Archive for the ‘Baby's First Year’ Category
Friday, April 11th, 2008 |
WEEK 4 - How big is your baby this fourth week?
Baby weighs 9 pounds and is 21 inches long this week.
Baby Care and Equipment
Baby Slings and Front Carriers
Baby slings and front carriers offer parents and others a wonderful, close way to carry baby. It’s a piece of baby equipment that can mean a lot; when baby’s in a front carrier, you continue bonding.
Because your baby grows so quickly these first months, you will probably use a front carrier only for about 3 or 4 months. Although probably you’d like to use it longer, your back will say “No!”
Advantages. There are many advantages to carrying baby “kangaroo-style” during the first few
months. One study showed babies carried this way cry less. You are close to baby, yet your arms are free. The swaying motion and the wrapped-close feeling may remind baby of the womb, which may help settle him. Slings and carriers are also great for nursing privately in a public area.
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 |
WEEK 3 - How big is your baby this Third week?
Baby weighs 8-1/2 pounds and is 20-3/4 inches long this week.
Baby Care and Equipment
Bottle-feeding Your Baby
Statistics show that more women choose to bottle-feed their babies than to breastfeed them. Your baby will receive good nutrition if you give her formula.
Bottle-feeding has advantages, Some women enjoy the freedom bottle-feeding gives them compared to breastfeeding. A father can be more involved in caring for his child. Bottle-fed babies often are able to go longer between feedings; formula is usually more slowly digested than breast milk. You can determine exactly how much your baby takes in at each feeding.
How much to feed. Bottle-fed babies take from 2 to 5 ounces of formula at a feeding. They feed about every 3 to 4 hours for the first month (6 to 8 times a day). When baby is older, the number 0 feedings decreases, but the amount of formula you feed at each feeding increases.
With bottle-feeding, other family members can enjoy helping to care for the baby.
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 |
Week 2 - How big is your baby this second week?
Baby weighs 7-3/4 pounds and is 20-1/2 inches long this week.
Baby Care and Equipment
Breastfeeding Your Baby
Breastfeeding is a healthy way to feed a baby, and it can help create a close bond between mother and child. (See the discussion of bonding below.) You can usually begin breastfeeding your baby within an hour after birth, provided your delivery is without complications. At this first feeding, you will provide your baby with colostrum, the “premilk” your breasts produce. Colostrum helps boost baby’s immune system. Breastfeeding helps you, too, because it stimulates the pituitary gland to release oxytocin, the hormone that causes your uterus to contract to help keep bleeding to a minimum.
Partner’s support is important. Whether a woman breastfeeds may depend on what her partner thinks about it. Research has shown that if a woman’s partner does not want her to breastfeed, she usually doesn’t. If breastfeeding is important to you but not to your partner, explain to him the health benefits for baby. Assure him he’ll be able to feed baby expressed breast milk. Often a father will be supportive once he understands how positive an experience it is for the entire family.
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Sunday, April 6th, 2008 |
Week 1 - How big is your baby this first week?
The information we provide in this section each week is based on average expected growth for a baby. Growth changes we cite here are based on a full-term baby weighing 7 pounds who is 20 inches long. Your baby may grow a little more or a little less in a given week. If your baby is born small, growth may be less than what we indicate. The same holds true if your baby is large; her growth may be faster or she may gain more weight. There’s also a difference in size (and sometimes the rate of growth) between boys and girls.
The object of providing this information is to help you determine if your baby is growing and gaining weight at a steady pace. It’s important to remember that if your baby is born prematurely, her weight gain and growth may be delayed for a time but usually catches up.
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Saturday, April 5th, 2008 |
Your baby has just been through one of the toughest battles he will ever face. It’s a big job to be pushed down the birth canal and out into the world. Sometimes mother and baby need help, and baby must be delivered with a vacuum extractor or forceps, or by Cesarean section. No matter how your baby arrives, it is wonderful to meet him!
Your newborn is amazing. When he enters the world, all his major organs are functioning. He can see, hear, smell, taste and feel. He may look as though he has no awareness of what’s going on, but he is sensitive to events taking place around him.
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