How to care for children. Mandatory rules when caring for a newborn baby

Before we begin the story about caring for a newborn, I want you to understand a simple but very important thing: our world is significantly different from the world that surrounded the child before his birth. To make this easier to understand, imagine yourself as a baby who is in his mother’s belly. Imagine it directly, when it is already big, and the uterus is no longer so large in comparison. After thinking a little, you will probably come to the conclusion that it is cramped for him there, relatively dark and quiet. In addition, with the blood flow, the baby constantly receives oxygen and nutrients; most of the time he moves in the water space (although latest dates it is already difficult for him to do this), the child is carried by the mother, who often gets up, sits down, walks, perhaps she even swims or.

And then the child is born... He is greeted by bright light, loud sounds that were previously so well muffled by his mother’s body, and the clanging of instruments. And if a newborn is immediately taken away, for example, for processing, he is also deprived of his usual sounds: mother’s breathing, heartbeat, rumbling in the stomach. Current practice caring for a newborn baby convinces mothers to hold the child not as often as he wants, so as not to get used to it. And the baby turns out to be tightly wrapped in diapers and completely immobilized.

In addition, the baby will face another change. In his mother’s belly, he never experienced a feeling of hunger or lack of oxygen; he received all this without any interruptions through the bloodstream. And some time after birth, when the umbilical cord is cut, the newborn's cerebral cortex suddenly notices a decrease in glucose levels, and the baby experiences the first hunger in its life.

Why do they talk about birth stress? Because our world is categorically different from the world in which the child grew up. And stress can increase if adults care for a newborn and forget about his basic needs.

In the first days of a baby’s life, it is very important to remember such a phenomenon as adaptation. Adaptation is the process of getting used to new circumstances of life. When a small child comes into our world, he is faced with sensations, feelings, and images that are completely unfamiliar to him. How he survives this depends not only on his innate adaptive abilities, but also on the people who are next to him.

Imagine that you suddenly find yourself in a foreign country. Without knowing the language and customs, what will you do? How wonderful it is in such a situation to find a person who will accompany you, tell you everything and show you everything. For a child, such a universal “guide” is, of course, the mother. She is next to the newborn 24 hours a day, talking to him, caring for him.

When a person needs to adapt to a new place, things that connect him with the familiar world help. Once, a woman from Germany studied in my group. She knew the Russian language well, because in her line of work she taught German to Russian students. I asked her what helped her get along in our country and not feel like a stranger and unhappy. She replied: “What helped me was that at home I could read German books, watch my favorite films, cuddle Teddy bear whom I brought with me."

When you are thinking about caring for a newborn baby, remember: it is important to help him adapt to a still alien world, you need to create conditions that would resemble his intrauterine life. Immersion in something new should be gradual and measured. It is necessary to give the baby the opportunity to rest, returning to the usual sensations, and then take the next step forward.

If you accepted my position, if you believed that this is necessary, then it will be much easier for you to properly care for your baby.

Please note that we will be talking specifically about the early newborn period, although some children take a little longer to adapt. Let's figure out step by step what needs to be done so that it doesn't scare you, and the baby accepts this world and himself in it as easily and quickly as possible.

Part 1. What role does lighting play in caring for a newborn baby?

The first thing that traumatizes a child at birth is the bright light that greets him from the outside world. Many obstetricians claim that babies do not look, their eyes are swollen, they do not even open them. This can be easily explained. Imagine walking out of your basement into bright sunlight. Most likely, you immediately close your eyes to avoid painful sensations. The same thing happens with a child. If you take and turn off the lamps in the birthing room, your baby will open his eyes slightly and begin, perhaps with a dull look, but to look at everything around him.

It is important to remember that swaddling helps the baby feel his own boundaries and, thus, smoothly overcome the difference between the closed, cramped space of the uterus and the huge world in which he finds himself after birth.

If we take the Russian tradition, we will see that small child They swaddled her for quite a long time, but they did it only during sleep. When he woke up, the mother unwrapped the baby, stroked his legs, arms, head, accompanying each touch with special sentences. So she introduced the newborn to his boundaries, told him why this or that part of the body would be useful to him. Moreover, for each of them in the Russian tradition there was its own sentence. This centuries-proven practice was very important and completely unnecessarily forgotten in our days. If desired modern parents can successfully use it in caring for a baby.

But let's get back to swaddling. I think the most important thing, of course, is swaddling while sleeping. I can’t say for sure how long you need to resort to his help. Because some babies adapt quickly; after two or three weeks they don’t need diapers. There are babies who have to be swaddled while sleeping, up to eight, and up to ten, and up to twelve months.
You may ask why it is so important to protect a child during sleep? It's simple. If an adult closes his eyes, he can easily imagine the world that surrounds him; he freely reproduces images of furniture, things, people. A child cannot do this. When a baby closes his eyes, the world disappears for him. That is why, while falling asleep, you need to rock him in your arms, sing to him and thereby, as it were, say: “Calm down, go to sleep, I’m with you. And tomorrow you’ll wake up and I’ll be there.” It is very important for a child that someone accompanies him when he falls asleep, and diapers replace the very boundaries that the uterus previously provided.

However, in order to be as faithful as possible during sleep, in addition to swaddling, you need to think about one more thing. It is necessary to properly organize the place where the child sleeps. If you consider that the baby has recently left a cramped space, then a small cradle rather than a crib will be more comfortable for him. If you still prefer a crib to a cradle, then do not forget to cover the child in it with pillows and bolsters. Figuratively speaking, “build a nest for him” so that his body feels some other boundaries besides diapers. This way the baby will sleep more calmly and soundly.

Part 4. Newborn care and temperature control. Adaptation to the “cold” of our life.

Next important factor, which must be remembered when thinking about caring for a baby, is a sharp change in temperature during the birth process.

The baby was warm in the womb; the temperature was almost always +36.6 ºС. In maternity rooms, even the best ones, the temperature usually does not exceed +23 ºС. The first birth I saw as a student took place in the delivery room, where the temperature was only +12 ºС. Of course, the baby, who was born in such a birth, had severe temperature stress. In any case, compared to the temperature of the mother’s body, the temperature difference for the baby will be noticeable, and he will have to get used to it.

It is precisely given this fact that I do not welcome, at the time of adaptation, either hardening or a temperature regime not exceeding +18 ºС (there is an opinion that this is the best temperature for a child’s health). Children in the first month of life love warmth very much; it is not for nothing that grandmothers used to put a small child to sleep on a large pillow, like a feather bed. There he felt warm, comfortable and calm, as he also felt boundaries.

