for as you start taking on more parenting responsibility.
Safety
Your pediatrician should talk to you about safety for your baby. He will explain the need for baby-proofing your home, what sudden infant death syndrome is and how to reduce your baby's risk, the need for using an infant safety seat every time you transport your baby, the importance of never shaking your baby and why, as well as the importance of immunizations for your baby, writes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Function
Taking care of a newborn on your own is difficult and you need all the help you can get. While it looks like all your baby does is eat, sleep and give you messy diapers, she is actually learning. She's learning whether she can trust you to be consistent in providing care and attention and she's learning how to communicate with you, according to the CDC. Your baby's doctor can give you information you didn't know before, so you feel a little more comfortable when you go home with the baby.
Because she can't talk, you have to learn, quickly, how to decode her cries--which cry tells you she's hungry, which one tells you she wants your attention and which cry tells you she has gas, for instance. This is information the neonatal nurses can give to you--don't be afraid to ask.
Benefits
Your doctor is able to give you solid advice regarding your baby's health. He can explain, for instance, why you should isolate your baby from the public in the first weeks after he is born, why people should wash their hands before handling your baby and whether your pets should be kept away from him, writes BabyCenter.
Because you don't automatically know how to take care of your baby, you can turn to professionals to ask for tips and pointers. If you're planning to breastfeed your child, for instance, a lactation specialist can explain the process and show you how to position your baby. The specialist will also explain the pros and cons of breastfeeding over bottle feeding.
Considerations
All babies are different. Your baby may be more sensitive to stimulation, sound and light than your friend's baby, writes KidsHealth. Your pediatrician or pediatric nurse can explain this to you, as well as give you pointers on how to modify your care of your child.
The nurse can also explain about diapering basics, for instance, so you can prepare yourself for how to change your baby and how often she'll need a clean diaper. The nurse should also show you how to diaper your baby, from beginning to end, then watch as you diaper the baby yourself.
