By Dr. Neha Esmaeili
Department of Pediatrics

Congratulations and welcome to parenthood! Bringing a newborn child home from the hospital is an exciting time, but can also be challenging for a new parent. There’s a lot to do and even more to learn. Here’s some tips on how to make those first few days and weeks of newborn care a little easier, plus answers to common questions many parents of newborns have.

First, create a safe sleeping space

Newborn babies sleep between 14 and 17 hours a day. Research has shown that the safest sleep position for your baby is on their back in their own bassinet or crib. This can help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). In addition, the mattress your baby sleeps on should meet all Consumer Product Safety Commission safety standards. Your baby should sleep on a firm, flat surface that’s free of blankets, pillows, pads, bumpers, or toys. Babies need one extra layer of clothing than we do for warmth and comfort. You can swaddle your baby or use a sleep sack before positioning them on their back. You can learn more about safely swaddling your baby here.

Practice cue-based feeding

Whether breast feeding or formula feeding, most healthy, full-term newborn babies can be fed on demand and based on their hunger cues. Hearing your baby cry is a classic hunger cue, other signals include:

• Licking their lips or sticking their tongue out
• Moving their jaw, head or mouth around to seek milk
• Repeatedly putting their hands in their mouth
• Sucking on objects
• Fussiness or repeated restlessness

Expect your newborn to want to feed about every two to three hours. In the first two weeks of their life, feeding intervals should not exceed three hours. Newborn infants typically feed approximately 1-2 ounces per feed in the first week and can gradually increase to 2-3 ounces every two to three hours.

Changing time

You can expect your baby to wet five or more diapers in their first day or two at home. If you are breastfeeding your newborn, you might find they wet fewer diapers until your milk supply has come in fully. This is perfectly normal. After about three to five days, both breast-fed and bottle-fed babies will wet about eight diapers every 24 hours. So be sure to have plenty of diapers on hand when you bring your newborn home!

The first bowel movements (poop) from your newborn will typically be tarry, thick, and dark in color. This is known as meconium, which is the poop that accumulates before birth. As your baby starts to feed on breast milk or formula, their bowel movements will look different. They may be yellow, brown, or green. Please call your child’s doctor if they are black, red, or pale in color as this can indicate an underlying condition.

The umbilical cord

Your newborn will have a little stump of an umbilical cord when you bring them home. You can expect it to dry up and fall off within one to three weeks. Keep the umbilical stump clean and dry until it falls off. Do not give your baby a full bath submerged in water until it falls off and has dried.

When to call the doctor

Most new parents will have some questions and concerns about the care of their newborn. Your first visit with your pediatrician is the ideal time to go over these questions. You may want to write your questions down before your first appointment. In the first few days and weeks after you bring your baby home, it’s important to keep a close eye on their health. Always call your doctor right away if your baby shows any of these symptoms:

• Persistently blue skin tone
• Worsening signs of jaundice, such as yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes
• Frequent coughing or gagging while feeding
• Hardness in your baby’s belly, especially if they haven’t had a bowel movement in the last 24 hours
• Excessive crying, especially if you sense your baby is in pain
• Failure to wake up for feeding, or lack of interest in feeding
• Unusually fast breathing, flaring of nostrils, grunting while breathing, or ribs sticking out with each breath
• Fever of 100.4 F or 38 C (checked with a rectal thermometer)

Hopefully, everything will go smoothly after you bring your new baby home. However, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to call your pediatrician’s office. They’ll be glad to help you get through this exciting but often challenging time.