Fifty toolkits, from the positive test to the end of the toddler years. The first lines are free. The rest opens with an email. Facts checked against Australian health pages, then rewritten. Not a copy, and not a diagnosis.
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Pregnancy
Free · Pregnancy
When she tells you
You do not have to feel one clean thing. If you are waiting on a scan before you celebrate, say that, or she will hear your quiet as a no.
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There is no correct feeling when she tells you. Joy is allowed. So is numb, shocked, or slow to arrive. It may not feel real until the baby is here and the care is in your hands. If it was unplanned, or you are no longer together, the feelings can be rough and you can still parent. Talk to her, a mate, or your GP. Lifeline is 131 114. MensLine is 1300 789 978. Agree who hears the news, and when. Many couples wait until the second trimester, after the 12 week scan, because miscarriage is less likely then. Some wait for the 20 week scan. If you are holding the party for a scan, say you are happy and you want the checks first. Silence reads as distance.
If money, work or the sheer amount to learn is sitting on your chest, say the actual thing. A drink or a cigarette as the pressure valve makes the next argument worse, not smaller.
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Money, work, the relationship and the amount to learn can land at once. Stress you think you are hiding still leaks. You get short. You argue. Drink, drugs or smoking as the pressure valve often increase, and so do the fights. Her stress can follow yours, and a heavy load on her can affect the baby before and after birth. Name the actual problem. If it is money, ask another parent and check parenting payments. Eat, move, rest, and keep one thing you enjoy. Classes shrink the unknown. If you are not coping or you are getting angry, see your GP. Lifeline is 131 114. MensLine is 1300 789 978. Violence is never acceptable. 1800RESPECT is 1800 737 732. No to Violence is 1300 766 491.
Feeling flat, down or snappy in pregnancy is common for fathers. If it lasts more than two weeks and it is wrecking ordinary days, that can be antenatal depression, and the first call is your GP.
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Flat, down or irritable is common for fathers in pregnancy. Depression is when changes last more than two weeks and block daily life. Before birth it is antenatal. After, it is postnatal. Same signs. Sad, guilty, angry, cut off, or the old pleasures gone. Sleep and appetite swing. You cannot concentrate. You think you cannot cope, or you think about death. You hide at work, get aggressive, or use drink or drugs. Anxiety often comes too, with a racing heart and constant worry. See your GP. PANDA is 1300 726 306. MensLine is 1300 789 978. ForWhen is 1300 242 322. If you might hurt yourself or your family, call Lifeline on 131 114. If a life is in danger, call 000. If she is depressed, you are more likely to be as well.
The first move after a positive test is a GP visit, not a cot. Write her questions down between visits or they vanish in the waiting room.
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Antenatal visits are how a midwife or doctor watches her and the baby and catches trouble early. She can ask about labour, birth and the first weeks, and get help to stop smoking or drinking. Some tests only make sense in certain weeks. Start with a GP, who orders routine tests, checks her health, refers her, and helps book the birth place. Public hospital, shared care, birth centre, private rooms or a homebirth midwife are different paths. Know which phone number is yours. They check dates, history, mood, medicines, blood pressure, urine and growth. Later they cover movements, pain relief, feeding and going home. Write questions down between visits. If there is violence at home, public antenatal care usually asks. The first visit sets a plan. The plan can change.
Expect at least two routine ultrasounds, around 11 to 13 weeks and again around 18 to 20. You do not have to pretend a result is nothing if the room goes quiet.
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Most women are offered two routine ultrasounds, at 11 to 13 weeks and at 18 to 20 weeks. Extra scans cover bleeding, pain, unclear dates, growth worries, twins, an overdue baby, or a past pregnancy that went badly. She has to agree. Ask what a test is for. Early bloods look at blood type, rubella immunity, anaemia, HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis. Rh negative women are offered Anti-D around 26 to 28 weeks and again around 34 to 36 weeks, plus after birth if the baby is Rh positive. A glucose test for gestational diabetes is routine around 24 to 28 weeks if she does not already have diabetes. The first urine test looks for infection with no symptoms. Decide how you will handle a hard result before you are in the waiting room.
Morning sickness is not only mornings, and it is common. If she cannot keep food or fluid down, or there is blood in the vomit, she needs a midwife or doctor now, not a cracker strategy.