I do not suggest warming the air to +36 ºС. Just pay attention to your baby more often. Don't neglect, for example, caps at home. You can also, before swaddling your baby, put socks on his feet. Fortunately, now they are sold in the tiniest sizes. Think about how difficult it can sometimes be to fall asleep with cold feet. Sometimes mothers complain about their baby's restless sleep, and the reason for this may be that he is cool. It is worth warming the child with a cap, putting on socks, covering him with a shawl, and he will sleep much more peacefully.

It also happens: the mother fed the child, he fell asleep in her arms, his whole body is relaxed, it seems that he fell asleep deeply, but as soon as he was put in the crib and moved away, the baby immediately woke up and began to cry. What happened? Probably, the crib was very cold, and when the child found himself in it after his mother’s warm hands, he woke up from a sudden change in temperature. In such cases, warm the crib. Ask your family to iron the top sheet or place a hot water bottle in the crib in advance, and then remove and put the baby there.

There is another great way to solve this problem. This is especially useful if you need to do something while your baby is sleeping. You can lie down with him (while he falls asleep) in your bed, and then slowly get out, leaving him wrapped in your robe, which retains the warmth and smell of your body and milk. In this case, the baby will sleep much longer and more calmly.

Part 5. How to care for a newborn baby to help him adapt to the emergence of a rhythm.

There is one more point that we must help the child overcome. The newborn must accept the fact that the world has become rhythmic after his birth.

The intrauterine world was devoid of rhythm, food and oxygen were supplied constantly, there was always a feeling of satiety. When the baby was born, he reflexively took his first breath, began to breathe, his umbilical cord was cut, and after a while he felt the first hunger or simply a decrease in the feeling of fullness. Everything that is happening has deprived the child of his usual comfort, and he also needs to adapt to this.

If we talk about how to help a child adapt to a completely new feeding rhythm after cutting the umbilical cord, this means starting a separate, detailed conversation. For now, I will say the following in just a few words. I do not categorically insist on breastfeeding at any cost, as some experts in the field of breastfeeding counseling do. But, in my opinion, today it is clearly more convenient, cheaper, and more harmonious to breastfeed a child. In addition, adaptation after the loss of umbilical cord nutrition occurs much easier when breastfeeding.

As for the rhythmization of breathing... It is difficult to propose any adaptation measures in this matter. We can only perhaps mention sleeping together. The fact is that a newborn child does not breathe as rhythmically as an adult, and generally has some difficulties in this area. There are American studies that indicate that a baby sleeping face to face with his mother is less likely to have breathing problems. In this case, the mother’s breathing acts as a metronome, setting a certain rhythm, thereby accompanying the baby in his sleep.

Part 6. Caring for a newborn. Immobilization stress.

After birth, the child also experiences the stress of immobilization. He moves, of course, but he does it in a very specific way. Previously, he was surrounded by water, now there is air around him, his muscles are in hypertonicity. This is the normal state of a newborn child, and just at this time society encourages the mother to eat less often, so as not to teach her. However, even from the point of view of ordinary logic this is not true.

When mothers are scared that they will teach their child to hold their baby, it sounds strange, to say the least. How can you accustom a child to what was essentially his home for nine months? I believe in in this case The mother’s task is to wean the child away from herself gradually. And this is not a matter of one or two months, or even two or three years!

It is believed that a child can and should completely separate from his mother only at the age of 21. But for the first six months of his life, a woman does not have to worry at all about accustoming the baby to her hands, since at this time he is not ready to even begin to realize his separateness, he perceives himself and his mother as a single whole. When she takes him in her arms, the newborn seems to find his soul mate and calms down, feeling protected, calm, and loved again.

Don't be afraid, carry your baby in your arms! After six months, you will see how, having sated for a long time, he himself will begin to slowly separate and crawl away to some distance. And this distance will gradually increase month after month.

Part 7. Baby care: the role of smells.

In conclusion, I would like to talk about one more thing - about the smells with which the world greets a newborn and thereby also exposes him to stress.

Above, I already talked about how you can calm your baby by leaving him wrapped in your robe, which retains the smell of your milk and body. This technique actually works very well, since a child's sense of smell begins to develop even in childhood. prenatal period, somewhere around 20 weeks he can already smell amniotic fluid. After birth, the baby recognizes his mother just by smell: on the areola of her nipples there are glands that secrete a special lubricant that protects against cracking and is identical in smell to the environment in which he was for nine months. Recognizing a familiar, native smell, the baby strives for it and finds the breast. Mom's scents are very important, so I advise you not to overpower them with perfume.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again that, in general, newborn baby care comes down to the simplest things. If you imagine how our world differs from the world in which he grew up inside the womb, if you understand what a baby faces at birth, then it will be very easy to care for him, and you can become a good guide for your baby in the new, as yet unknown peace to him.

Caring for a newborn in the first month of life is very important; the health and proper development of the baby depends on it. A mother needs to know the basic rules of caring for her baby and strictly adhere to them.

How to care for a baby in the first month?

A newborn up to a month requires more attention and hygiene. Too much vernix can be irritating delicate skin.

How to care for a baby up to a month old? Babies are wiped after birth, but the cleanliness of the genitals remains with the mother. To prevent redness, excess lubricant is removed with a swab; every toilet should include washing. When the navel is healing, bathing is done only in boiled water.

The first month of a newborn at home is a period of adaptation to the new environment. Early at birth due date, it is worth paying attention to the mental state of the baby. The development and care of a newborn baby in the first month should be comprehensive.

Caring for a newborn baby up to 1 month requires carefully clearing the nasal passages of crusts. The cleanliness of the room and optimal air humidity should be maintained.

Even during pregnancy, a woman should take care of purchasing suitable clothing and child care products.

Items and care products

Facilities. To make it convenient for a young mother to care for her newborn in the first month of life, it is worth equipping an individual place in the room. All necessary and useful remedies, with the help of which it will be produced quality care for your child:

• thermometer for measuring body temperature;
• water thermometer;
• room thermometer;
• 3 pipettes;
• scissors;
• warmer;
• enema;
• baby bath;
• soap dish;
• cotton wool;
• bathing ladle;
• brilliant green solution;
• herbal collection of chamomile and string;
• baby oil;
• powder.

In the room intended for the baby, there must be Wall Clock. With their help, the mother will find out the time for feeding and provide timely care for the child.

Taking care of things.

Things purchased in advance for the baby should be thoroughly washed and ironed on both sides. When washing children's clothes, you should not use synthetic detergents; it is recommended to use a special powder intended for washing children's clothes. It contains no allergens that pose a threat to newborns.

