Newborn Care
Newborn Care in Kansas City, MO Serving Liberty & Independence, MO
Why Your Child Needs Newborn Care
It is important to establish care with a primary medical provider for your newborn within the first days of life. Being connected to a supportive team can help you and your newborn adjust and thrive.
When Newborn Visits Should Happen and What To Expect
Your child’s first newborn visit should happen within 2 to 5 days of birth. During this first newborn visit, your pediatrician will:
- Complete a comprehensive physical examination of your newborn, checking for medical concerns or issues
- Record your newborn’s size, including length and weight, and record other information to use as a baseline to check your newborn’s growth and development over time
- Answer questions and address concerns you have about feeding, bathing, changing, sleeping, and other aspects of newborn care
- Administer immunizations your baby needs to help prevent illnesses and diseases
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the first newborn care visit is followed by visits at 2 weeks, 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 24 months.
How to Care for Your Newborn at Home
Your pediatrician is an expert at newborn care and can provide you with guidelines to take care of your baby at home. These are a few simple tips to care for your newborn:
- Newborns eat often and we would expect them to want to breastfeed or have a bottle 8 to 12 times in 24 hours.
- Always place babies on their back to sleep. This reduces the risk of SIDS.
- Newborns sleep a lot, and we want them to sleep. But be sure they are waking to eat around the clock.
- Change your baby’s diaper regularly and remember that your newborn’s stool will be black at first, changing to dark green, and then to yellow.
- Bathe your baby with only mild soap and lukewarm water, and gently clean the folds of skin where bacteria can grow
Want To Know More About Newborn Care?
To find out more about the importance of newborn care, call Drs. Theresa Rinker, Amanda Zinger, and Alex Flanagan at Health Care for Children in Kansas City, MO. You can reach them in the office by calling (816) 792-1170, so call today.