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Nausea, dry retching and vomiting often peak from 6 to 12 weeks and start to ease by about 14 weeks. Some women have it longer. About two thirds of pregnant women get it, and it is usually not harmful. It is not only a morning problem. Small bland snacks before she is hungry, and cold drinks little and often, beat one perfect meal. Ginger, vitamin B6 or an antihistamine still needs a GP or pharmacist to say it is safe in pregnancy. Call a midwife or doctor if she cannot keep fluid down, there is blood in the vomit, or she is drying out. About 2 to 3 in 100 women get hyperemesis, which is not ordinary morning sickness. If the strain on her mood runs past two weeks, that is a GP visit too.
From 24 weeks, a quiet baby for a few hours while she is awake is a phone call, not a wait until morning. Movements do not politely stop because labour is near.
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Most women feel movement between 16 and 24 weeks. Kicks usually get stronger, and they do not fade just because birth is close. From about 28 weeks the pattern tends to stay this baby's pattern. Learn it. Strong movement at the usual times is the reassuring sign. From 24 weeks, call the midwife, doctor or maternity hospital immediately if she has not felt movement for a few hours while awake, if the pattern changes, or if something feels wrong. Side sleeping from 28 weeks lowers stillbirth risk. Either side. Pillows between the knees and behind the back help. If she wakes on her back, she rolls back to her side. You can set the pillows up, and you can make the call instead of bargaining with the clock.
If the pregnancy is uncomplicated, the target on the page is at least two and a half hours of moderate movement a week. You can take the long way with her, and you do not sign her up for a contact sport.
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If she is healthy and the pregnancy is uncomplicated, regular movement is treated as safe, and the recommendation is at least two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week. That can look like 30 minutes on five days. If she already trained, she can usually keep moderate work. If she did not, she builds from light. Walking is the easy one. Swimming and stationary cycling support her weight. Strength work is fine if she is not flat on her back, on at least two days a week. Pelvic floor exercises get a mention for bladder control in pregnancy and after. She should ask the midwife or doctor before a new class, and tell the instructor she is pregnant.
If you are trying, or she is pregnant, the safest line is no alcohol for her. There is no safe level in pregnancy, and some drinks labelled zero still have a little in them, so read the label.
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If you are trying for a baby, the picture guide says both of you should avoid alcohol. Once she is pregnant, the safest choice is none. There is no safe level. Drinking in pregnancy raises the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and serious problems for the baby, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. It can also raise her own risk of health problems in pregnancy. The same safest none applies while breastfeeding, because alcohol goes into the milk and can affect development. Water, milk, herbal tea and non-alcoholic wine or beer are the swaps, but some non-alcoholic drinks still contain a little alcohol, so read the label. If the drink was how she handled stress, a walk, a bath or a massage is the replacement, not a smaller glass.
If you smoke or vape, the baby still gets it from what you breathe out and from what sits on your clothes. Quitline is 137 848, and until you stop, do it outside, never in the car, and wash up after.
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Keeping the baby's world free of smoke and vapour is one of the most useful things either of you can do, in pregnancy and after. Quitline is 137 848, and a GP or counsellor can point at a program. If you have not stopped, go outside and away from people, never smoke or vape in the car, cover hair and clothes, then wash your hands and brush your teeth. Ask other smokers in the house to keep it out of the home, the car, and anywhere near her. If you keep going, it is harder for her to quit and easier for her to start again after the birth.
You can still buy the food she is not allergic to, including peanuts and eggs. The traps are chilled ready-to-eat food, soft cheese, raw egg, undercooked meat, and fish like swordfish, flake and marlin.
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The daily picture is 2 serves of fruit, 5 of vegetables, about 2 and a half of dairy or alternatives, 8 and a half of grains, and 3 and a half of lean meat, nuts and legumes. Variety and water matter, and supplements such as folic acid and iodine are a midwife or doctor decision, not a shelf decision. Foods she is not allergic to, including peanuts and eggs, do not have to leave the house. Calcium can come from low-fat milk, yoghurt, hard cheese and fortified soy. Protein from lean meat, cooked eggs, salmon or tuna, beans, nuts, lentils, chickpeas and tofu. Iron shows up in lean red meat and canned tuna. Iron and folate show up in beans, leafy greens, tofu, fortified cereal, whole grains and nuts.
Less movement, a blow to her belly, heavy pain, bleeding, a headache that will not quit, sudden swelling or blurred vision means you call the midwife, doctor or hospital now. healthdirect is 1800 022 222, and if it is an emergency, call 000.
