Newborn care tips!

Author: Li Guiying, deputy chief nurse, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University

Reviewer: Liu Li, Chief Physician, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University

The arrival of a new life can bring endless joy, but many new parents, while happy, often also worry about the care of the newborn. Today we will talk about some issues that new parents often pay attention to.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

First of all, many new parents think that their baby's breathing rate is very fast, which is actually normal. For adults, the normal breathing rate ranges from 12-20 times/minute, while the breathing rate of newborns is 20-40 times/minute, so compared with adults, the baby's breathing rate seems to be very fast.

Secondly, the heartbeat of a newborn is also relatively fast. In a calm state, the normal heartbeat rate of a newborn is 120-140 beats/minute, while for adults, the normal rate is 60-100 beats/minute.

For newborns, there is a common physiological phenomenon called "physiological jaundice". It is mainly because after the umbilical cord is cut, a large number of red blood cells are destroyed and enter the baby's blood circulation. However, the baby's metabolism is not good and the indirect bilirubin cannot be converted into direct bilirubin and excreted through the bile duct, so it manifests as yellowing on the skin. Generally, it appears 2-3 days after birth, peaks on 4-5 days, and basically disappears on 7-10 days.

At the same time, when the baby is 2-3 days old, there will be a physiological weight loss, and the weight at this time is lower than when it was just born. This is normal. This is caused by the baby eating less milk, defecating more, and excreting excess water from the body through the skin and breathing. Under normal circumstances, a child's weight loss of no more than 10% of the birth weight is considered normal. Usually after 4 days, the child's weight will begin to rise again, and will return to the birth weight in 7-10 days.

Another characteristic of newborns is that their stools are dark green. This is because the baby will begin to excrete meconium within 24 hours after birth, and the meconium contains dark green intestinal epithelial cells and amniotic fluid, so the newborn's stool will be green. Generally, this dark green meconium will last for 2-4 days, and then turn into ordinary yellow or jam-like stool. If the baby's stool is still green after 4 days of birth, it means that the baby's milk supply is insufficient and the frequency and amount of feeding need to be increased.

For baby girls, there will be a "false menstruation" phenomenon around 4-5 days after birth. "False menstruation" means that the baby girl is affected by the mother's estrogen level. When she is 4-5 days old, there will be some white or pink secretions from the vulva. This phenomenon will generally disappear on its own after 2 weeks as the estrogen level in the baby's body decreases. Don't worry too much.

The umbilical cord will fall off by itself when the baby is 7-14 days old. Before that, if the umbilical cord gets wet during bathing, be sure to dry it thoroughly and disinfect it with 75% alcohol 2-3 times a day. Here we need to remind everyone that 75% alcohol is effective within one week after opening the bottle cap. Do not use it for more than one week, because repeated opening of the cap can easily cause bacterial contamination. We also want to remind everyone that iodine is not recommended for umbilical cord disinfection, because only 75% alcohol can kill bacterial spores. After the umbilical cord falls off, there may still be some secretions, just wipe it clean.

Figure 2 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

For babies who are less than one month old, the excitement level of the cerebral cortex is low and they need a longer sleep time, generally 20-22 hours of sleep a day. Therefore, it is normal for newborns to sleep more.

For newborns, there is another problem that is very troublesome for parents, that is, spitting up milk. This is because the gastrointestinal function of newborns is not fully developed, the intestinal motility is weak, and the cardia of the stomach is relaxed, which may cause milk spillage when feeding. After feeding, parents can let the child rest on the adult's shoulder to burp, gently pat the back, and put the child to bed after hiccups or falling asleep, keeping the child sleeping on the right side to avoid suffocation caused by spilled milk.

Under the condition of ensuring normal sleep and milk intake, a full-month baby, that is, a baby born 28 days, will generally gain more than 600g in weight and about 4cm in height. Normal growth in height and weight can also represent good sleep and nutritional status of the baby. Therefore, for new parents, it is also very important to regularly monitor the baby's weight and height.