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Newborn care and safety are activities and precautions recommended for new parents or caregivers. It is an educational goal of many hospitals and birthing centers to promote newborn care and safety as parents take their infant home. [1]
Taking a newborn care class during pregnancy can prepare caregivers for their future responsibilities. During the stay in a hospital or a birthing center, clinicians and nurses help with basic baby care and demonstrate how to perform it. Newborn care basics include:
Many new parents appreciate somebody checking in with them and their baby a few days after coming home, and can ask about home visits by a nurse or health care worker. If breastfeeding, the mother can ask whether a lactation consultant can visit her and the baby at home to provide follow-up support and help with finding other resources in the community, such as peer support groups. [1]
Many first-time parents also welcome the help of an experienced family member or friend. Having a support person stay with the newborn for a few days can give the mother the confidence to go at it alone in the weeks ahead. This can be arranged before delivery. [1]
The baby's first doctor's visit is another good time to ask any infant care questions. Parents can ask about the various reasons to call the doctor and inquire about the vaccines their baby needs. Young children need vaccines because the diseases they protect against can strike at an early age and can be very dangerous in childhood. This includes both rare diseases and more common ones, such as the flu. [1]
Caring for a newborn also includes health screening of the newborn. Most of the time this occurs in the hospital or pediatrician's office shortly after birth. Every state screens babies for more than two dozen disorders. Early detection of a disorder can prevent future complications. [2]
Handwashing helps to prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses to children. Pathogenic microorganisms can be transmitted from other children and their diapers, and from uncooked meat, seafood, eggs, dogs, cats, turtles, snakes, birds, lizards, and soil. [3]
Since 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that infants be placed to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also called crib death. SIDS is the sudden and unexplained death of a baby under 1 year of age. Even though there is no way to know which babies might die of SIDS, recommendations include:
Some parents worry that the baby can roll over during the night. However, by the time the baby is able to roll over by itself, the risk for SIDS is much lower. During the time of greatest risk, 2 to 4 months of age, most babies are not able to turn over from their backs to their stomachs. [1]
Newborns and older infants are to use rear-facing car seats. These are required until age 2 or when they reach the upper weight or height limit of that seat. After this, a forward-facing car seat is used. [4] Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children in the US. Buckling up is the best way to save lives and reduce injuries. Child passenger restraint laws result in more children being buckled up. Only 2 out of every 100 children live in states that require car seat or booster seat use for newborns and infants. A third of children who died in crashes in 2011 were not buckled up. Caregivers promote the safety their newborns by: knowing how to use car seats, booster seats, and seat belts and using them on every trip, no matter how short. [5]
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usually occurs during sleep. Typically death occurs between the hours of midnight and 9:00a.m. There is usually no noise or evidence of struggle. SIDS remains the leading cause of infant mortality in Western countries, constituting half of all post-neonatal deaths.
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. Infant is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term baby. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of other organisms. A newborn is, in colloquial use, an infant who is only hours, days, or up to one month old. In medical contexts, a newborn or neonate is an infant in the first 28 days after birth; the term applies to premature, full term, and postmature infants.
Elimination communication (EC) is a practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place. Caregivers may use diapers (nappies) as a back-up in case of "misses" some or all of the time, or not at all. EC emphasizes communication between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more attuned to the child's innate rhythms and control of urination and defecation. The term "elimination communication" was inspired by traditional practices of diaperless baby care in less industrialized countries and hunter-gatherer cultures. Some practitioners of EC begin soon after birth, the optimum window being zero to four months in terms of helping the baby get in tune with their elimination needs, although it can be started with babies of any age. The practice can be done full-time, part-time, or just occasionally.
Co-sleeping or bed sharing is a practice in which babies and young children sleep close to one or both parents, as opposed to in a separate room. Co-sleeping individuals sleep in sensory proximity to one another, where the individual senses the presence of others. This sensory proximity can either be triggered by touch, smell, taste, or noise. Therefore, the individuals can be a few centimeters away or on the other side of the room and still have an effect on the other. It is standard practice in many parts of the world, and is practiced by a significant minority in countries where cribs are also used.
Babywearing is the practice of wearing or carrying a baby in a sling or in another form of carrier. Babywearing has been practiced for millennia around the world. Babywearing is a form of baby transport which can be used for as long as mutually desired, often until toddlerhood and beyond. In the industrialized world, babywearing has gained popularity in recent decades. Part of the reason for this shift is due to the influence of advocates of attachment parenting.