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healthdirect says many pregnancy changes are ordinary, and some are not. If it feels wrong, get it checked. Call the doctor or midwife straight away for less baby movement, a belly injury, severe abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, blurred vision, sudden swelling, or a bad headache that simple pain medicine does not shift. At any stage, also call immediately for severe nausea or vomiting, fluid leaking from the vagina, fever or chills, breathlessness or a racing heart, or pain or swelling in one leg. A fall, a car accident, or a blow to the stomach, including from family violence, is an immediate call. Before 20 weeks, severe low abdominal cramps or pain in the tip of one shoulder, especially with bleeding, plus dizziness or fainting, are immediate too.
Antenatal classes are for you as well, not a women-only club you drop her at. Go, ask the dumb question, and book early because the useful ones fill.
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Antenatal classes cover labour stages, pain relief, and what a support person actually does. Many also cover the first months, settling, feeding, bonding, and how a new parent looks after himself. You can clear up clashing advice, see how this hospital works, and meet other people due at the same time. Online research from overseas will not match Australian care, so a local class beats another tab. Classes exist for partners and birth support people, not only for the pregnant woman. They are also where you and she start talking about what you each want from the birth. Choose size, face to face or online, who the class is for, weeknights or weekends, and whether you want extras like water birth.
Pack around 32 weeks, not when the contractions are already timing themselves. Your bits are snacks, clothes, a charger, petrol, the night entrance, and a rear-facing car seat for the trip home.
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Pack a hospital bag at about 32 weeks, including for a planned homebirth in case you transfer. Her list includes the pregnancy record, loose clothes, warm socks, lip balm, a water bottle, snacks, toiletries, maternity pads, pyjamas, and baby basics such as nappies, singlets and wraps. Ask the hospital what they already supply before you pack the entire nursery. Your own snacks, comfortable clothes and a phone charger belong in the bag, because labour can run a very long time. Plan the route, the time, the parking cost, the night entrance, petrol, and who has the other children. Call the hospital before you leave so they know you are coming. If labour is fast, or you are worried about her or the baby, call 000.
Ask now whether she wants encouragement, silence, a hand, or a count of breaths. If a midwife suggests something unplanned and it is not an emergency, you ask for a moment so she can consent.
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Talk through her birth plan before labour. Clothes, who is there, pain, procedures she wants to avoid, who cuts the cord, and whether she wants words, a hand, or quiet. The plan is a guide. The baby can have other ideas, and so can the day. Learn the stages so you do not race to hospital at the first twinge, and visit the room if you can. In a vaginal birth your job is steady encouragement, practical help with position, breath and massage, and speaking for her if she cannot. She may be blunt and change her mind. Do not take it personally. If staff suggest an unplanned procedure and it is not an emergency, ask for information and time for her to consent. Stay polite.
Before the baby, agree who does baths, nights, cooking and bills, and what going back to work means. If you are arguing more, dodging the talk, or feeling cut off, get help while you can still finish a sentence.
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Pregnancy is a run of big changes, and the relationship holds them better if you work on it now. Talk about feelings, sex and intimacy, who bathes and settles the baby, unpaid housework, paid work, and what kind of parents you want to be. Also talk classes, the house, money, leave, and whether child care is even on the table. Listening, solving a problem without scoring, taking a timeout in a fight, and letting each other be different are skills, not moods. Use the months for ordinary time you will not have later. Sleep in. Eat out. See your people. More arguments, avoided talks, anger or a dead patch are a reason to get help, not a reason to wait for the birth to fix it.
Call for contractions that last a minute or more, come regularly, and are getting stronger and closer. If it might be labour before 37 weeks, or the waters go, call even if contractions have not started.
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A baby at 37 weeks or more is term. Before that, at 36 weeks and 6 days or earlier, is premature. If labour might be starting early, call the midwife, doctor or hospital now. Few babies arrive on the due date. If you reach 41 weeks, checks get more frequent and you will talk about overdue options. Before labour, she may have a show, more pelvic pressure, period-like cramps, more Braxton Hicks, or waters that leak or gush. Phone if the waters go. Labour itself is contractions lasting a minute or more, at regular intervals, getting stronger, longer and closer. Call straight away. The hospital tells you when to come in.
Ask in pregnancy, not between contractions, what this hospital actually offers. Breathing, heat, massage, water, movement and a TENS machine sit next to gas, morphine and an epidural, and birth centre lists are shorter.
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Labour pain is normal and it varies. She may cope, or she may want or need relief. Preferences get said in pregnancy, with benefits, side effects and complications on the table. Once labour starts she may need to take a suggestion she did not plan. Stage of labour and her health change the menu. Non-medical options named on the page include breath and relaxation, heat, massage, shower or bath, movement, standing or leaning, a birth ball, a TENS machine, and sterile water injections. Dimmer light, music, and a shut door are pain relief too. You can run that room. A steady support person helps pain, helps labour move, and lowers the chance of interventions.