To wash a small child’s clothes, you need to purchase a new basin and then use it only for this purpose.

The baby’s underwear should be stored in a personal compartment of the closet; under no circumstances should baby’s underwear be mixed with the belongings of an adult family member.

Hygiene procedures

Throughout the day, it is very important to carry out hygiene procedures that provide high-quality and proper care for a newborn in the first month of life.

Eyes. In the morning and evening hours, the child’s eyes should be wiped with a cotton ball dipped in boiled water.

You need to apply a new cotton ball to each baby's eye, wiping from the edge of the face to the nose. This method is a prevention of suppuration and the transfer of infection from one eye to another. Nose and ears. In some cases, dried crusts form in the nasal openings; heated crusts are ideal for softening them. Vaseline oil

. It is instilled into both nostrils of the baby for 15 minutes.

Caring for a 1 month old baby should be done with caution. The nose and ears of newborns are carefully cleaned of contamination with cotton wool twisted into a small tourniquet. In order not to injure the child’s sensitive skin, Vaseline oil is also applied to the cotton tourniquet.

Face, neck, arms.

To cleanse your face, neck and hands, you can use a cotton ball dipped in warm boiled water.

After getting up in the morning, changing a diaper or bowel movement, newborns must wash their butt and genitals. In this case, girls can only be washed from front to back; this is done to avoid infections of the genitourinary system.

At the end of hygiene procedures, all folds on the body should be treated with Vaseline or baby powder. When caring for a baby in the first month of life, the mother should not forget about her cleanliness. A woman must carry out all procedures related to the baby with thoroughly washed hands. For the safety of the baby, mother should not wear rings or heavy watches during this period. The skin on the mother’s hands should be healthy and her nails should be cut short. For a woman, it is expected that one of the relatives, for example, the father, takes care of the child. And the mother should urgently treat the disease, because many of them are quickly transmitted to the baby.

Skin care

During the day, the mother needs to examine the baby's skin, it is especially important to pay attention to the armpits, groin area, buttocks and folds.

Irritations. If any irritation occurs on the skin, be sure to take special care.

If the redness is not too pronounced, then after water procedures this place is treated with chlorophyllipt, and then with baby oil. On areas of the body with pronounced redness, it is better to apply a specialized product for the care of infant skin - Bepanten.

Heat rashes and diaper rash. Due to prolonged wearing of diapers, heat rashes and diaper rash often appear in the groin area and on the butt. In order to prevent their occurrence, the child should be left completely undressed more often during the waking period. If this rule is followed, special care for the newborn is not required in the first month.

If irritation occurs, the skin is lubricated with zinc paste or treated with chamomile decoction. These products dry out and relieve irritation.

Navel. In the first month of a newborn's life, daily treatment of the navel is required. It is better to do this after bathing and immediately before getting dressed. A couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide are placed in the child’s navel; after a few minutes, the crust in the wound softens and is easy to clean with a cotton swab. The navel is then treated with diamond green.

Seborrheic crusts. Some inexperienced mothers get scared when milk crusts appear on the baby's scalp. There is nothing wrong with this; seborrheic crusts disappear on their own over time. But you can speed up this process with a special shampoo to remove them.

Already in the first month, scalp care can be carried out folk ways. To remove milk crusts, any oil is carefully rubbed into the child’s hair before an evening bath. While the mother washes the baby, the oil softens the crusts on the head.

Then the head must be washed thoroughly, and after drying, begin combing out the softened crust. To do this, you can take children's combs and brushes, or a regular soft toothbrush. It is necessary to carry out such activities many times and over time the milk crusts will disappear.

Bathing a baby

At 1 month of a newborn’s life, daily bathing is allowed only after the umbilical process has fallen off and the wound has healed.

In the first month, it is better to fill a baby’s bath with boiled water, to which you can add a decoction of chamomile or string. In this case, you should pour such an amount of water that you can safely immerse the child in the bath up to his shoulders. Each time, the bath should be washed with soap, and the washing equipment (a piece of flannel diaper or a baby washcloth) should be boiled for 20 minutes.

It is very important to observe the temperature regime, both of the water and of the room in which the baby is bathed. It is advisable to maintain the air temperature in the room at about 22-23 degrees, and the water should not exceed 37.2 degrees.

It is better to carry out evening water sessions before the penultimate meal, and the child should not be in the water for more than 5 minutes. Before bathing, you should prepare the necessary things for your baby; it is better to warm them up with a special heating pad.

A flannel diaper folded in several layers is placed on the bottom of the baby bath. When bathing a small child, it is important to ensure that water and soap do not get into his eyes, mouth, nose and ears. It is necessary to pour a solution of potassium permanganate into the children's bath in case of any skin diseases in the child.

For the first time, it is better to bathe the baby with one of the relatives, who will control the water temperature and serve it to the mother necessary funds. This way, caring for a baby at 1 month of age will be a pleasant procedure for parents and baby.

The child is lowered into the bath in such a way that his butt is placed in the mother’s palm, the back is positioned along the length of the arm, and the head is supported by the shoulder. With her free hand, a woman, using a special baby mitten or a piece of flannel diaper, thoroughly cleans skin child.

It is necessary to carefully wash all the folds on the baby’s body, remove any remaining powder and baby oil from the buttocks and perineum.

Once a week you need to bathe your child with baby soap. While the mother pours warm water over the baby, the assistant soaps the glove. Then the mother takes turns removing parts of the baby’s body from the water and soaping them.

The child's head is washed last, and soaping should occur from the forehead to the back of the head. After this, you should turn it tummy down and pour clean and warm water from a ladle. At the end of the water session, he is wrapped in a towel with a corner for his head, wiped off moisture and dressed in children's clothes.

Schedule

Caring for a newborn baby in the first month of life provides for a certain daily routine, adhering to which it becomes possible for the mother to allocate time for her rest.

Feeding the child should occur at certain hours, due to this, the stable functioning of the digestive and nervous systems is ensured. If the feeding regime is not followed, children often experience loss of appetite and sleep disturbances, and the nervous system reacts with irritability. At the same time, the woman feels tired from constant lack of sleep and the inability to fully rest.

When sleeping, newborns should not be in one position all the time. In the first month, a newborn must be periodically shifted to the other side or back.

At correct mode The baby will sleep peacefully during the day without needing night feedings. In this case, morning breastfeeding will be carried out at 6.30, and evening latching - at 23.30. The intervals between feedings should be about 3 hours. After feeding, the baby is placed in the crib on its side so that possible regurgitation does not interfere with breathing. It will be better if the baby stays awake for 40 minutes after feeding.

