Infant care:

Pregnancy and childbirth, in the simplest of explanation, are overwhelming. An infant is a bundle of joy one day and becomes a package of poop the very next day. No matter how much the new parents disguise themselves to be coping well, infant care is challenging. 

It comes with so many first moves of life that the most intelligent people can oversee small details that require attention. Countless sleepless nights on the mother’s part, and zillion attempts to calm that kidzilla down on the father’s end marks the onset of the parenting journey.
A lot of aspects require meticulous effort while one is handling an infant. This article will cover some of the basics of infant care such as:

• Sleep pattern:

Most of the new parents struggle with the sleep pattern of their infants. It has been dark and cosy for months before it became loud, bright and noisy. It is a transition from the fetal stage to a newborn that takes a toll on both the infant and the parents.

Most of the time, when the exhausted parents hit the bed, the infant cries their lungs out for a diaper change or a night time feed.

Babies with colic issues can create fuss at night due to their aching bellies that don’t want to adjust. A warm bath, a gentle massage, some cycling movements to calm the abdominal muscles, and a swaddle can be the parents’ best package of night time routine.

• Feeding time:

This part of the infant care is especially hard for the new mothers. Breastfed or formula fed, the infants require milk. In case of breastfeeding, the mother is on call 24/7 for the months to come. The breastfeeding positions and best practices is another topic in itself to discover.

Some small tips to avoid discomfort while breastfeeding the kids is to take a position that is the best-fit for both mother and baby. A nursing pillow can be a life saver for many moms.
Cluster fed babies can be hard to handle, but patience is the top most outcome of parenthood, so hang in there, this too shall pass.

Bottle fed babies’ bottles should be properly cleaned and sterilized. Doesn’t matter if you use a sterilizer or the old method of boiling the feeders, make sure to clean every part of the bottle before feeding the baby.
The milk should be lukewarm and never hot to avoid injury to the oral cavity of your infant.

• Baby hygiene:

Handling an infant with dirty hands can cause serious problems, so be careful to sanitize hands every time someone holds a baby.
Bathe the baby either daily or on alternate days depending on the weather.
Take special care of the infant’s ears and oral cavity to avoid any kind of infection to start.

• Overall health indicators:

A visit to the paed is a must when you’re dealing with your infant. The doctor will guide you about the growth indicators of your baby and any alternate actions such as, vaccination or introduction of vitamins; you need to take to improve the infant care process.