A Pediatrician’s Top 10 List for Managing Life with a New Baby

New baby coming? It’s an exciting time, but the first weeks home with an infant can be exhausting…and confusing. Marcus DeGraw, MD, a board certified pediatrician in the new St. John Children’s Center – Macomb Township (opening early May), offers parents helpful tips to ease the transition into parenthood.

Top 10 List for Managing Life with a New Baby

1. Relax. Many parents get very anxious doing everyday, normal activities with their babies because they are afraid they will hurt them.  Relax, be gentle, follow your instincts, and you will most often be right.
2. Seek the right advice. Doctors who care for infants are trained to help you. Find a physician who you trust, and one relative or friend to ask for advice. Asking 10 people will get you 10 recommendations, creating anxiety and confusion. Find a trusted advisor with happy, healthy babies, and ask them.
3. Follow infant’s lead. Many parents worry about everything an infant does. Follow your infant’s lead.  If your infant has a symptom that bothers the parent, and not the infant, then it likely is nothing.  If it bothers the infant, then ask your doctor.
4. Ask questions. Your doctor is there to help answer your questions. There is no such thing as a bad question. However, there is bad timing. Don’t call at 2 a.m. to talk about a months-old issue. If it can wait until the morning, then wait. Urgent symptoms include: temperature higher than 100 degrees (especially if baby is less than three months old), decreased urine output, seizure-like activity, blue or yellow skin or eye whites, vomiting that lasts for a long time, excessive irritability, or crying.
5. Swaddle: Studies have shown that infants who are swaddled well are less irritable and sleep better. Use thin, flannel-type blankets so that baby can’t wiggle out. All infants should sleep on their backs, in a crib, alone, without stuffed animals or bumper pads. The American Association of Pediatrics recently reported that using a pacifier during sleep may help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
6. Don’t overfeed. An infant’s only trick to soothing itself is to suck. Many parents misread this cue and overfeed. For the first couple months, most infants do not need more than two to three ounces every three hours. In general, an infant should take 24 to 30 ounces per day of breast milk or formula for normal growth.  Anything more than that is likely too much and may cause anemia, reflux or other problems.
7. Don’t compare. Every child is different, and growth rates vary greatly, as does normal development.  Some babies develop faster than others, and this doesn’t mean that your child is behind or delayed. This also goes for children in the same family.
8. Learn basic safety. Infants less than one year should be placed in a rear-facing seat in the back seat of the vehicle, and never in front of an airbag. Have a professional (fire or police station) double-check your car seat. Learn infant CPR and first aid. Install safety gates, outlet plugs, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. Never leave children alone in a bathtub, even for a few seconds. Have the number for your physician, local EMS, emergency room and the Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) accessible. 
9. Don’t rush feeding. Start soft solid foods at about six months. If you start younger, the child is at higher risk for allergic reactions and choking. Better sleep by eating solids has not been proven. Foods requiring better swallowing coordination, like crackers, teething biscuits and Cheerios should not be started until closer to nine months, and table foods at one year old. Avoid highly allergenic foods like fish, eggs and citrus until after one year old and nuts/peanut butter until 18 to 24 months.
10. Learn about poop. No one has ever been so fascinated with poop until they have their first infant. Is that color normal? Too infrequently or too frequently?  Is struggling to poop constipation?  All babies are different, and each can be normal. Some poop several times a day, others poop every fourth day. Infants aren’t constipated unless the poop is hard or like pebbles. Any consistency between oatmeal and putty is normal. Infants may strain with pooping because they are learning how to push, and to coordinate pushing and letting the poop out. This may take three to four months. The same goes for passing gas and burping.  Most infants don’t need help or treatment for this, they just need time.

Dr. DeGraw is one of the pediatricians at St. John Children’s Center, which is attached to St. John Medical Center – Macomb Township. The address is 17900 23 Mile Rd., Suite 304 in Macomb Township. Phone is 586-898-9010.

In addition to general pediatrics, the St. John Children’s Center has specialists in the areas of infectious disease, endocrinology, cardiology, pediatric surgery, gastroenterology, neurology, nephrology, behavioral medicine, and pediatric hematology/oncology.

The Medical Office Building and St. John Medical Center – Macomb Township create a healthcare campus for northern Macomb County residents. The Center has a 24-hour emergency department, after-hours urgent care, outpatient surgery center, diagnostic imaging, outpatient lab, and the Eastside Endoscopy Center.