Rules for caring for a newborn baby after discharge home

Congratulations, you have become a mother! The first days after giving birth in the maternity hospital, you and your baby are under constant supervision of medical staff. Neonatologists and nurses in the department for newborns help and teach the woman the rules of caring for the baby, rational breastfeeding, trying to make it as easy as possible for the woman to adapt to her new role as a mother.

The most difficult thing for a young mother happens in the first days after discharge from the hospital . Young mothers are often lost, left alone at home with their child; they do not know how to properly pick him up, how to care for him and what to do with him. What is important to remember when leaving the maternity hospital home? How to properly care for a newborn baby? Use the tips in this article.

Basic rules for keeping a newborn baby at home:

  1. Not only the child himself should be clean, but also the space around him (all things, toys, hygiene products)
  2. There should be a daily hygiene ritual
  3. Daily cleaning of the room where the newborn is located
  4. Remove from the room all soft toys, carpeting, books and other objects that can accumulate dust and contribute to the development of allergic reactions.
  5. Immediately after discharge, do not invite a large number of relatives or friends to your home. The child’s immune system must first adapt to close people who live with the child.
  6. Your child's underwear should be changed daily. It is advisable to boil it and iron it on both sides

Basic postpartum care includes:

  • maintaining hygiene and increased hand washing;
  • stimulation and support of breastfeeding;
  • keeping the newborn baby warm, but not overheating;
  • ensuring hygienic care of the umbilical cord, skin and mucous membranes;
  • identification of conditions requiring special additional care and counseling in medical institutions.

Caring for a newborn baby requires parents to be attentive, as well as certain knowledge and skills.

Upon arrival home from the maternity hospital, the child must be washed with boiled water and bathed in the late afternoon, provided that BCG-M was not vaccinated on the day of discharge. Before the umbilical wound heals, it is necessary to bathe the child in boiled water or add a weak solution of potassium permanganate to unboiled water. In order not to cause a burn to the child’s skin, potassium permanganate must be diluted in a separate container, and not in a bath before bathing. Without touching the potassium permanganate with your hands, pour some crystals into a glass and pour boiling water over it (potassium permanganate dissolves much faster in very hot water, literally in a matter of seconds). Stir thoroughly. The solution should turn out purple (not black, NOT purple-like-ink, but just purple, i.e. it should remain transparent). When the water calms down, lift the glass to the light (to a light bulb, chandelier, sun) and see if there are any crystals left at the bottom. It is these undissolved crystals that, when in contact with the delicate skin of a child, will cause an inevitable burn . And that is why potassium permanganate needs to be diluted in a transparent glass, and not in a bathtub - in a bathtub (especially in an anatomical one, where the bottom has a complex shape with depressions and protrusions), you may not notice the crystals, but in a glass they are very clearly visible. Stir the solution in the glass and monitor the sediment until the last grain of potassium permanganate disappears. The solution is ready. Pour it into a bathtub filled with water. The water should be clear, slightly pink. The duration of the hygienic bath is 5 minutes, the water temperature is + 36.5...+ 37.0 °C. Water should not get into your nose and mouth. At the end of the bath, the baby is doused with water, the temperature of which is 0.5-1 degrees lower than the temperature of the water in the bath. After bathing, the baby’s skin is dried (but not wiped!) with a towel or diaper made of soft cotton fabric using blotting movements.

Caring for the umbilical cord.

After discharge from the hospital, the umbilical cord remains are not treated with anything, are kept clean and dry, and fall off naturally. After birth, the umbilical cord becomes hard, darkens and quickly dries out when exposed to air. The umbilical cord falls off on the 5-15th day after the birth of the child, sometimes later.

When managing the umbilical cord it is necessary:

  • Hand washing before and after all manipulations with the child
  • The umbilical cord should be left exposed to air or covered with clean, loose clothing. The diaper should not cover the remainder of the umbilical cord until it falls off
  • Avoid contact with urine or grease. If urine or feces gets into the umbilical cord site, it is necessary to rinse the umbilical cord and the area adjacent to it with water and dry it with a clean towel or diaper using blotting movements.
  • It is important to use only water for washing, as using other substances may disrupt the natural healing process. The use of lotions, antiseptics or powder (powder) to treat the umbilical cord remains is not required. Do not use dry cotton wool to care for the umbilical cord, as lint may remain on it, which can cause infection.

After the umbilical remnant falls off, the umbilical wound must be treated twice a day until it is completely healed. The umbilical wound must be treated twice a day - in the morning after hygiene procedures and in the evening after bathing. Using the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, spread the navel, and with your right hand, using a cotton ball, treat the umbilical cotton wool with hydrogen peroxide (3% solution). Then blot the navel with a dry cotton swab and apply a few drops of brilliant green solution to the wound area. Proper treatment of the umbilical wound will promote faster healing, as well as the formation of a beautiful and neat scar.

Daily toilet of a newborn

The child is placed on a changing table and completely undressed, and then the skin, skin folds (neck, axillary, inguinal), mouth, nose, eyes, and nails are carefully examined . Dry areas can be lubricated with cosmetics for the care of a newborn (cream, oil, milk). Sometimes rubbing emollients (creams, oils) into the skin can cause redness and rashes, so skin care products must be selected individually. You cannot use powder and cream (ointment) on the same parts of the body at the same time. Powdering your baby's skin can prevent it from chafing from diapers or clothing. The powder is first applied to the hands, then to the child’s skin for even distribution without lumps.

It is convenient to care for a newborn’s nails during sleep, when the hands are relaxed, using scissors with rounded ends (individual for the child). You should not cut your nails at the root, as you may accidentally injure the delicate skin. On the toes, the nails are trimmed evenly, on the hands, the corners are rounded.

The eyes are washed with sterile cotton wool soaked in boiled water from the outer corner to the inner one. A separate swab is used for each eye. We must ensure that water does not get from one eye to the other, so when washing the eyes, we alternately place the child on the right and left sides.

Nose. Normally, the nose clears when the child sneezes. If the child does not have visible signs of congestion, nasal toileting is not required. If you have difficulty breathing due to the formation of “crusts,” it can be cleaned manually. It is best to do this before feeding or during the morning toilet. To do this, twist a flagellum from cotton wool, wet it with boiled water (saline, sea water or preparations based on them), carefully screw it into the child’s nose, removing the crusts. Each nasal passage is cleaned in turn. Use a separate flagellum for each nostril. Cotton swabs should never be used to clean the nose.

Ears . In the first weeks of a newborn's life, it is not necessary to cleanse the ear canals from wax. But you need to pay attention to the skin behind the ears. In newborns, the ears are pressed tightly to the head, so they need to be carefully folded back and, if necessary, clean the skin with baby wipes.

After each urination and defecation, the child should be washed under running water. After this, the child must be placed on the changing table, blot the skin dry and apply baby cream or powder to it. Girls should be washed in the direction from the pubis to the butt to prevent stool from entering the vagina. You can wash a newborn boy under running water, the stream of which is directed from the butt to the genitals.

From the first days of a baby’s life, you should try to establish a constant time for sleep, wakefulness, walking and bathing. Following a daily routine helps your baby develop appropriate skills that ensure better sleep, appetite and its proper development. The feeding time is usually set by the child himself, since it is advisable to feed the baby in the first days of his life on demand. But the duration of his sleep, wakefulness, bathing and walking time must be observed by parents.

We hope our tips will help you and make your baby’s first weeks at home easier and easier!