Some women prefer to put their baby to sleep in their bed, believing that this way they will rest better. But at the same time, the child’s safety is in question (an accident cannot be completely ruled out), and the baby himself, being with his mother, more often looks for the breast, which leads to disruption of sleep and the entire daily routine. As a result, the baby becomes capricious and restless, and the mother becomes tired and irritable. Sleep disturbance also often occurs due to a stuffy room; daily ventilation ensures that the baby sleeps soundly and for a long time.

In winter, walks begin after the second week of the baby’s life, and the air temperature outside cannot exceed -5 degrees. In the first days, you should not walk with the baby for more than 15-20 minutes. In subsequent times, you should gradually increase the duration of the walk to 2 hours.

During the cold season, the child should be dressed warmly and the stroller should be covered with a warm blanket. At the same time, you should not overdo it in insulation; the child will easily overheat. When the air temperature drops below -5 degrees with additional comfortable conditions in the form of a strong wind - a walk with a child should be postponed. You can dress the child as if for a walk, put him in the stroller and leave him for a while near an open window.

Massage treatments

For various skin diseases, it is better to refuse massage procedures so as not to worsen their course. More complex massage and gymnastics can only be performed by a specialist in a children's clinic.

Caring for a newborn in the first month video:

Step-by-step instructions for caring for a newborn will help the mother quickly cope with difficult tasks and maintain the baby’s health.

After the birth of the long-awaited baby, all parents are ready to do anything for the comfort and well-being of the baby, because he looks so touching and unprotected. But after the baby is born, loved ones have a lot of fears and doubts associated with the fear of harming the child, as well as the huge contradiction in care recommendations from others. Often, young parents, lacking experience, are too zealous in their care, taking many misconceptions about care seriously. To avoid following their example, check out the most common of these misconceptions.

“Infants don’t need water; they get it from milk and The baby needs to be fed all the time."

The first misconception is that water is not necessary in a baby’s diet. First of all, it depends on the method of feeding the baby. If the baby only eats breast milk, then along with it he receives all the necessary components. If the child is bottle-fed (or mixed-fed), then water is a must in his diet. Ideally, up to six months, its norm per day should be about 200 ml.

Remember!

Never give your baby water from the tap. The pharmacy sells special distilled water for infants. The baby’s very sensitive and fragile body is designed in such a way that water in the first months of life gives him a feeling of fullness, which leads to refusal of the breast, thereby limiting the intake of all useful components

. Infants need to be given water after breastfeeding. Artificials are another matter. These babies are given water between feedings. In any case, children need to be given water regardless of their restless behavior.

"Don't teach your baby to hold hands" Psychologists are convinced that maternal hugs are very important for babies, as they give them a feeling of calm and security. If you constantly restrict a child from his mother’s hands, then in the future the baby may grow up to be a withdrawn person who has problems with communication. If, in moments of crying and anxiety, a child is immediately picked up, then with a mother’s hug he receives a feeling of security, care and love. Qualified pediatricians advise parents of babies artificial feeding

Be sure to pick them up during the feeding period specifically for these purposes.

“Let the child scream, the voice will be louder”

There is an opinion that the conditions in which the baby grows and develops should be as sterile as possible. However, for normal operation it immune system There is no need to sterilize milk bottles and boil water for bathing every time. After birth, his body begins to develop immunity to all kinds of pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, your baby is absolutely not defenseless. And constant contact with pets will help to avoid asthma and allergies in the future, or reduce the likelihood of their occurrence several times.

Note to moms!

Hello girls) I didn’t think that the problem of stretch marks would affect me too, and I’ll also write about it))) But there’s nowhere to go, so I’m writing here: How did I get rid of stretch marks after childbirth? I will be very glad if my method helps you too...

But this does not mean at all that you need to rush to extremes. If the umbilical wound has not yet fully healed, then the water for bathing must be boiled. This will help keep it sanitized and soft. And a baby’s crib is not at all a place for a dog or cat.

“All herbs are safe, so you can constantly bathe your baby in herbal infusions and feed them with them.”

All medicinal herbs contain one or another chemical component, which affects the diseased organ/organism. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly bathe or treat the baby using the gifts of nature only on the recommendation of a pediatrician. In addition, when using herbs, take 3-4 times less dry mixture than in decoctions for adults. In addition to herbs, caring mothers often like to use soap for bathing, which is also not entirely healthy. Soap is known to have a drying effect on the skin, so frequent use may be harmful to the skin. sensitive skin

babies. In addition, herbal dust can provoke an exacerbation or allergy in a child, so you need to prepare decoctions without his presence.

“There are never enough vitamins, but the excess is still excreted”

Together with mother's milk, the baby receives the amount of vitamins it needs for normal functioning. But stuffing it with additional fortified compounds is highly not recommended. Hypervitaminosis is easy to acquire, but getting rid of it is much more difficult.

“The child needs a massage every day”

“Diaper rash is normal”

Diaper rash is a sign of poor hygiene procedures or lack of air baths. In addition, redness and diaper rash can be triggered by any allergic irritant (food, diapers, detergents). In case of disposable diapers You should be careful when choosing the right one. If you notice diaper rash on your baby's body, use special powders or soothing creams. The use of baby oil is recommended only on flaky and dry areas, since its excessive use prevents the baby's skin from breathing.

CARE OF NEWBORN AND INFANT

Cleanliness is the most important condition proper care for the child

When caring for a child, first of all, it is necessary to maintain cleanliness. The child, his linen, bedding, dishes, and toys must be clean. It is necessary to thoroughly clean the room in which the child is located.

This is necessary because around us - in the air we breathe, on dust particles rising from the ground, in unboiled water, on all the objects we use, there are a huge number of microbes.

Many types of microbes, entering the human body, cause various, often very severe, infectious diseases. Young children are especially susceptible to such diseases.

They can enter the body of a small child through the smallest abrasions on his delicate thin skin, through the mouth, with food, from a pacifier, poorly washed dishes, from toys that the child drags into his mouth, from underwear.

When breathing and, especially when coughing and sneezing, adults and older children surrounding the child, along with tiny droplets of mucus and saliva, secrete a large number of microbes that, if inhaled by a child, can cause various diseases. The same thing happens when others and even the mother kiss the child on the face and lips.

Therefore, it is necessary to prevent dust, not to allow strangers to lean close over the child, breathe on him, or kiss him.