Continuous, calm support helps labour along and makes interventions less likely, while a crowd can slow it. Ask how many people the room allows, because two is often the comfortable maximum, and your food is your problem.
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Support people should be trusted, prepared, willing, and easy for her to have nearby. Partner, family, friend, doula. From the start, continuous comforting support helps labour progress and reduces interventions. Too many people can distract her and slow labour. Talk to the midwife about more than a few. Some hospitals and birth centres cap numbers. Rooms often do not comfortably hold more than two support people. Ask. Brief them on the birth plan before the day so they know the job. For a caesarean with spinal or epidural, a partner is usually encouraged in. A general anaesthetic may mean you cannot stay. The hospital does not feed you. Bring food or buy it. Check fridge rules. An overnight bed for you is a question, not a promise.
The cut is about 10 cm, and once the anaesthetic is working she may feel tugging, not pain. You can usually stay for a spinal or epidural, you ask if she cannot, and skin to skin can still happen, including on you.
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A caesarean is birth through an operation. Staff prepare her with a shave, antiseptic, usually a spinal or epidural, sometimes a general anaesthetic, a drip, and a urinary catheter. If she is anxious, you ask for information. In theatre you may see an obstetrician, an assistant, an anaesthetist, nurses, a midwife and often a paediatrician. A support person is usually allowed in with a spinal or epidural. The cut through tummy and uterus is about 10 cm. She may feel pulling, not pain. Forceps are sometimes used on the head. Delayed cord clamping can still be done. Then the placenta. She is offered medicine so the uterus contracts, and antibiotics through the drip. The layers are stitched and dressed.
A planned caesarean can be for a medical reason, a sign that vaginal birth looks risky, or a personal choice. An unplanned one is for a problem in labour, and neither needs your hot take in the corridor.
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A caesarean is birth by operation, also called a c-section. Planned, sometimes called elective, can be for medical reasons, or because late pregnancy suggests a vaginal birth may go badly for her or the baby. It can also be planned for personal reasons. Unplanned caesareans happen when her health or the baby's health becomes a problem during labour. People call these emergency caesareans. Emergency here means unplanned. It does not, by itself, tell you how many minutes you have. The clinicians do. Your job is to follow what they tell you, stay with her if you are allowed, and drop the debate about whether it was necessary. Questions about safety and risk belong with the midwife or obstetrician before a planned date, and in the moment if it turns.
If she and the baby are well, skin to skin with her in that first hour helps warmth, heart rate, breathing, blood sugar, protective bacteria, bonding and feeding. Your hand on the baby is enough, so tell the family to wait.
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What happens straight after birth depends on how the baby arrived and whether both are well. Agree in pregnancy how you want the first hours to go. Skin to skin with her, rest, help with breastfeeding, or help with a bottle if breastfeeding is not possible, are the sorts of things to decide ahead. Also decide when family hears, and when they visit. In the first hour, skin to skin helps warmth, heart rate, breathing, blood sugar, protective bacteria, bonding and breastfeeding. Best on the mother. You can put a hand on the baby. If she cannot do skin to skin, the baby may be able to do it with you. You can bring the baby to her for feeds, deal with visitors, and let her recover instead of hosting.
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.
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The world is louder and less stable than the womb. Warmth, cuddles and a calm voice help. A cone-shaped head from the birth canal or a vacuum should round out in the first week. Face swelling settles in days. Bruising raises jaundice risk, so yellow skin gets told to a midwife, GP or child health nurse. The cord stump dries, goes black and usually drops off within 10 days. Keep it clean and dry. Red or sticky skin around it needs a clinician. Birthmarks are common. A changing one gets checked. Swollen breasts or a milky discharge can happen and usually fade in weeks. Jerky movements in sleep are typical. Tight fists and a startle at noise are too.
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.
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The baby has to breathe easily, which means open airways. A safe sleep setup cuts the risk of SUDI, including SIDS and fatal sleep accidents. The surface must be firm, flat and level. A cot, portacot, bassinet, baby box, pepi-pod or co-sleeper that meets the 2024 infant sleep product standard, with a firm mattress and a tight sheet. Unsafe means soft, curved, inclined or unstable. That includes sheepskin, couches, pillows, beanbags, prams, slings and swings used for sleep, and car seats. Car seats save lives in a crash and are a poor bed. On a long drive, watch breathing and take breaks.
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.
