Yeditepe University Hospitals

Baby Care

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Baby Care
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After your baby was born in a healthy way, you have now started to experience his/her enjoyable growth adventure. From now on, we have compiled the information you need for the health and pleasure of both you and your baby.

Since the mother and baby will stay in the same room for a few days before discharge, your competencies in baby care will increase by reducing the family's anxiety.

It is recommended that people who take care of the baby at home before the baby is discharged should have the pertussis vaccine. If there is a discharge during the winter season, those at home should have the influenza vaccine. Respiratory syncytial virus vaccine should be administered to premature babies once a month during the winter season, and other vaccines should be administered at the same time as full-term newborns.

A Proper Hygienic Environment Should Be Provided at Home

In order to create healthy baby care, it is important to provide a suitable hygiene and care environment at home. Especially because premature babies are sensitive to heat loss, it is important to keep the house temperature around 23-24 °C. In addition, one of the points where parents are most indecisive is the choice of clothes. Yeditepe University Hospitals Pediatrics specialists expressed their views on this issue as follows:

“It is sufficient to dress your baby with one layer more of what we wear. When going out, babies should be dressed appropriately, and gloves and hats should be worn. However, since they are prone to infections, they should not be taken to crowded environments, those who come to visit the house should be warned, and if there is a person who experiences influenza, he/she should not be contacted. It is also important to note that everyone who will touch the baby should wash their hands very well and smoking should be avoided near the baby.”

Burping the Baby

Bebeğin gazının çıkarılması

You can put your baby on your shoulder, lay your baby on your lap, or your knees to release the gas. In this position, you can gently pat or rub his/her back. Babies tend to pull their feet towards their tummy when they have gas pains. So, try to burp your baby after every feeding.

If your baby does not pass gas audibly and is peaceful, it means that he/she does not have gas and you can put him/she to bed. After 2-3 months, babies usually pass gas on their own. On the other hand, if your baby suffers from severe gas pains and this does not decrease, you can consult your doctor and follow his/her recommendations

You should apply a navel dressing with 70 percent alcohol once a day until your baby's umbilical cord falls off. For this, pour alcohol on a sterile gauze patch and clean the area between the umbilical cord and the skin, that is, the place where the umbilical cord will fall off, from the inside out. Keep your baby's navel out of the diaper. If you experience navel watering, redness, discharge, or a malodor, be sure to call your pediatrician.

Oral Care

The mother should pay attention to breast hygiene and wipe the nipple at least once a day. For oral care of the baby, a clean handkerchief should be wetted with boiled warm water and the baby's mouth should be wiped in one go.

Eye, Ear, Nose, and Nail Care

  • Eye Care

In newborn babies, eye burring is a very common condition. For eye cleaning, it should be wiped at once from the eye socket to the outer end, using a soft cheesecloth moistened with boiled warm water. If the burring lasts for a long time or continues in only one eye, a doctor should be consulted.

  • Ear Care

Ear care of newborn babies is very sensitive. Care should be taken not to let anything get into the ear during care. Never use ear cleaner sticks when cleaning the inside of the ear. These can damage your baby's ear. Instead, with the help of a cheesecloth, only the parts of the ear that you can see should be cleaned. Wipe around and behind the ears with a wet cotton swab. It is useful to use separate cotton swabs for each ear. Damp cheesecloth can also be used. Places that are not visible in the ear should not be cleaned. By doing so, the dirt at the bottom is dragged further into the inner parts of the ears. In fact, the ears can naturally clean themselves. If there is an accumulation of dirt in the baby's ear, the doctor should be consulted about cleaning it.

  • Nose Care

Just like ear care, nose care is also sensitive. The nose can clean itself. The outer surface of the nose can be cleaned with a clean, sterile cloth. If there is any accumulation in the nose, it should not be tried to clean with a sharp thing (cotton swab, folded napkin, finger, etc.). This damage the inside of the nose and push the accumulation in the nose even further. Nasal aspirators prepared for babies can be used to clean the baby's nose after one month. These can be used in consultation with your doctor.

  • Nail Care

Babies' nails are soft and sharp. Therefore, their nails should be cut regularly. Since babies' hand and arm movements are uncontrolled, they can scratch their faces with their nails. Nail clippers must be clean and belong to the baby. After the nails are cut, the baby's hands should be cleaned well. Sometimes bleeding may occur during nail clipping. In this case, using a sterile cloth, it should be pressed on the bleeding site and kept there until the bleeding stops.

Baby's Bottom Care

A newborn baby can wet the diaper 6-8 times a day. Some babies may poop once a day, while others may poop after each breastfeeding. When the diaper areas of newborn babies remain wet for a long time, they become irritated. For this reason, the baby's diaper should be changed every 3-4 hours. In general, it is appropriate to change the diaper after breastfeeding.

The baby's bottom should be cleaned and dried with cotton and water at each change. It is important to do this cleaning from front to back in female babies. It is better to keep the baby's bottom uncovered for a while when the diaper is changed. In case of a rash, creams containing zinc oxide recommended by the doctor can be used. There may be a white discharge for the first few weeks in baby girls, and this is normal. It is wrong behavior to pull back the foreskin and try to clean it in male babies.

