Newborn
Night shift. No clock-off.
Feed, nappy, temperature, sleep. Then again. The first weeks are small jobs done over and over. Safe sleep and the first fortnight sit here.
The first one to read
The first fortnight
Feed, nappy, temperature, sleep. Safe sleep in one place: back, firm, flat, face clear, same room as you.
Week one is smaller than you think
A healthy baby born at 37 weeks or later feeds on their cues, often every 2 to 3 hours, around 8 to 12 times a day. Your job is warmth, nappies, and telling someone if the face looks yellow or the cord stump goes red or sticky.
Open the toolkitBack, firm, clear, smoke-free
On the back, on a firm flat level mattress, face uncovered, with no pillow, doona or hat. A car seat is for the car, and if you smoke the risk stays even when you smoke outside, so Quitline is 137 848.
Open the toolkitSame room, own surface
Room-sharing on a separate safe surface for the first year, or at least six months, is linked with about half the SUDI risk. That is not the same as having the baby in your bed.
Open the toolkitThe cry, then your hands
Run the list: hungry, wants to suck, upset, tired, wet, too hot, or sick, and never shake a baby. If you are at the edge, put them down somewhere safe and walk out until you can come back.
Open the toolkitThere is no schedule yet
In the early months, follow the baby, not a clock you found online. At night, feed and straight back down beats a play session, and if you are angry, five minutes out of the room is a legitimate tool.
Open the toolkitYellow skin is a phone call
Yellow skin or eyes, a sleepy baby, a poor feed: get a nurse, midwife or doctor to look. Do not decide it is the mild kind because a relative had it.
Open the toolkitThe bath is a two-hand job
Water at 37 to 38 degrees, and the baby is never left, not even for the phone. Cold flush the tap if you use a sink, empty it when you are done, because they can drown in a few seconds of shallow water.
Open the toolkitYou are useful at the breast
Bring water, a snack and the baby, then take the baby back. You can settle better than she can sometimes because you do not smell of milk, and the breastfeeding helpline is 1800 686 268.
Open the toolkitFormula without the fairy dust
Ordinary cow's milk is not a baby milk until after 12 months. Stage 1 can be used through the first year, and the dearer tin is not the safer one.
Open the toolkitLeave the stump alone
Fold the nappy down so the stump can dry, and do not pull it off. If it is still there after two weeks, or the skin is red, hot, smelly or tender, see the GP or child health nurse.
Open the toolkitA hot baby under three months
From birth to three months, a fever is immediate care, GP or emergency, and you do not wait out the night. Do not give aspirin, and ibuprofen is not for babies under three months.
Open the toolkitAwake on the belly, asleep on the back
Start tummy time soon after birth, while they are awake, one to two minutes at first, building toward 10 to 15 minutes several times a day. The moment they sleep, they go onto their back.
Open the toolkitWeek one is smaller than you think
The first week is not a project plan. It is temperature, milk, nappies, and you noticing three things that should be said out loud.
Read itBack, firm, clear, smoke-free
Put the baby on their back. Then look at everything else in the cot and take most of it out. Safe sleep is a rule, not a look.
Read itSame room, own surface
Put the cot in your room. Not in the stylish nursery you painted at 30 weeks. In the room where you sleep.
Read itThe cry, then your hands
A crying baby is a checklist, then a decision about your own head. Do the checklist first so you are not soothing a baby who is simply hungry.
Read itThere is no schedule yet
Throw out the timetable for a while. A newborn is not late for anything.
Read itYellow skin is a phone call
Yellow is not a colour you rank at home. Newborn jaundice is very common. It is rarely serious.
Read itThe bath is a two-hand job
A bath is optional on a bad day. Drowning is not. If you are going to do it, do it like a person who has read the boring page.
Read itYou are useful at the breast
You do not need milk to be necessary. The breastfeeding page for partners is a list of jobs with your name on them.
Read itFormula without the fairy dust
If formula is the feed, buy the boring tin. The labels are built to make you feel careless. Raising Children is plainer than the marketing.
Read itLeave the stump alone
The stump looks worse than it is, and it is still not a thing you tug.
Read itA hot baby under three months
Learn the age cut-off before you need it. A baby from birth to three months with a fever needs immediate medical attention. GP or emergency.
Read itAwake on the belly, asleep on the back
Sleep on the back. Play on the belly. You can hold both rules in one afternoon.
Read it