Infection can often be caused by dirty hands. We must always remember this and not allow any family member to pick up the child, play with him, feed him without washing his hands, or approach him in dusty, dirty clothes.

The mother comes into contact with the child most often and closest to everyone. Therefore, she must be especially careful about the cleanliness of her body and clothes.

Before approaching or picking up the baby, the mother should wash her hands thoroughly with soap. Fingernails should be cut short. Take a shower and change your underwear regularly. Clean, boiled cloths the size of a handkerchief should be placed on the nipples and changed daily. In addition, before each feeding, it is necessary to wash the nipple with warm boiled water in order to protect the mammary gland from disease, as well as to prevent germs from entering the baby’s mouth during feeding.

Flies play a major role in the spread of germs. A child who puts a dirty object in his mouth can become ill with various intestinal diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to fight flies in every possible way, prevent them from flying into your home, make nets on the windows or cover them with gauze.

How to clean the room where a child lives

We already know how important it is to keep a home clean and why it is necessary to protect the air that a child breathes from dust, smoke, and harmful fumes.

The room in which the mother and newborn will live must be put in order in advance. Unnecessary items must be removed from the room. It is necessary to prepare a child's corner - his crib, bed, cabinet or shelf for children's linen and care items.

For the child's corner, where his bed is placed, the table on which he is swaddled, a closet or shelf where his linen, care items, toys are stored, the brightest part of the room is allocated.

The room must be wet cleaned every day, and the furniture must be wiped with a damp cloth.

In the summer, windows should be covered with a special insect net.

If possible, there should be no unnecessary furniture in the room; the less cluttered the room, the more air and less dust there will be.

To allow more sunlight into the room, do not cover the windows with thick curtains.

It is very important to regularly ventilate the room. In cold weather, the window should be opened every 3-4 hours for 10-15 minutes.

Baby care items

To care for a child, you must always have the following items: cotton wool, a sterile bandage, a solution of potassium permanganate, baby powder or special oil for lubricating skin folds (you can use boiled vegetable oil in a clean boiled bottle), a glass, a teaspoon, baby soap, a clean comb, scissors, a water thermometer, a thermometer for measuring body temperature, a rubber bulb, a rubber heating pad.

Care items should be covered with a clean diaper and stored on a special shelf in the closet or in a specially designated place.

To make it more convenient to use cotton wool, part of it should be divided with thoroughly washed hands into small lumps the size of a walnut, put them in a clean, boiled and dried glass jar and cover it with a clean saucer.

Washing the baby

In the morning before feeding, you need to use a piece of cotton wool to wash the baby’s face with boiled water at room temperature and carefully dry it with a clean napkin or handkerchief. You can also wash your child’s face with a clean hand. If a child’s eyes fester, they should be washed separately with a solution boric acid(1/2 teaspoon per glass of warm boiled water) or potassium permanganate (dilute 1-2 drops of a strong solution of potassium permanganate in boiled water until pale pink). Rinsing should be done with pieces of clean cotton wool in the direction from the outer corner of the eye to the nose. For each eye take a separate piece of cotton wool. First, wash the healthy eye, then the sick one. Dry the eyes with dry pieces of cotton wool, separate for each eye.

If mucus accumulates in a child's nose and crusts form, it becomes difficult for him to breathe. He sniffles and cannot suck, is restless and does not sleep. To clear your child’s nose, you must first drop one drop of boiled vegetable oil into each nostril; After a few minutes, the crusts soften and are easily removed with a cotton swab dipped in vegetable oil.

You need to wash your child's ears very carefully so as not to pour water into the ear canal. If a lot of wax accumulates in the child’s ear canal, you need to carefully clean it out with a cotton swab. But the flagellum should not be inserted deeply, so as not to damage the delicate membranes of the ear canal.

You should not wipe your child's mouth, as this can damage the delicate mucous membrane of the mouth and introduce germs.

In addition to washing your face and hands, you need to wash your child every morning, i.e. wash the folds of skin in the groin, genitals and buttocks with warm water. It is better to do this under running water. You need to wash the child with a clean hand, pour water from front to back, so as not to contaminate the child’s genitals with particles of feces. Then you need to carefully wipe his body with a soft towel or sheet, inspect and lubricate with Vaseline or boiled vegetable oil(or powder with talcum powder) all folds on the body - on the neck, behind the ears, armpits, in the groin, between the buttocks. You need to wash your child throughout the day, every time he soils himself.

Once a week you need to trim your child’s nails to prevent scratching. It is advisable to purchase special small scissors for this. Before use, wash them with hot water and soap and dry with a clean towel.

Sometimes dandruff accumulates on a child’s head and crusts form. They bother the child, itching appears, and eczema may develop. Crusts and dandruff need to be removed. To do this, 2-3 hours before bathing, the child’s head is thickly lubricated with Vaseline or sunflower oil. After bathing, carefully comb out dandruff and crusts with a fine-toothed comb.

The child should have a separate comb. Before use, wash it with hot water and soap, wipe dry with a clean towel and comb a little cotton wool onto the comb. After use, this cotton wool is removed; The combed crusts are also removed along with it.

Bathing

The newborn is bathed for the first time one day after the umbilical wound has healed with the permission of the doctor or midwife.

Up to 6 months you need to bathe your baby every day, and after 6 months you can bathe every other day. The room where the child is bathed should be warm enough, but not too hot (20 - 22 degrees).

To bathe a child you need to have a bathtub or trough. This bathtub should not be used for washing clothes or bathing older children. Before bathing, the bath should be washed with hot water and soap using a brush or washcloth, and then doused with boiling water. To measure the water temperature, you need to buy a water thermometer at the pharmacy.

Water for bathing a newborn must be good quality and have a temperature of 37 degrees. From 2 months of age, the child is washed with water at a temperature of 36 degrees. Sometimes, if a child has a rash on his body or it is not possible to boil water for bathing, the doctor recommends giving the child a manganese bath. To do this, first prepare a strong solution of potassium permanganate in a bottle or glass and then add it to the water prepared for bathing until a pink color is obtained. You need to make sure that no undissolved crystals get into the water.

So much water is poured into the bath so that it covers the child’s entire body. In addition, prepare a jug of water of the same temperature for dousing in advance. Before bathing a child, you need to prepare a flannelette blanket, oilcloth, diapers, a vest, and then a large diaper or sheet to dry his body after bathing.

For very young children - under 4 - 6 weeks of age - all these items should be warmed with a heating pad or near a warm radiator. You may also need boiled sunflower oil to lubricate the folds of the body. Therefore, it must be prepared in advance.

