Parenting is a rewarding and challenging journey, and even though there is no manual on perfect parenting, there is a lot of advice out there that can help new parents navigate their way.
In this article, we've rounded up a few essential infant care tips for your first year of parenting.
Essential Vaccinations And Health Checks
While the pandemic has caused some controversy surrounding vaccines, infant vaccines have been an essential precaution for decades. Polio, measles & rubella, BCG, hepatitis B, pentavalent, rotavirus, and pneumococcal conjugate are just some of the vaccines that can safeguard your baby from severe health complications.
In addition to vaccinations, it's crucial to visit your healthcare practitioner at six weeks, ten weeks, fourteen weeks, nine months, and twelve months to monitor your baby's weight gain, growth, and other health factors.
Bottle And Pacifier Use And Sterilization
Whether you decide to breastfeed or use infant formula, you will need feeding bottles. When keeping baby bottles clean and sterile, boiling bottles in a large pot for five minutes or using a microwave sterilizer are suitable solutions. It's wise to also use an organic anti-bacterial solution as an extra precaution.
In addition to keeping bottles germ-free, sterilizing pacifiers is important in keeping your baby healthy. You can also sterilize pacifiers and teething toys in boiling water or a microwave sterilizer. When access to boiling water or a microwave is out of the question, you can use pacifier wipes to keep these infant essentials clean enough.
Different Burping Techniques
Burping a new baby is one of the most common yet less spoken-of new parenting challenges. This essential component of the feeding routine helps relieve gassiness that can cause discomfort and pain for your little one while also preventing reflux and spitting up.
No single burping technique works every time, so learning a few different methods is wise for new parents. Some suggest holding your baby's head just above shoulder level and gently patting the lower back until you hear your little one let out burps. Others recommend laying your baby over your leg and using one hand to support their head and the other to pat out burps.
The Safest Sleep Position
The safest way to let your newborn sleep is on their back. Even though there are tons of adorable baby bedding sets that come with pillows, a newborn should never sleep on a pillow, even if it is advertised as safe for infants.
Unfortunately, side and stomach-sleeping positions can lead to injury or even suffocation. With this, it's important to use start using cot cushion barriers as your baby learns how to roll over.
Soothing Techniques
Every new parent will find it tricky to soothe a crying baby at one point or another. Fortunately, there are so many different soothing techniques that can help, from swaddling and dream feeding to soothing music, pacifiers, and massage techniques. Just as with burping methods, knowing a variety of approaches to calm your little one is wise.
