Taking your newborn home
- Sister Elna
- Jan 6
- 5 min read
TAKING YOUR NEWBORN HOME
After the birth of your little one, you are filled with different emotions especially when you are discharged and heading home. You may feel overwhelmed with emotions, like excitement, fear and nervousness. These emotions are normal.
You can do the following things during your pregnancy to make this transition easier.
Attend childbirth classes which include topics like:
Baby feeding
Baby bath
Cord care
Caring for the BCG vaccination area
BCG vaccine after vaccination care
Nappy area care but also how many wet and dirty nappies per day
Baby sleep patterns
Baby and toddler sleep schedules and tips
Baby stress cues
How to calm your baby
First aid for infants
Your recovery
Pack your and your baby’s hospital bags in advance
What to pack:
Prepare the room and make sure there is enough of everything for the first few weeks. Make sure that your partner knows where everything is.
Preparing for baby
Freeze pre-cooked meals
Stock up on healthy snacks and healthy drinks (especially for breastfeeding mothers) for in-between meals
Make arrangements with someone who can assist you with household tasks for the period, while you are adapting to the new routine with your little one, especially while you are still recovering.
Know where to go if you need help and establish a support system
Familiarize yourself with the correct use of the baby car seat.
Arriving home:
Give yourself time to settle in and establish a new routine, that works for you, with the little one at home.
Trust your instincts. Do not try to be a superwoman, your health will not keep up with the pace.
Be gentle with yourself, listen to your body.
Bonding is essential and your baby needs frequent close contact.
Know that there may be fussy times during the day and that it is normal.
Accept help from friends and family. They can assist with meals, do some shopping for you, and assist with household chores, such as washing dishes. Your main responsibility is to care for your baby.
Rest when possible and make some time for yourself to take a shower or bath, read a book, sit outside, or enjoy something to drink.
When you feel up to it, take a walk with your baby.
Regulate visitors so that you and the baby do not get exhausted. Your baby can get overstimulated by all the people and sounds as well as being held by everyone.
Involve your partner in caring for your baby, for example: bath, nappy change, burping the baby etc.
Communication between you and your partner about your feelings and your up and down moments is very important. Do not judge but try to understand each other's feelings and find a way which works for your relationship.
Avoid sick people.
Prevent other people from kissing your baby especially on the face and hands to limit contact with germs.
It may feel like your baby sleeps more during the day and less at night but this will also change as they grow bigger and the feeding routine is more established. In the beginning, they do drink more often and gradually stretch the time in between feedings themselves and start to take longer sleep periods.
Plan your daily routine for example when to bath the baby. While planning your daily routine keep in mind your routine when you are going back to work, the time you need to leave for work, dropping and picking up your little one from daycare and arriving home after work. When doing so, it will not be necessary to change your schedule again.
It is no longer just for taking your handbag and keys and going with a little one. You need to plan and therefore it is advisable to keep a nappy bag packed and ready to go. The following needs to be in the back:
Extra nappies
Disposable nappy bags
Bum Cream
Baby wipes
Extra set of clothes (warm and cold)
Extra blankets
Waterless hand sanitiser
Emergency medicine
Food for the little one (especially when not breastfeeding):
Feeling confused about your baby’s cry does not make you a bad parent, you and your baby will be in tune. Understanding and learning your baby’s different cries will help you. The different baby cries:
Hunger
Tiredness and wanting to sleep
Overstimulated (too many people holding your baby, bright lights, noise, screens for example television, cellphone, laptop)
Understimulated (needs your company and interaction)
Pain (cramps or needs a burp)
Wet or dirty nappy
Loneliness
Scared
See the below articles regarding a baby’s cry that can assist you in understanding your baby when crying.
Dunstan baby language: what is it and does it work
https://www.healthline.com/health/baby/dunstan-baby-language
Different baby cries and what they mean
https://www.babycenter.com/baby/crying-colic/different-baby-cries_40009946
Coping strategies for mom:
Avoid becoming isolated; interact with your partner, friends and family.
Actively seek out other new mothers; support groups, postnatal care groups, and baby stimulation classes.
Ensure you receive as much as possible help around the house.
Take a few minutes a day just for yourself. Prepare a place where you can relax for example a quiet place outside, listening to the birds, admiring nature, or a place to sit and read.
Don’t suffer in silence, talk to your partner, friends, family, and healthcare worker.
Seek medical help early, for medical concerns about you or your baby or for your emotions. New moms often suffer from depression or anxiety.
Exercise regularly. Start slowly with a walk and as you recover you can increase your exercise. Contact a personal trainer or biokinetics to assist you with a program. Listen to your body and do not exhaust your body.
Father’s role:
Understand the mother's recovery period. The mother’s body recovers from childbirth and may experience pain, hormonal fluctuations, emotions that may go up and down, fatigue, learning to breastfeed, and adjusting to a new routine and life with a newborn.
Support your partner physically and emotionally.
Your partner needs your help to avoid overexerting herself.
Things which you can do for your partner:
Doing the heavy lifting and strenuous activities for her
Attend to her physical needs, ensure that your partner is eating healthy meals with healthy snacks in between and that she has enough water to drink.
When she is not feeding, take the newborn so that the mother can have a shower/bath, to care for herself and rest a bit.
Communication regarding your feelings is very important.
Support her emotionally, paying attention to what she asks and says and replies.
Share the load: Here are some ideas on how:
Bring the baby to the mother for feeding
Burp your baby after the feed
Change your baby’s nappy
Cuddle your baby often, also when he/she fusses or cry
Spend time with your baby
Be present for well-child visits
Give attention to the older children
Keep the refrigerator and cupboards well supplied with healthy, easy-to-prepare foods.
Take care of your baby when your partner is cooking
Feed the pets and clean up after them
Tidy up where you can
Do the laundry
Accept, recruit and organize household help and meals
Manage visitors
Heading out for the first time:
Plan ahead: time to get to your destination, different routes which you can follow in case there is a problem on the route.
Try to go out between the baby’s feeding times.
Leave plenty of time to get ready.
Dress yourself first, advisable to dress an extra layer for example a T-shirt, in case your baby spits up. That way you can take only the extra layer off before leaving.
Prepare your baby for the outing.
Remember your purse and the nappy bag (see point above regarding packing a nappy bag)
Put the bags in the car.
Put the baby in the car seat.
Head out and enjoy your outing.
The beginning as new parents may be overwhelming but at the end of the day enjoy your little one.
Reference:
The complete illustrated pregnancy companion; Robin Elise Weiss, L.C.C.E, C.D. (Dona) with dr Marcello Pietranton; M.D., F.A.C.O.G
The ICEA Guide to pregnancy and birth; International Childbirth Education Association
Your pregnancy week by week; Professor Lesley Regan
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