Blog Post: Bringing Home Baby…and Learning to Understand Their Needs

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Caring for a newborn can feel less intuitive than many parents expect. Dr. Melody DeClaire, an Atrium Health Levine Children’s pediatrician at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Pediatrics Northwest in Greensboro, describes the first two weeks of a newborn’s life as “survival mode for all involved.” 

If you’re a new parent, it’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed at times as you get to know your baby and learn what helps them feel safe and comforted.

“Is that sound the baby just made typical?”
“How can I tell if she’s getting enough milk?”
“What might this cry be telling me?”

If you’re feeling unsure, you’re not alone—and you’re not doing anything wrong. These questions are part of learning your baby, and support is always available. After all, babies don’t come with an instruction manual!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when bringing a new baby home:

  • You can’t spoil a baby by holding them too much or giving them too much attention. In fact, making sure a baby has consistent physical contact with parents and caregivers and feels responded to when they cry or needs attention aids in their healthy development and helps the baby establish a secure attachment – something that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.
  • Newborns don’t need to be bathed often. Once a child gets a bit older, you may opt for daily or every-other-day baths, but frequent bathing can dry out the sensitive skin brand new babies have. Aim for baths two to three times per week for the first several months of your newborn’s life (although fewer than that is also fine!). Note: Before your baby’s umbilical cord stump has completely fallen off, just give sponge baths.
  • You don’t need to put any creams, ointments, etc. on your newborn’s umbilical cord stump. In fact, introducing those kinds of things can cause infection. Instead, just focus on keeping the stump dry and clean and allow it to fall off naturally. Never pull or force the stump off – it will come off on its own between about 10 days and three weeks after birth.
  • Blue hands and/or feet don’t mean your newborn is too cold. Bluish hands and feet are actually relatively common in newborns. Their circulation is still immature, and so this bluish coloring doesn’t necessarily indicate that they’re cold.
  • Breastfed babies need to be fed more frequently than formula-fed babies. Breastfed babies tend to need to eat every two to three hours, while formula-fed babies typically eat every three to four hours. (Also, it’s impossible to overfeed a breastfed baby fed via nursing.)
  • It’s normal for babies to have skin issues. If your newborn’s skin is peeling, or if they have baby acne, know that those things are nothing to be concerned about. Skin peeling is especially common in babies who were born late, particularly if they were born with a protective vernix coating. And baby acne is caused from lingering maternal hormones in the baby’s body. It tends to clear up on its own with no treatment or creams/ointments needed.
  • Your pediatrician is there for you when you notice something is off with your baby. Yes, there are so many common issues with newborns, and yet it’s important to trust your gut as a parent. “In general, if anything doesn’t seem right with your newborn, I would call your doctor to discuss, and they may want to see the newborn,” says Dr. DeClaire. A fever of 100.4 or above, feeding changes, and more are reasons to contact your pediatrician. “Just remember, there is no ‘silly’ question when it comes to your baby,” says Dr. DeClaire.

Though it can be helpful to gain insight from other parents and/or the internet about your baby’s symptoms or issues, Dr. DeClaire cautions parents that those things can lead you to misinformation. Instead, she recommends, consider either contacting your baby’s pediatrician or using the virtual chat capability from Atrium Health Levine Children’s. “The service is available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week, and it can help you get an answer to a quick question about your child, help you calm your nerves in many cases, and give you a clear idea of next steps (if any) when it comes to their care,” she says.

If your child sees an Atrium Health Levine Children’s doctor or advanced practice professional in the Triad region, you can access this nurse chat by logging into your MyAtriumHealth account. To start a chat with a nurse, just select “Ask a Question” from the menu then tap “Pediatric Nurse Advice Chat”.

For all newborn-related concerns and care, know that you can trust the teams at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health Levine Children’s. With pediatric offices located conveniently throughout the Triad, you have access to the care your child needs to grow up healthy and happy—from board-certified pediatricians to pediatric emergency care and virtual options, as well as care at Brenner Children’s Hospital and pediatric specialists across many areas of medicine in the region.

Visit us here to find a pediatric provider closest to you. We can’t wait to meet you and your baby!