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Room-sharing means the baby sleeps on their own safe surface in your room. A safe cot, portacot, bassinet, baby box or pepi-pod. It is not co-sleeping. Co-sleeping means the same surface as another person. Doing this for the first year, or at least the first six months, has been shown to halve the risk of SUDI, including SIDS and fatal sleep accidents. The reason given is that airway reflexes, swallowing, stirring, waking, work better when you are close. You also get to night feeds faster, and you learn the cues. The surface rules do not relax because you are nearby. Back, firm, flat, level, clear space. A monitor in another room is not this. Proximity is the point.
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.
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Hungry means offer a breast or bottle, or a suck. Newborns can have a dummy. Older babies can find their fingers. Upset means hold, rock, walk, talk or sing, and drop the light and noise. Tired babies yawn or jerk. Put them in a safe sleep place. Wrapping can help until they show signs of rolling, around 3 to 4 months. A wet nappy gets changed. Rash means clean water, pat dry, barrier cream. Wind means upright, pat the back. Check heat and clothes. Temperature around 37 degrees is the normal they name. A fever at 0 to 3 months needs immediate medical care. An older baby with fever plus other illness signs needs a GP. Never shake a baby. It can cause permanent brain damage, disability or death.
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.
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In the first months, flexibility beats a routine. Cues tell you whether the baby wants sleep, food or a face. A simple loop is feed when they wake, nappy, a bit of talk and play, then back down. Drop the play at night. If they are tired before the play happens, skip to sleep. If they are hungry after play, feed again. A full stomach helps sleep. Crying means check sick, hurt or uncomfortable first. If they fed in the last two hours and they are not sick, cuddle them, head near your chest. Newborns often need help to settle. Responsive settling is the name of that help.
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.
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Newborn jaundice is very common and rarely serious, and every case should still be checked and watched by a nurse, midwife or doctor. Signs are yellowish skin, yellowish eyes, drowsiness and trouble feeding. Colour usually starts at the face and head and can spread. Some jaundice from birth bruising, or from delayed cord clamping, needs monitoring and often settles over 1 to 2 weeks without a hospital stay. See a GP if the baby is unwell, feeding poorly and not gaining, has pale poo or dark wee, or looks jaundiced. Staff may use a meter on the skin or a heel prick to measure bilirubin. Treatment depends on cause and severity. Phototherapy is one path. Extra feeds can be needed because of fluid loss.
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.
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Use only enough warm water to wash. Do not add more while the baby is in. If the bath is a sink, run cold through the tap before you turn it off. Safe temperature is 37 to 38 degrees. Wrist or elbow if you have no thermometer. Warm, not hot. Wipe eyes from inner to outer with clean cotton each time, then the face. Nothing in ears or nose. Support head and shoulders, lower feet first, and keep hold the whole time. Wash neck and body creases, then genitals and bottom last, front to back. Hair once or twice a week is enough, no shampoo required. Never leave them, even in a bath seat. Not with an older child watching. If the phone goes, take the baby out.
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.
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If feeding is hard, encourage her to a midwife, child health nurse, GP or lactation consultant. Offer to go with her. The Australian Breastfeeding Association helpline is 1800 686 268. With support, most women can sort problems and make the milk the baby needs. Your backing helps. You still bond. Sling, hold, skin to skin, bath, massage, a walk between feeds. You may be better at settling, because the smell of milk makes the baby search for her instead of calming. Burp, nappy, and bring the baby to her in bed for night feeds, then settle them back, even if you only do some of the nights. Housework, food and keeping visitors busy are the feed. Patience about sex belongs here too. She is tired.
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.
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Formula is modified cow's milk with vitamins, minerals and fats added. It is not the milk in the fridge. Ordinary cow's milk has too much protein for babies to digest well. It is not the main drink before 12 months. Most healthy full-term babies on formula are recommended cow's milk-based formula until 12 months. Other milks start with a doctor or nurse. Stage 1 can be used from birth to 12 months. Stage 2 from 6 months is optional and not better. Formula sold in Australia has to meet strict standards. Extras and a higher price are not required. The hospital brand is not the best by default. Powder and ready-to-drink both work. Ready-to-drink usually costs more.
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.
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The stump is what is left after the cord is clamped and cut. It darkens, shrivels and falls off, clamp included, sometimes in 1 to 2 weeks. A little ooze, clear, sticky or brown, and a slight smell, can be part of healing and may mark the nappy. If it has not fallen off after more than 2 weeks, or the skin is red, badly smelly, warm or tender, see a GP or child health nurse. Sticky liquid days after it drops, or a hot, red, swollen belly button, or a lethargic baby, means a GP soon. Fever means emergency. Wash hands. Clean with water and a cloth or cotton. Mild cleanser is allowed. No antiseptic, alcohol wipes or creams. Pat dry.