Having prepared everything for bathing, the mother thoroughly washes her hands with soap, and then, undressing the child, carefully lowers him into the water, supporting him with her left hand under the back of the head and under the back.

Once or twice a week you need to wash your child with soap (preferably baby soap). First, the child is washed with his chest, stomach, arms, legs, then his head, tilted back a little so that water and soap do not flow onto his face. After this, it is placed on the stomach and the back, buttocks and groin are washed. Up to 6 months, the baby is washed by hand. After 6 months you can wash it with a clean, boiled soft cloth. Having taken the child out of the bath, he is doused with prepared water from a jug, and a warm large diaper is quickly thrown over him to dry his body and a blanket so as not to cool him down. The child’s face is not washed during bathing, but washed separately with clean water. After drying the baby, he is placed on prepared clean diapers. After examining the folds of the skin and lubricating them, the child is dressed. It is necessary to wipe his ears so that no water remains in them.

A child who can sit can be bathed while sitting and given rubber or plastic toys in the bath, with which he willingly plays.

Dressing a child

In the first two months of life, a child’s clothing consists of vests, blouses and diapers.

It is also necessary to have three pieces of backing oilcloth. Cover the mattress in one piece; two smaller pieces - 30 X 30 centimeters - are alternately placed during swaddling between the diaper and the flannelette blanket (or flannelette diaper). But you can do without oilcloths if you use diapers or diapers.

In addition to thin diapers, you need to have several warm flannelette ones. The diaper size is 80-90 centimeters. Diapers (or pampers) are also needed. They can be made smaller than diapers and sewn from old, well-washed and boiled linen or from gauze folded in half. Diapers absorb urine and protect the diaper from contamination with feces, protect the baby from diaper rash and cold. At the same time, they are much cheaper than diapers and are easier to wash. The sizes of diapers are selected depending on the weight and age of the child.

If you decide to use diapers, how many of them does your baby need? In order to wrap it, you need 2 thin diapers, and in the cold season also a warm flannelette diaper. Thin diapers have to be changed very often in the first month. Therefore, even if you wash them 2 times a day, you need to have at least 10 diapers and the same number of nappies. You need 3-4 warm diapers.

It is enough to have 3-4 vests and blouses made of thin fabric and the same number from a flannel or knitwear. You shouldn’t store a lot, because a child at this age grows quickly, and thus, soon these clothes become too small for him. Baby vests are sewn without ties or fasteners, with flat seams so that they do not press or rub the baby’s delicate skin.

A newborn child, in the first 10 days of life, used to be wrapped with his arms and covered his head. First they put a vest on him. Then the head was covered with a folded diaper. One of the free ends of the diaper was covered with the child's hand and the end was brought under the opposite side; the second corner was also covered with the other; then they wrapped the child in a second diaper under the neck, put an oilcloth under the lower back and wrapped him in a blanket. They wrapped the baby loosely, so that he could move his arms and legs in the swaddle. Nowadays it is customary not to swaddle a baby.

After 10 days, the child is dressed differently: first, the child is put on a vest with a slit at the back, and then a blouse that fastens in the front; both are carefully straightened on the back so that there are no folds.

Everything needed for wrapping is laid out in advance. First, they put a flannelette blanket or a warm diaper, an oilcloth on it, then a thin diaper, and on it a diaper or a second diaper folded at an angle. The top edge of the diaper should reach the child's armpits, and the diaper should reach the waist. The lower end of the diaper is folded and placed between the legs, through both groins, the side ends are strengthened around the lower back. The baby is then wrapped in a large thin swaddle, and then in a warm swaddle or flannelette blanket.

The child's hands should be left free. To prevent your hands from getting cold, the blouse should be sewn with long sleeves, which would cover the fingers. When putting your child to sleep, you should cover him with a blanket on top. In the room, the child's head should be open, because under a scarf or cap she sweats and a rash appears on her. Excessive wrapping is also harmful because it makes the child too sensitive to the slightest cold, and thereby reduces his body's resistance to colds.

From the age of two months, the child needs to purchase several pairs of tights or rompers. These pants replace a diaper. They allow the child to move his legs freely and not get cold. If the room is cold, you can also put warm knitted shoes on his feet. At 8-9 months, when the child begins to stand on his feet and walk around the crib and on the floor, stocking pants are no longer comfortable for him. Then he needs pants that only reach his feet. They can be converted from tights. A child of this age wears tights and soft shoes on his feet.

Baby's bed

From the day of birth, the child must have his own separate bed and under no circumstances sleep with older children.

In the first two months, the baby can sleep in a wicker basket. Then you need to buy a crib for him with high bars.

A hard mattress or mattress is placed in the crib. It is harmful for a child to sleep on a feather bed, as it sweats a lot. A flat pillow or a diaper folded several times is placed under the head. An oilcloth with ribbons sewn to it is placed on top of the mattress and, having pulled it well so that there are no folds on it, the ribbons are tied under the mattress. A sheet is placed on top of the oilcloth.

The child’s crib and bedding should always be kept clean: the mattress, blanket, and pillow should be shaken out daily and knocked out in the yard, and aired once a week for several hours in the air.

It is very harmful to hang a curtain over a crib: it is difficult for a child to breathe in a room under the curtain. Only in the summer, when the child sleeps outdoors, can a canopy of gauze be placed over his crib to prevent insects from biting him.

Washing baby clothes

The baby's diapers and all clothes should be kept clean. You cannot dry wet diapers without washing them. The diaper that the child wet for the first time can be rinsed without soap in hot water and dried. If the diaper has been wet for the second time, it should be washed with soap. Dirty diapers smell like urine, turn yellow and cause skin irritation in the baby. Dirty laundry should be immediately soaked in a basin, and diapers soiled with feces should be washed immediately or soaked separately. The child’s dirty laundry that has accumulated during the day must be washed and boiled or scalded with boiling water without delay. Before use, unboiled laundry should be ironed with a hot iron to destroy any germs that may be on it.

Sleep is as necessary for a child as proper nutrition like fresh air.

It is not enough for a child to sleep only at night; he must also sleep during the day. How smaller child, the more he sleeps. A newborn sleeps almost around the clock - about 20 hours. Subsequently, the child begins to sleep less and stay awake more. At 2-3 months, the child sleeps before each feeding for 2-1.5 hours, from 3 to 10 months - 3 times a day and from 10 months to 1.5 years - 2 times a day. From 2 months, you need to teach your baby to always fall asleep at a certain time.

If a child eats properly, walks regularly, is kept clean, is occupied with toys while awake, and has a comfortable bed, he always falls asleep quickly and sleeps peacefully.