Bebeğin banyosu

Baby's Bath

The skin of the newborn baby is covered with a white, waxy, protective, and slippery substance called vernix, which does not need to be cleaned immediately after birth. In our institution, 24 hours after your baby is born, a bath is given and you are given bath training. Babies can be bathed every day. Since newborn babies lose heat rapidly when naked, the room temperature should be 24-26 degrees before giving a bath and the baby's clothes should be prepared in advance.

The bath water temperature should be 36 - 37 degrees. The temperature of the water can be controlled with the inside of the wrist. The baby's body should be washed first, then the head. Bathing should be done before feeding. Because bathing the baby right after feeding may cause him/her to vomit.

Body Temperature and Fever in Babies

Ear, under the tongue, buttocks, and armpits are temperature measurement points. Armpit measurements are 0.5 degrees lower than other measurements. It is technically difficult to measure sublingually in children under the age of 2-2.5. Ear degrees can be measured in seconds. However, you need to make sure that the tip fits well in your baby's ear canal. You must have a thermometer that you can use comfortably at home. You can measure your baby's temperature twice a day. If it is above 38 degrees, you can consult your doctor.

Cold hands and feet do not mean that your baby feels cold.

Baby's Sleep Pattern and Sleeping Positions

Babies do not have a regular sleep period in the first month. It is the healthiest sleeping position for the baby to alternately lie on the right and left sides, supporting the back. Since there is no head control in newborn babies, it is inconvenient to lay them face down.

Baby Massage

Massage is an effective communication tool that strengthens the emotional bond between baby and mother and supports physical and psycho-social development. It has been used in the protection of health and the treatment of diseases in different cultures throughout history. It has been demonstrated by many studies that massage is beneficial and necessary in reducing health problems, protecting health in every period of human life. Massage is an important intervention that can be easily beneficial for babies and children with both its physical and clinical effects and its biochemical effects.

Baby massage is important for the baby's health, quality of life, and mother-infant communication. It improves muscle strength. It supports physical development. It helps regulate the circulation, respiratory and digestive system and helps the baby relax and sleep. It increases mobility. It strengthens the body's defense system. It allows the baby to be fed with breast milk for a longer time.

 

Bebek masajı

  • Preparation for Baby Massage

The place where the massage is performed should be warm (24-26 ° C) and quiet, and there should be no airflow so that the baby does not get cold. A blanket or similar soft cover should be placed on the floor. There should be no objects near the baby that could fall on him/her, especially hot drinks should not be kept near the baby. The person who will do the massage should remove their jewelry and cut their nails short to protect the baby whose skin is very sensitive. Afterward, the baby should be undressed and laid on the prepared cover.

Before starting the massage, if the baby's bottom is dirty, it should be changed. The person who will do the massage should wash their hands with warm water and warm their hands. Baby oil or body lotion, which makes the massage comfortable, should be placed nearby and the hands and body of the baby should be lubricated before starting.

Talking or singing to the baby in a soft voice during the entire massage will affect the mother-baby interaction more positively.

  • Facial Massage                                                                           

The fingers are placed in the middle of the baby's forehead and massage is done from there to the temples. The eyelids are gently rubbed towards the temples. The nose is rubbed against the cheeks by pressing it lightly. The mouth is rubbed in the direction of the ears as if making a smile so that it comes towards the gums. Massage is done gently from the chin to the back of the ear.

  • Chest Massage                                                                            

The hands are placed in the middle of the chest, and the palms are lightly pressed towards the armpits and descended as if straightening a book page. The hands are shifted back and forth from the middle of the chest to the opposite shoulder.

  • Arm Massage                                                                               

The baby's arm is lifted. The armpits are rubbed. The area from the shoulder to the wrists is rubbed and massaged first with one hand and then with the other. With the same technique, the procedure is repeated this time from the wrist to the shoulder. The baby's arm is taken into the palm and rubbed in circular movements (twisting motion). Hands are opened and each finger is rubbed in turn. The same procedure is applied to the other arm.

  • Abdominal Massage               

The hands are pulled towards the baby's belly like pulling sand. The legs are lifted in the air, bent at the knees, and pressed against the belly. While doing the same procedure on the baby's belly with one hand, the legs are held by the other hand and pressed against the belly. The massage is finished by moving the tips of the fingers from left to right.

  • Leg Massage  

The baby's leg is lifted. His/her leg is rubbed towards the ankles, first with one hand and then with the other. With the same technique, the procedure is repeated this time from the wrist to the hip. The leg is held from the wrist with the fingertips of both hands, while the hands are parallel. From the hip to the wrist, the area is rubbed by moving the hands in the opposite direction. Then the same procedure is continued towards the hip. The inward circular twisting motion applied to the arms is also applied to the leg. The sole is rubbed from the heel to the toes. Each toe is rubbed one by one. The upper part of the foot is rubbed from the ankle to the toes.

  • Back Massage

The baby is laid face down on a pillow or blanket. The hand is held in the middle of the back to form a right angle to the spine, and the whole back is massaged from the neck to the hips with a rubbing motion. Small circles are drawn on the back with fingertips.

Baby massage has an important role for the mother and baby to get to know each other and initiate and develop the relationship. The ideal time to massage the baby is one hour after feeding. Natural oils should be preferred for the massage to be effective. 15 minutes is sufficient as a massage time, in which both movements are repeated twice.

This content was prepared by Yeditepe University Hospitals Medical Editorial Board.
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