A-Z guide to your new baby
Here’s our quick guide to the weird and wonderful little creature you have just brought into the world.
A APGAR stands for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration. This is a test done immediately after birth, to check a baby’s health. Each of the five is scored on a scale of 0 to 2, with 2 being the best score.
B BABY ACNE often develops within two to four weeks after birth and looks worse when a baby is fussing or crying. Don’t pick – it usually goes away on its own.
C COLIC is generally determined by paediatricians by using the “rule of threes”: crying bouts that start when a baby is about 3 weeks old (usually late in the day, although they can occur anytime), the cry lasts more than three hours a day, on more than three days a week, for more than three weeks in a row. It is estimated to affect only one in five infants.
D DUMMIES have a soothing and settling effect on babies. Also, when babies suck dummies during sleeps and naps, there’s a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). E EYE COLOUR is not in your hands. It is determined by the genes your baby has inherited from each parent, as well as other factors. It can change in the first six months.
F FONTANELLES are diamond-shaped soft spots on the top of your child’s head where his skull bones have not closed completely. This is nature’s way of ensuring an easier passage down the birth canal as the skull plates are able to move to overlap one another, making the head smaller.
G GRASP REFLEX is one of the many amazing movements, and perhaps the sweetest and everyone’s favourite, because that’s when your little one holds your finger so tightly. There are quite a few of these reflexes, but the other two best known are the Moro reflex, where he spreads his arms and legs as if he caught a fright, and the sucking reflex.
H HICCUPS are quite common in their first year. Usually they are no cause for concern unless they continue long after Baby’s first birthday. In that case, you need to see a doctor. There are several ways to stop or prevent hiccups in newborns. Taking breaks from feeding to burp and using dummies can help.
I ISO-FIX is the international standard for attachment points for child safety seats in passenger cars. Make sure you know how to use them.
J JABS to inoculate or vaccinate! This can mean the difference between life and death. Inoculation or vaccinations help keep your child safe from childhood diseases like polio, measles, chickenpox and shingles, to mention but a few.
K VITAMIN K is a fat-soluble vitamin given just after birth. Named after the German word for clotting – Koagulation – the shot does exactly that; it helps with blood clotting. Our bodies cannot make vitamin K, and we don’t store it very well in our body.
L LA LECHE LEAGUE is a breastfeeding support group found all over the country – visit lllsa.org to find one near you or join on Facebook.
M MECONIUM is that dark green substance forming the first faeces of a newborn infant. It comes within the first 24 hours of life. Some babies will pass their meconium in the delivery room. You should either observe this yourself or ask the nurse if the baby passed meconium. If there’s no bowel movement in the first 24 hours, a doctor needs to see the baby. By day three to five, the baby’s bowel movements turn to yellow, seedy stools.
N NICU stands for neonatal intensive care unit – it’s for when babies are born early, have health problems or a difficult birth. Only parents are welcome to visit and spend time with baby.
O ORAL THRUSH could be the reason your infant is extra fussy during feedings. If you notice white patches in her mouth, she may have an oral yeast infection known as thrush. This common infection can be passed between you and Baby during breastfeeding.
P POSSETING is when your baby spits out a little milk with a wind. Sometimes he is overfull or there is a trapped air bubble in his tummy causing the milk to spill out. Always hold your baby upright after a feed to prevent this.
Q QUARRELLING with your partner – this is normal. It’s not whether you quarrel but how. And how your quarrelling makes your children feel has important consequences for them. Some research suggests that children as young as six months register their parents’ distress.
R ROAD TO HEALTH CARD is your passport to great health and key to the many doors of learning, especially in the early years – it is a must-have. Consider it the baby’s ID.
S SIDS is the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger than a year old. Most Sids deaths are associated with sleep, which is why it’s sometimes still called “crib/cot death”. It is the leading cause of death in children, boys more often than girls, between one month and one year of age. In most cases, the infant seemed healthy immediately before the death.
T TEETHING is a big event in your baby’s young life, can be uncomfortable and usually arrives around 4 to 7 months, or generally by his first birthday. Signs may include swollen, tender gums, fussing and crying, gnawing or wanting to chew on hard things and lots of drool.
U UMBILICAL CORD is what connects a baby in the womb to its mother. It carries oxygen and nutrients from the placenta into your baby’s bloodstream and is cut at birth, leaving a stump of tissue attached to your baby’s belly button (navel). The stump gradually dries and shrivels until it falls off, usually one to two weeks after birth, but at times it can take longer.
V VERNIX is the protective white-grey substance covering your baby at birth. Don’t be in a hurry to wash it off, as it’s great protection for his very sensitive skin.
W WALKING REFLEX – this is so cute! This is just one of many involuntary movements, probably the most amazing after the grasping reflex, newborns make. It happens when you hold the baby upright with his feet on a flat surface and he lifts one foot, then the other, as if walking. Like other newborn reflexes, these motions typically disappear between 3 and 6 months with the majority ending at 4 months.
X X CHROMOSOME does more than determine the baby’s sex, and when there is more of them, it can lead to conditions such as Down syndrome. The most common form of Down syndrome is known as trisomy 21, a condition where individuals have 47 chromosomes in each cell instead of 46. Trisomy 21 is caused by an error in cell division called nondisjunction. This leaves a sperm or egg cell with an extra copy of chromosome 21 before or at conception. These extra genes cause problems with how organs like the brain, heart and skeleton develop and perform.
Y YELLOW SKIN indicates a liver condition that causes yellowing of a newborn baby’s skin and eyes. The cause is often an immature liver. Symptoms include yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes that appears within days after birth. In most cases, treatment isn’t required. Light therapy (phototherapy) can help resolve moderate or severe cases.
Z ZZZZZ Newborns have no concept of day or night. They sleep around the clock and wake up to feed – no matter what time of day or night it is. It may take a few weeks for your baby’s brain to know the difference between night and day and, unfortunately, there are no tricks to speed this up! ●
The walking reflex is so cute! It’s just one of many involuntary movements, probably the most amazing after the grasping reflex, newborns make.