Tips To Help You Through Your First Year Of Parenting

Becoming a parent require a big change. Parents to be are often taunted with phrases like, “sleep while you can” and while these statements do contain some truth, there is no reason why your first year of parenting should not be enjoyed. Having a newborn baby will definitely require a lifestyle change. However, you baby’s infancy is such a short lived time and you will look back at this phase with fondness, one day.

New born babies are not used to big spaces. They have been confined to a small space for 9 months and getting used to large spaces will take some time. Swaddling your little one will do wonders. Babies love to be cuddled and swaddled. This helps them to sleep better and as a result, so will you. Babies often wake at night. For you this means that the chances of getting your 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep are slim. However, you should sleep when baby sleeps. So if baby sleeps for a few hours during the day, you should also try and get some sleep during this time, so that the waking at night doesn’t drain you out.

You must also understand the effect your crying baby will have on you. There are few parents that can handle the sound of their baby crying without feeling like their going insane. This is why the parent who has the most tolerance for baby’s cries should see to baby, while the other walks away and can return when baby has stopped crying to relieve the other parent. Pediatricians and psychologists both agree that you cannot spoil a baby. So carry your baby as often as he or she wants to be carried. Research suggests that babies who are carried cry less. In fact in cultures where babies are carried most of the time, colic is literally non-existent. Looking after a newborn baby is time consuming, so don’t try to focus too much on getting chores and other things around the house done, if your hands are full with baby.

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Tips For Preventing SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)

In order to prevent SIDS, infants should be placed on their back during sleep time. This is the safest position for newborns and preterm babies. Babies should be placed to sleep on a firm mattress. They should be laid to sleep on any soft surfaces such as couches, pillow, blankets and quilts and this highers the risk of smothering in their sleep. Babies should not share a sleeping area with anyone. It is good to have the baby sleep in the same room as you so that you can keep a closer eye on baby, however, once you feed baby, he or she must be placed back into their own sleeping area, be it a cot, bassinet or safety approved crib. It is also recommended that you keep all soft objects out of babies cot. These apply to soft toys such as stuffed animals, pillows, blankets, quilts so on. Crib bumpers have also been known to cause serious injury to babies and in some cases, even death.

Other Ways of Reducing the Chances or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

It is suggested that women exercise precaution during pregnancy in order to avoid sudden infant death syndrome. This includes avoiding alcohol, drugs and even cigarettes during pregnancy. Instead of giving your baby a pacifier attached to a string, use a dry pacifier that is not attached to any string to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Don’t keep baby too warm during sleep time. Your baby should be dressed in only 1 extra layer of clothing than you are during sleep time. Try and avoid using socks and hats on baby during nap time, so that if baby is hot, the heat can escape through these areas. Give your baby plenty of tummy time when he or she is awake. This helps to strengthen baby’s head, neck and shoulders and helps to keep the flat spots at the back of baby’s head at bay. Avoid products and items that claim to reduce sudden infant death syndrome as many of these products have not been tested for their effectiveness, or their safety.

What You Need To Know About Inguinal Hernias In Newborns

An Inguinal Hernias normally presents itself as a soft lump protruding on the skin of a newborn. Underneath the skin, the swell is usually a lump of fat or bowel matter dislodged through an opening of muscle walls. Here are some more facts about this rare lump you should know about.

Who Gets It?

Male infants are more likely to get the condition compared to females. The inguinal hernias will present itself around the groin region and may also extend to the scrotum. Babies born prematurely, whether male or female, may also be pre-disposed to the condition.

Newborns with urological issues like undescended testicles or come from a family with a history of the condition are likely to develop the condition. Though inguinal hernias may occur in females, such cases are a rarity.

Types of Hernia

Hernias in newborns are mainly of two types; the reducible and irreducible hernias. The condition is reducible if the hernia can move freely out of the affected area; such a hernia is considered harmless by medical practitioners. On the other hand, the irreducible condition is when the hernia gets trapped between muscle walls and cannot move freely. A hernia of this nature poses the threat of blocking blood flow.

Symptoms

Hernias in newborns start developing from birth and will become visible within the first year of the baby’s life. It will be a visible swelling around the groin or scrotum when the baby is straining, crying or coughing. The baby may experience discomfort sometime but the condition is totally painless. The swell will disappear when the baby is relaxed or when lying flat on a surface.

Severe symptoms will only occur when the inguinal hernias is irreducible or incarcerated. In such a case, the baby will appear abnormally ill with bouts of nausea, vomiting, extreme groin pains, fever or bloating. The swelling may also appear dark or red in color.

Treatment

The reducible hernia is normally harmless but surgical procedure may be required in the case of an irreducible hernias.

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