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.
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A weak immune system plus a fever, at any age, needs immediate care. Age 0 to 3 months with a fever needs immediate care, GP or emergency. Over 3 months, see a GP if the fever has lasted two days or more, breathing is hard, they are drowsy, fluids are down, the neck is stiff, light hurts, they vomit, there is a rash, a seizure, or pain that does not ease. If those signs are severe, or they worsen fast, or breathing is very hard, or they are unresponsive, call 000. Offer drinks. Paracetamol if the fever makes them miserable, at the dose on the packet. Ibuprofen only after 3 months. If they seem all right, they do not need medicine. Medicine does not cure the infection.
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.
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Tummy time is weight on the forearms. It builds head, neck and upper body strength, and it should happen often. Start soon after birth. In the first weeks, 1 to 2 minutes. Build toward 10 to 15 minutes, several times a day. Sleep is on the back. All that back-sleeping can flatten the head. Tummy time, awake, helps prevent the flat spot. Put safe toys close and move them so the baby lifts and turns. Get on the floor. A board book works. A non-breakable mirror works. Talk, sing, stroke the back. If the floor is hated, try your chest, your lap, or a rolled towel. Stay there. As they get stronger, clear the dangerous stuff out of reach.
Not before 4 months, and around 6 months if they can sit with support, hold their head, and open for the spoon. Start with 1 to 2 teaspoons once a day, after a milk feed, not instead of it.
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By about 6 months, iron stores from pregnancy are running down, so iron-rich solids join breastmilk or formula. Milk stays the main drink well past the first tastes. Ready looks like head and neck control, sitting upright when supported, interest in your plate, reaching, and opening the mouth for a spoon. Most babies show this around 6 months. Do not start before 4 months. If you are nearing 7 months with no solids, ask the child health nurse or GP. Offer food when you are both calm, often after a milk feed so they are not frantic. Begin with 1 to 2 teaspoons once a day. They may barely swallow. By 12 months, aim for about 3 small meals plus breastmilk or formula.
At 2 to 3 months, many babies still sleep 14 to 17 hours in a day, in short cycles, and wake between them. By the first birthday, 11 to 14 hours is a common total, and a content baby who is awake is not a baby you must knock out.
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Sleep needs differ. Mood is the guide. Wakeful and grizzly may mean more sleep. Wakeful and content may mean enough. At 2 to 3 months, most babies sleep 14 to 17 hours in 24, in cycles of about 50 to 60 minutes, and often need help to start the next one. Around 3 months, night and day start to split. Some manage a 4 to 5 hour block at night. From 3 to 6 months, most sleep 12 to 15 hours, often 2 or 3 day sleeps up to 2 hours, and you should still expect at least one night wake. Some do a 6 hour night stretch by 6 months.
Teeth often arrive between 6 and 10 months, sometimes from 3 months and sometimes near 12, and a fever or diarrhoea is not something you blame on a tooth. If they are unwell, see a GP, and clean the first tooth with water only until 18 months unless a dentist says otherwise.
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Baby teeth are already in the gums at birth, a set of 20. Most appear between 6 and 10 months. Some at 3 months, some near 12 months. A full set by about 3 years is typical. Lower front teeth often lead, then upper front, then molars, canines and second molars. Order can vary. Teething can be sore. Rubbing gums is common. Irritability, poorer feeding, chewing, messier nappies and ear pulling might be teething or might be illness. Fever or diarrhoea means a GP, not a teething story. Try a clean finger on the gum, a toothbrush, a dummy, or a cold teething ring that is not frozen. Mushy food. A sugar-free rusk. Gels are usually not recommended and can be harmful if the dose is wrong.
Birth is a hepatitis B injection, and around 6 to 8 weeks there are two injections plus a rotavirus dose they swallow. You can be the chest they cry on, and you write the date before you leave the clinic.
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Immunisation protects the child and slows spread. Some diseases are rare here because of the program, and they come back if people stop. The National Immunisation Program funds protection against 13 diseases for children 0 to 4, plus flu vaccine each year from 6 months up to 5 years. At birth, one injection, hepatitis B. At 6 to 8 weeks, three doses. One injection covers hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib and polio. A second injection is pneumococcal. Rotavirus is a liquid they swallow, and that first dose has to be given at 6 to 14 weeks. At 4 months the same three again. The rotavirus dose must be given at 10 to 24 weeks. At 6 months, one injection for hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib and polio.
