A new mother has a lot of emotions and one of them is worry. You will worry about your baby eating, crying, sleeping and everything else. You will be excited but you may not feel confident about being a new parent and you will have many other emotions that are common to childbirth and the hormonal changes that you will be experiencing.
Some things you will know because of your motherly instincts. You will be getting plenty of advice from well meaning friends and family, but keep in mind that each child and family is different. What works for one mother may not work for another. What you will need to do is take the advice and use it to make your own decisions that will work for your family.
If this is your first baby you may not trust yourself to make the right decision all the time. Besides family and friends there are hundreds of baby books that supply all kinds of information about child development. You should absolutely ask your pediatrician about any health concerns you have, but when it comes to general topics there are lots of places to get information.
The most basic concerns that mothers should be focusing on especially on their baby's first couple of weeks are feeding and sleeping. Your new baby will sleep a lot of the time and wake for feedings at first. Formula or breast milk will supply your infant with all the nutrients he/she needs. You will however need to measure and properly prepare the formula.
For your baby's comfort you need to be sure that you take time and properly burp your baby. This one oversight alone can cause your baby to cry and lose a lot of sleep. Often times a baby may not burp right away, but it is essential that you keep trying. When it is feeding time for infants, give the baby an ounce or two then burp. If your baby is not crying for more right away, take a break for a diaper change and talk to and play with baby. This time will usually last no longer than about 20 minutes then it will be time to finish the feeding. If you are breastfeeding your baby do this when you have finished feeding from one side.
While you are playing with and before you start feeding again, try to burp the baby. You should always use a burp cloth or something else because babies will most likely spit up a little when they burp. This is perfectly normal and breastfed babies may be more difficult to burp. If your baby is spitting up more than about a tablespoon of formula with each burp, or is projectile vomiting a simple change of formula could be all that is needed. However, this is something you want to call the doctor about right away. Do not change formulas without talking to your pediatrician.
At first your new baby will need to be fed every two to four hours. It is important that you realize if the baby cries in between feedings there could be problems. It could be that the baby needs to be burped or just needs to shift positions. You will be able to tell the difference in your baby's cries and will know when they are in pain from a gas bubble. Remember that a baby's stomach is about the size of their fist, so do not over feed them; this will cause discomfort and could cause them to spit up a lot. Taking time to properly burp your baby will help them sleep better also.
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