A baby monitor, also known as a baby alarm, is a radio system used to remotely listen to sounds made by an infant. An audio monitor consists of a transmitter unit, equipped with a microphone, placed near to the child. It transmits the sounds by radio waves to a receiver unit with a speaker carried by, or near to, the person caring for the infant. Some baby monitors provide two-way communication which allows the parent to speak back to the baby. Some allow music to be played to the child. A monitor with a video camera and receiver is often called a baby cam.
An infant bed is a small bed especially for infants and very young children. Infant beds are a historically recent development intended to contain a child capable of standing. The cage-like design of infant beds restricts the child to the bed. Between one and two years of age, children are able to climb out and are moved to a toddler bed to prevent an injurious fall while escaping the bed.
Swaddling is an ancient practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloths so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favour in the 17th century.
A layette is a collection of clothing and accessories for a newborn child. The term "layette set" is commonly used in the United States to refer to sets of baby clothes. In the 1920s, expectant mothers or their friends and relatives frequently knitted a matching layette set, consisting of a blanket, hat, sweater and booties. Expectant parents today are more likely to purchase pre-curated layette sets from brands.
A bassinet, bassinette, or cradle is a bed specifically for babies from birth to about four months. Bassinets are generally designed to work with fixed legs or caster wheels, while cradles are generally designed to provide a rocking or gliding motion. Bassinets and cradles are distinguished from Moses baskets and carry cots, which are designed to be carried and sit directly on the floor or furniture. After four months, babies are often transferred to a crib or cot. In the United States, however, the bedside sleeper is the prevalent option, since they are generally bigger, recommended up to 6 months, and often used up to a year.
The Safe to Sleep campaign, formerly known as the Back to Sleep campaign, is an initiative backed by the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the US National Institutes of Health to encourage parents to have their infants sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. The target age group of the campaign is 0–1 years of age, because this is when babies are at the greatest risk of experiencing SIDS. Since "Safe to Sleep" was launched in 1994, the incidence of SIDS has declined by more than 50%. However, there has been a rise in infant sleep-related suffocation events. Consequently, the campaign has broadened its goal to focus on safe sleep conditions and further preventative measures.
A travel cot is a bed for use by a baby or young child that collapses or folds into a bag for easy carriage. Travel cots are typically much lighter than a standard cot, with soft sides to provide comfort to the baby when sleeping.
Sleep training is a set of parental intervention techniques with the end goal of increasing nightly sleep in infants and young children, addressing “sleep concerns”, and decreasing nighttime signalling. Although the diagnostic criteria for sleep issues in infants is rare and limited, sleep training is usually approached by parents or caregivers self identifying supposed sleep issues.
Infant feeding is the practice of feeding infants. Breast milk provides the best nutrition when compared to infant formula. Infants are usually introduced to solid foods at around four to six months of age.
The maternity package, known internationally as the Finnish "baby box," is a kit granted by the Finnish social security institution Kela, to all expectant or adoptive parents who live in Finland or are covered by the Finnish social security system. The package contains children's clothes and other necessary items, such as nappies, bedding, cloth, gauze towels and child-care products. It was first issued in 1938 to parents with a low income, and contained a blanket, crib sheets, diapers, and fabric which parents could use to make clothing for the baby.
A bedside sleeper, also referred to as a sidecar sleeper or bedside bassinet, is a bassinet or baby cot that attaches to the parents' bed, allowing newborns to sleep next to their parents safely. This is a form of safe co-sleeping, and has little risks associated with sudden infant death syndrome, unlike bedsharing. Bedside sleepers are a component of rooming-in, a practice followed in hospitals to keep the baby by the mother's bed, giving her time to establish a stronger bond with her baby.
Infant and toddler safety are those actions and modifications put into place to keep babies and toddlers safe from accidental injury and death. Many accidents, injuries and deaths are preventable.
Foodborne illness is any illness resulting from the food spoilage of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food. Infant food safety is the identification of risky food handling practices and the prevention of illness in infants. Foodborne illness is a serious health issue, especially for babies and children. Infants and young children are particularly vulnerable to foodborne illness because their immune systems are not developed enough to fight off foodborne bacterial infections. In fact, 800,000 illnesses affect children under the age of 10 in the U.S. each year. Therefore, extra care should be taken when handling and preparing their food.
The Rock 'n Play was a baby sleeper produced by Fisher-Price. The product launched in 2009 and sold 4.7 million units before its initial recall in 2019. Approximately 100 infant deaths have been connected with use of the sleeper. Several of the deaths were caused by infants rolling onto their stomachs and being suffocated by the sleeper's padding.
A receiving blanket is a small, lightweight blanket used to wrap or swaddle newborns, as well as in infant care more generally.
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