Clinging from about 6 or 7 months is common, and it often peaks around 14 to 18 months. Say you are going and say you will be back, because sneaking out makes the next goodbye worse.
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Separation anxiety is fear of being apart from a parent. Crying and clinging are the usual shape. It is a normal part of development. It can start at 6 to 7 months and peak at 14 to 18 months, then ease through early childhood. Fear of strangers is the cousin of it. Both make sense once a baby can move and could wander off. Do not organise life to avoid every goodbye. Short separations, then longer. In a new place, stay with them first. A familiar object from home helps. Tell the carer what you are doing. Say you are leaving and when you will return, even to a baby. A brief goodbye. A calm face. Settle them into something they like, then go.
Supervision beats a cupboard lock, because they will still fall, and next month they will climb to a hazard you fixed last month. Keep them away from hot drinks, heaters and the bath you forgot to empty.
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Child-proofing lowers risk. It does not replace you watching them. The house was built for adults. As they learn to climb and open, new hazards show up. You redo the check. Also give them somewhere interesting to play, or they will go looking in the cupboard you care about. Baby gear should meet Australian or Australian and New Zealand standards. That includes the cot, the pram, the carrier. Burns and scalds come from barbecues, fires, heaters, hot surfaces, hot drinks and hot food. Distance is the fix. Bath water temperature is its own hazard. Empty it. A locked cupboard is not a babysitter. You still have to be in the room when the risk is real.
Current guidelines, as Raising Children states them, say children under 2 do not have screen time except video chat. A parked baby in front of your phone is the thing the line is about.
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Screens are part of life later. Under 2, the guideline quoted on the page is no screen time other than video chat. That includes the TV, the tablet and your phone held in their face. Video chat with a grandparent is the exception they name, not a cartoon. From 2 years upward the same site talks about balance, quality and sleep. Do not drag that advice backwards onto a baby. Your own phone at the table teaches the habit early. Park it. If a screen is the only way you cope for ten minutes, be honest about it and do not call it educational. Healthy use later means movement, sleep, people and hobbies still exist around the screen. The under 2 rule is stricter than that.
If it is smaller than a 20 cent coin, it can block an airway, so they sit to eat and you sit with them. Whole nuts wait until 4, and grapes and sausages get cut lengthways into quarters.
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Anything smaller than a 20 cent coin is a choking hazard. So are plenty of foods that are larger until they are cut. They eat sitting, not walking, not lying down, not crying. You sit with them so they do not get up and run. No bottle in the cot. A baby who falls asleep on one can draw liquid into the lungs. Until they chew well, pieces no bigger than a pea. Cut grapes, cherry tomatoes and sausages lengthways, then into quarters. No whole nuts, seeds or similar hard foods until 4. Take bones and pips out. Cook, grate or mash hard carrot and apple. Peel grapes and stone fruit. Do not hand food to a crying child.
From birth to at least 6 months they must be in a rear-facing seat with an inbuilt harness, and that is the legal minimum, not a suggestion. Fit it before the birth, because capsules are outgrown fast and hiring one is a normal plan.
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In Australia, children must use a child car seat until they are 7. The right seat is about size as well as age. Staying in the most protective seat that still fits is safer than moving up because they look big. From birth to at least 6 months the legal minimum is a rear-facing seat with an inbuilt harness. A capsule, or a convertible seat set rear facing. Capsules are outgrown quickly. Hiring can make more sense than buying. Sort it before the baby is born. From 6 months up to 4 years the minimum is a rear-facing or forward-facing seat, both with an inbuilt harness. An extended rear-facing seat can be used until about 2 to 3 years. Longer rear facing is a thing you can choose.
If they are near water, you are within arm's reach, including the bath, because drowning is quiet. Under fives die in pools, baths, buckets and dams, so empty the bath, and a swimming lesson does not replace you.
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Water safety is supervision. You can see them and you can reach them, at the beach, the pool, the dam, the bath. Glancing up from your phone, watching from indoors, or leaving an older child in charge is not supervision. Drowning is a leading cause of death for children under 5. For every child who dies, about 7 more are hospitalised after a near-drowning, sometimes with severe brain injury. Babies and toddlers are top heavy. Shallow water can be enough, because they cannot always push themselves out. It is quick and often silent. Under 5s drown in pools, baths, spas, rivers, the sea, dams, and also in nappy buckets, tanks, ponds and pet bowls. Most deaths are a child wandering into water, often a backyard pool. A few centimetres is enough.