During the day, in summer and winter, the child should be put to sleep outside. In the fresh air he always sleeps soundly.

You should not teach your child to fall asleep only in complete silence and darkness. However, you need to remember that if there is too much noise and bright lights in the room where the child sleeps, the child’s sleep will not be restful, and his nervous system will not rest.

In the first weeks of a child's life, it is very easy to teach him to sleep peacefully throughout the night. To do this, you must always feed him at a certain time and put him to bed in a comfortable bed, in a well-ventilated room. Although, there is another opinion - this is a free sleep and feeding schedule for the child. But from experience I can say that such poorly organized children are more capricious and the mother does not have time to do household chores and relax.

If your child sleeps restlessly, you need to find the cause of the restlessness and eliminate it. Sometimes a child is entertained too much before bed by adults coming home from work; the room is noisy, stuffy, and smoky. It is necessary to eliminate these shortcomings, create a calm environment before going to bed, and open the window. Bathing often has a beneficial effect. After a bath, the child usually sleeps for 5-6 hours straight without waking up.

Walk

We already know how much a baby needs fresh air and sunlight. It is not enough to limit yourself to ventilating the room in which the child is located. An infant should walk daily in the fresh air in the mother's arms, in a sled or in a stroller. While the child is not yet able to walk, it is best to put him to sleep in the fresh air during the day. Fresh air and sunshine strengthen children's body and protect it from diseases, especially rickets. A child who is accustomed to walking every day in winter and summer catches a cold much less often. Daily walks improve appetite and strengthen the child’s nervous system; He is less capricious and sleeps better. In winter, if there is no strong cold wind, you can walk with your child even when the frost is 10-15 degrees.

In addition, you can put your child to sleep in the fresh air during the day; Children should be dressed according to the time of year.

In winter, a child can sleep in the room with the window open, and this will be very useful for him. In this case, you need to dress it as if you were going for a walk. The window should be closed 15 - 20 minutes before the child wakes up. When the room is warm, you need to remove the warm blanket from the child, warm cap, otherwise he will overheat, sweat and may catch a cold.

Walking can begin at two weeks of age. Initially, the child is carried out for 15 - 20 minutes, and then the walking time is gradually extended to 1.5 - 3 hours. In winter, the child should walk 2 times a day, for a total of at least 3-4 hours. In the warm season, it is advisable for it to be in the air all day.

For a walk in the winter, they put a scarf and a warm hat on the child’s head, then dress him in a warm blouse, wrap him with his hands in diapers, and then in a warm blanket with a duvet cover, with the expectation that the upper corner covers the child’s head, protecting it from the wind. A clean diaper is placed under the head and a clean handkerchief under the chin in case the baby burps or drools. The child's face should not be covered so as not to interfere with his breathing. fresh air. In winter, on frosty days, before going for a walk, it is recommended to lubricate his face with some kind of fat.

If after a walk the child’s arms and legs are warm, his lips and cheeks are pink, and the child does not sweat, it means that the mother dressed him correctly.

In spring and autumn, when going for a walk with your child, it is enough to wrap him in a flannelette blanket. In summer, on hot days, you can carry it out in a vest, a light blouse, wrapped only in a diaper or without it, and wearing a white linen cap that protects your head from overheating by the sun's rays.

Toys

When the child is awake and not busy eating or walking, he needs to be given toys. Depending on the age, toys are hung above the crib, given to the child, placed in the crib or on the table in front of his chair.

If the child plays on the floor, the toys are placed on a clean blanket on which he sits.

Toys are of great importance for the proper development of a child. An infant needs toys that are easy to clean, do not contain toxic substances and are safe in shape. Toys should be bright, attract the child's attention and large enough so that he cannot put them in his mouth and swallow them. It is best to buy rubber, plastic or wooden toys. Various types of toys can serve as toys for a child. small items household items: lids, metal mugs, wooden spoons, etc.

Children love to play with these objects. Children's toys should be washed daily with hot water and soap and kept in a clean bag.

Older children and strangers should not be allowed to touch toys, as there may always be germs on their hands; putting toys in your mouth, infant can introduce these microbes into your body and thus become infected with any disease.

After birth, the baby adapts to life in new conditions. Young parents strive to provide maximum comfort to their baby.

One of the common questions is: “How to properly care for a newborn boy in the first month of life?” Learn the intricacies of bathing, treating the umbilical wound, and the features of cleaning the baby’s ears and eyes. Surely, knowledge of how to trim a baby’s nails, how to wash a boy, how to perform massage and gymnastics will come in handy.

General rules

• carry out mandatory hygiene measures every day: neglect of the rules often causes diaper rash, inflammation of the skin around the umbilical wound, in the genital area;
• use suitable means for processing various areas body, bathing the baby, fighting colic. A properly assembled first aid kit for a newborn should contain everything necessary to care for the baby;
• do not rush to extremes: too frequent treatment of delicate skin, an abundance of creams and body care lotions will not be beneficial. Replace synthetic components with natural ones: add a decoction of chamomile, string to the bath when bathing, use baby powder without fragrances, use less often wet wipes instead of washing;
• Keep up with new products in the field of skin care, check with your pediatrician which products are outdated. Many popular compositions are now used less frequently: for example, pediatricians recommend replacing a solution of potassium permanganate when bathing herbal decoction from string or chamomile.

Treatment of the umbilical wound

• moisten a cotton swab with hydrogen peroxide (concentration no more than 3%), gently wipe the navel, apply brilliant green;
• the optimal frequency of treatment is 1–2 times a day;
• If redness or exudate appears from the navel, visit your pediatrician without delay.

How to care for your skin

A newborn boy is in diapers or slips, heavy pollution There is no tiny body yet. Care includes bathing and washing after each bowel movement and urination. A newborn baby's diapers are wet and dirty at the same time several times throughout the day.

Rules for bathing a baby

• After the umbilical wound has healed, bathe your baby daily, preferably in the evening, before feeding. Then the baby will eat, calm down and fall asleep easier;
• Use boiled water for the first month, especially if you previously had problems in the navel area;
• always wash the bath before and after bathing with baby soap, wipe dry to prevent the development of fungus;
• instead of potassium permanganate, add a weak decoction of chamomile or string to the water (1 tablespoon of dry raw material is enough for 500 ml of boiling water);
• the room should not be more than +26 degrees, below +24 is also undesirable. Both cold and heat are harmful to the baby;
• optimal water temperature: +36…+37 degrees;
• Use baby soap when bathing no more than once every 7 days: too active use will upset the pH balance and cause excessive dryness of the skin;
• In the first month, give up synthetic compounds. Any chemical, even from well-known manufacturers, always loses to a natural decoction of string or chamomile. Take half an hour to prepare the healing decoction: you will protect your delicate skin from irritation. Pediatricians note that after bathing in a herbal bath with a calming effect, children sleep better.

