Parent and Baby

Week 12: Twelfth Week of Your Baby

Week 12 – How Big Is Your Baby This Twelfth Week?

Baby weighs 12 pounds and is 23-1/4 inches long.

Baby Care and Equipment

Pets and Baby

You may have a pet that was your “baby” until your child was born. When you bring baby home from the hospital, it means a lifestyle change for your pet, too.

Your pet is sensitive to routine, so making changes slowly, before baby is born, may be easier on your pet. During your pregnancy,try the following.

• Decrease the time you spend with your pet— you’ll have a lot less time after baby’s birth.
• Change and adapt your pet’s feeding, exercise or play schedule in the weeks before baby’s birth.
• Make any changes in where your pet will be kept. If baby will be in your room and your pet has slept there, move your pet’s sleeping site to another location so it will become familiar.
• Evaluate your dog’s obedience training. He should respond to basic commands.
• Expose your pet to other children when possible. It can be a shock to an animal to be confronted with a small baby. A baby’s crying and other reactions can startle or frighten an animal.
• Put out baby’s things, such as the bassinet or crib and the changing table. Let your pet smell everything.
• Keep pets off baby furniture and out of baby’s room.
• Give your pet an area that is all its own and off-limits to baby.

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Week 11: Eleventh Week of Your Baby

Week 11 – How Big Is Your Baby This Eleventh Week?

Baby weighs 11-1/2 pounds and is 22-3/4 inches long this week.

Baby Care and Equipment

Ways to Relieve Baby’s Gas

A baby often swallows air when she eats, so it’s not unusual for her to have gas. Burping may take care of the problem, but when it doesn’t, you may need to try something else.

• Use a different burping position. Lay her face down on your lap, and pat her back. Or sit her on your lap and rub her back.
• Stop in the middle of her feeding and burp her. Burp her again when she finishes.
• Don’t let her cry for long periods. When she cries, she gulf in air, which can cause gas.
• Keep her upright when you feed her, at least at a 30-degree.i angle. She swallows food more easily. She’ll swallow less air.)
• If bottle-feeding, be sure the nipple is the right size. Too much milk going through too fast or sucking too hard on a nipple with an opening that is too small can cause her to swallow air.
• Be modern—use an angled bottle or disposable plastic liners that collapse as baby sucks.

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Week 10: Tenth Week of Your Baby

Week 10 – How Big Is Your Baby This Tenth Week?

Baby weighs 11 pounds and is 22-1/2 inches long this week.

Baby Care and Equipment

Don’t Feed Baby Solids to Help Him Sleep

Some people have been told that a baby needs solid food to help him sleep through the night. A friend or relative may mistakenly have given you this advice. Please ignore it.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, until your baby is at least 4 or 5 months old, he should not be given anything to eat except breast milk or formula. Solid food offers no nutritiona advantage, and it does not help baby sleep longer. In fact, feeding your baby cereal or other solids before the fourth or fifth month could give him a tummy ache. That could defeat the purpose of helping him sleep through the night by keeping him awake.

Milestones This Tenth Week

Development in your baby usually progresses from his head to hisj feet. This means you will see your baby develop strength and skills in his head and arms before he develops them in his legs or feet. Development moves from the center of baby’s body outward. He will be able to control his torso before he can control his hands or feet.

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Week 9: Ninth Week of Your Baby

Week 9 – How Big Is Your Baby This Ninth Week?

Baby weighs 10-1/2 pounds and is 22 inches long this week.

Baby Care and Equipment

Front Carriers

A soft carrier that you wear on your chest can comfort and entertain] baby. If she’s fussy or needs calming, face her toward your chest. She’ll feel secure, and this helps calm her. When she’s alert and active, face her out so she can see the world. She’ll enjoy seeing what you see.

Some carriers serve more than one purpose. Some can also be worn on the back. Others can be used as infant seats. These carriers can be used until baby weighs a little more than 20 pounds, although some models support higher weights. Check weight specifications when you are comparison shopping.

An added plus—because these carriers look so much like a backpack, men don’t usually mind wearing them. Carrying baby is aj great way for dad to interact with baby.

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Week 8: Eighth Week of Your Baby

Week 8 – How big Is Your baby This Eighth Week?

Baby weighs 10-1/4 pounds and is 21-3/4 inches long this week.

Baby Care and Equipment

Baby Massage—Relaxation

This massage technique helps baby relax, and it can also help relieve any gas he may have. You might even feel the gas bubbles releasing under your fingers as you massage baby’s chest and tummy.

Place baby on his back on the floor or on the bed. Use your fingertips to walk across his tummy lightly from right to left. Next, massage baby’s chest by placing your hands in the center of his chest. Moving your hands in a heart-shaped motion, move hands out to the side at the same time, down the side of his chest. Move down the rib cage, then back to the starting position. Repeat 8 to 10 times.

Are Plastic Baby Bottles Safe?

Recent news stories have suggested that clear plastic baby bottles might be unsafe because they contain the chemical substance BPA (bisphenol-A). It was implied that heating a baby bottle could cause BPA to leach into formula or breast milk.

The Federal Drug Administration (PDA) maintains these bottles are safe. They have found no problems with baby-bottle usage and no risk from other food containers that contain BPA.

If you want to make sure your bottles are OK to use, don’t heat them in the microwave. Instead, heat formula or breast milk on the stove, then put it in a bottle. Using soft plastic liners made of opaque, colored plastic is also safe.

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