Tantrums are common from 1 to 3, so keep them safe, name the feeling in a low voice, and stay close. Do not argue with a child who has left the building, and do not shop when they are hungry and tired.
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A tantrum can be screaming, a stiff or arched body, kicking, dropping, running off. Some children hold their breath, vomit, break things or hurt someone. They are common from 1 to 3 because language and self-control are unfinished. The child wants to do it themselves and cannot always say so. Temperament, hunger, tiredness, too much noise, fear and shame all make one more likely. Name feelings from babyhood. Spot the trigger and change the plan, such as shopping after food and a nap. When it is happening, safety first. Move them if you must. Low, slow voice. Stay nearby. Hold them if they want it, give space if they do not. Do not reason mid-storm. Afterwards, when they are calm, you can talk about what else they could have done.
Dry for two hours or more, and able to pull pants up and down, is a readiness sign, not a birthday. Daytime undies or training pants, a nappy still for naps and night, and no fuss if the floor loses.
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Ready can mean dry nappies for 2 hours or more, pants up and down by themselves, interest in the toilet, or telling you there is a wee or poo in the nappy. If those signs are there, try underpants or training pants in the day. Nappy, or a mattress protector, for day sleeps and night. Clothes with an elastic waist. Watch for wriggling or a hand between the legs, and remind them gently. Sit them when a poo is likely, about 30 minutes after a meal. 3 to 5 minutes is long enough. Feet apart, leaning forward, straight back, a stool under the feet if they need it. Wipe front to back, or help them. Clean the miss without a speech. Hands washed. Praise the toilet, not a lecture about the accident.
Fussy eating is common, and it is often them practising being a separate person. You put the food out and they decide how much, about 20 minutes, then the plate goes without a speech, and you never force a mouthful.
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Disliking taste, shape, colour or texture is common. So is liking it Monday and refusing it Tuesday. Appetites follow growth and activity. It usually eases. Offering variety is how they end up eating variety. Keep meals pleasant, regular and social. Small serves, or food in the middle so they serve themselves. No force. Television off. If they fuss, you stay calm. About 20 minutes, then the meal ends without comment. A five minute warning helps a child who cannot come straight to the table. You choose the healthy food. They choose how much. Two or three options, not the whole fridge. Let them wash vegetables, stir, or pick between carrot and cucumber. Hunger is not a battle you win.
Most toddlers need 11 to 14 hours, usually 10 to 12 at night plus a nap of 1 to 2 hours. A late long nap steals bedtime, so keep the same short routine on Saturday as on Tuesday.
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Toddlers need 11 to 14 hours in 24. Often that is 10 to 12 hours at night and a day nap of 1 to 2 hours. A long or late nap can push bedtime out. Watch tired signs and start the routine before they are already furious. A common shape is wake around 7, nap no more than 2 hours around 1pm, bed around 7.30. Your child may differ. The consistency is the point. Many are ready between 6.30 and 7.30, depending on the morning wake. Weekends match weekdays. A routine might be teeth and nappy, a quiet book, then bed and goodnight. Positive and predictable routines help night wakes too. Trouble getting them in, settled, or stayed asleep is common. Bodies, new skills, boundary testing and needing you are why.
Say no, move the mouth or the hand, and turn away, because attention feeds the next bite. If a tooth is coming, give them something else to chew, and if they hurt another child you apologise without a speech.
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Babies and toddlers bite, pinch and pull hair for reasons. No words for a big feeling. Too much noise or light. Not enough hard play. Tired or hungry. Sometimes a tooth. For a baby, a clear no, then take the hand or mouth away and turn away or put them down. Same response every time. The attention was the prize. Offer a teether, a cold flannel or a feed if that was the driver. Praise the gentle touch as soon as you see it. For a toddler, no, biting hurts, and name your feeling. If they have no words for anger, stay calm and give them the word. Hungry or seeking a chew means crackers, vegetable sticks, a straw cup or a teether, not another bite of you.
Around 2 they may use two or three word sentences, and by 3 many manage three to five words and a short back and forth. Tantrums are still normal, they need you, and they also need to try the spoon themselves.
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This age is heavy on feelings. They are learning yours as well as theirs. Tantrums happen because the need is bigger than the words. Frustration, anger, embarrassment, guilt and shame show up. They start to see that behaviour cuts both ways. Separation in a familiar place may be easier. They still cling when tired, scared, or after a cuddle they simply want. Thinking grows. Time, opposites, body parts, shapes and colours, memory, trying a solution. Play is the learning. Other children, dress-ups, paint, rough and tumble, turns. Stories, songs and books belong in the day.