Please note other rules:

• in the first month of a newborn boy’s life, bathing lasts up to 15 minutes; as he gets older, increase the duration to 20–30 minutes;
• before bathing, measure the temperature, prepare all children’s things, a towel, a watering can with clean warm water near the bath;
• fold the baby’s laundry in the order in which you need the things;
• At first, many young parents worry, often fuss, get lost, and are afraid of damaging their tiny body. Keeping things in order around the bathtub, neatly laid out things and equipment will eliminate unnecessary worry and allow you to find everything you need for the procedure in a matter of seconds;
• At first, be sure to place a flannelette diaper on the bottom of the bath;
• Wash your body, fingers, and head thoroughly (be sure to support it). Make sure that the water does not get into your eyes, ears, or nose;
• After bathing, pour clean water over the child from a jug or watering can. Be sure to check the temperature to ensure the liquid is not too cold or hot;
• wrap the baby in a towel. Gently blot the body and stroke the back. Take the baby into the room, place it on a new, dry towel, remove any remaining moisture;
• process umbilical wound, apply baby oil or cream to your skin. Lightly powder the armpits, folds in the groin, and neck with baby powder;
• put on a diaper or gauze diaper, swaddle the baby or put on a sleep (“little man”). Be sure to cover your head with a hat or cap;
• act carefully but quickly, otherwise the newborn boy will freeze.

Important! Did the child have a bowel movement before bathing? Did the baby urinate? Remove urine and liquid stool before bathing your newborn. The rules for treating the genitals are described below.

How to wash a boy

Cleanliness of the genital organ is a prerequisite for prevention inflammatory diseases. Carry out daily hygiene measures taking into account some features.

How to wash a newborn boy? Recommendations:

• wash your hands with soap;
• place the baby on your left hand: keep your head on your bent elbow, your back along your arm;
• gently hold the leg by the thigh;
• you will need running water with a temperature of +36…+37 degrees;
• rinse the penis and scrotum thoroughly, do not retract the foreskin;
• wash the boy only from front to back;
• blot the skin in the genital area with a towel, make sure that there are no droplets left;
• carry out air baths for 5–10 minutes depending on the air temperature;
• Lubricate the genital area with baby cream or special hypoallergenic oil to prevent diaper rash. If the apartment is cool, after two or three minutes, swaddle the newborn boy or put on a sleepsuit;
• If you use diapers, put this item of clothing on your dry, clean body.

Ear cleaning

Helpful Tips:

• in the first time after birth, pediatricians do not recommend using cotton buds to cleanse the ear canal: it is easy to damage the delicate membrane;
• moisten a cotton swab with chamomile decoction or boiled water, wipe the auricle. Make sure that water does not run from the cotton wool: liquid getting into the ear often provokes otitis media;
• Using gentle movements, treat the area behind the ears: light “crusts” often accumulate here. Blot the tender area and apply baby cream.

Eye care

How to proceed:

• wipe sensitive areas twice a day (in the morning, after waking up and in the evening);
• prepare a weak solution of furatsilin or use a very weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• wipe the eyes from the outer edge to the inner;
• In case of inflammation of the mucous membrane, treat the eyes more often - every three hours. First treat the healthy eye, then the inflamed one;
• In case of conjunctivitis, be sure to show the newborn to the pediatrician.

How to cut your nails

Often mothers are wary of performing this operation, for fear of damaging the delicate nail fold. But you still need to take care of this area: after birth, the baby already has tiny nails, which are still soft, but by the end of the fourth week the plate hardens. If you leave uneven, sharp edges, the child will accidentally scratch his face.

If you follow the rules and carefully handle tiny fingers, the risk of damage is minimal.

Find out how to help your child during an asthma attack.

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At the address, read the instructions for using Regidron powder for diarrhea in a child.

Helpful Tips:

• buy special nail scissors with rounded ends;
• Pediatricians recommend trimming nails after bathing: under the influence of warm water, the nail plate softens;
• let someone close to you distract the child while you slowly trim the nails;
• be sure to wipe the instrument with medical alcohol;
• don't trim nail plate too short;
• on your hands, round the corners of your nails, on your legs, leave them straight;
• Pediatricians advise carrying out the procedure every 7–10 days. There is no need to trim your nails too often.

Walks

• walks are an essential element for the proper development of the baby;
• Walk with your newborn in the first days after returning home from the hospital. Required condition– good weather without dampness and strong wind;
• in the heat, do not walk with the baby in the sun, place the stroller in the shade;
• always wear a cotton cap;
• The first walk is no more than 15 minutes, gradually increase the time spent in the air. The baby sleeps more peacefully in the stroller and eats better when he returns home. In good weather, walk 2-3 times a day;
• if the baby was born in the cold season, wait until he is 16–17 days old. For the first walk, the air temperature should be above -5 degrees;
• take the baby outside for 10 minutes, be sure to dress warmly;
• Is there a strong wind or frost outside? Take a walk around the house. Dress your baby as if you were going outside, open the window, stay nearby so your baby can get some fresh air.

Do not wrap your baby up and avoid clothing made from synthetic fabrics. Overheating plus non-breathable surfaces provoke the development of diaper rash and allergic reactions.

Gymnastics and massage

Another useful element of caring for a newborn. Start classes when the baby is one week old.

How to proceed:

• during swaddling, lightly stroke the legs, arms, and tummy;
• act gently, do not rub delicate skin;
• movements “rise” from the foot to the thigh area, from the hand to the shoulder;
• gymnastics for newborns are simple exercises to strengthen muscles;
• conduct classes every day, starting from the 7th–8th day of life;
• first, carefully bend and straighten the legs one by one, then the arms;
• then gently massage your feet, slightly bend and straighten them;
• the next exercise is spreading the arms and legs;
• At first, gymnastics takes no more than five minutes.

Now you know the features of caring for a newborn boy in the first month of life. Follow a daily routine, provide your baby with adequate nutrition, physical and psycho-emotional development. You have practical advice, how to bathe a baby correctly, how to trim tiny nails, how to do gymnastics and massage. Use pediatricians' recommendations when daily care for the baby. Don’t worry, listen to the advice of doctors more often and experienced parents. You will definitely succeed!

Video. Tips for parents on caring for a newborn boy: