The joy of welcoming a newborn baby into your family can often be contrasted with some anxiety. You may feel anxious about how to properly care for them. After all, your new baby is small and fragile and requires your help. As a parent, you always have help from the professionals at Health Care for Children. Dr. Theresa Rinker, Dr. Amanda Zinger, and Dr. Alex Flanagan specialize in newborn care in Kansas City, MO, and can help you find the right balance between sleep, feeding, and playtime.
Sleep and Feeding Correlation
It’s important to understand that feeding and sleep are highly intertwined with newborn care in Kansas City, MO. That’s because your new baby will sleep as much as 14 to 18 hours within 24 hours. However, that sleep is not in continuous eight-hour blocks a night. Newborns frequently wake up every few hours needing to feed. The type of nutrition you give your child matters — they will feed more when being breastfed.
This adjustment is essential for new parents, whose sleep will also be impacted now. Therefore, make sure you also get your rest and nutrition and have a comfortable environment so you are strong for yourself and your new child, especially if you are breastfeeding. It can help to set a calming bedtime routine for your baby. While your newborn can’t tell the difference between day and night, you can help adjust them by ensuring they sleep in a darkened room at night and perform activities such as soft music, a warm bath, or a gentle lotion massage. Then, as the baby eventually sleeps through the night, they can better recognize that time of day.
Creating Playtime
Playtime with newborns is easy because they’re not so active yet. Use their playtime to take them on short walks and have them adjust to being outside for fresh air. When your newborn is awake for a short period, that could be the time for gentle tummy time, tickling, and having windows open for sunshine. Use those awake hours for gentle bonding.
At Health Care for Children, you have quality newborn care in Kansas City, MO, that can help you balance your baby’s adjustment to the world. Call us at 816-792-1170 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Rinker, Dr. Zinger, or Dr. Flanagan.
