Welcoming Baby Home
Your baby's needs during the first few weeks are pretty basic: love, nutrition and rest. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding as the method of choice–exclusively for the first six months and as the main nutritional source for the remainder of the first year. Whether your new arrival gets his/her nutrition from the breast or the bottle, it's important that the feeding environment be one that is calm, reassuring and loving, because you're helping to lay the groundwork for a lifetime of good eating habits.
When it comes to sleeping, no baby is like any other. Some newborns may be up every two hours; others may sleep four, five or even six hours at a time. Some babies can sleep six to eight hours at a stretch when they are two months old, others wait until they are six months old. Your goal is to get those six to eight hour stretches to take place at night!
Babies sleep a lot in the first few days after birth, and it's not uncommon for newborns to sleep 12 to 16 hours a day, although not all at once, in the first two weeks of life. You'll probably also find that your baby's days and nights are mixed up in those first few days. But after the first two weeks, you will most likely start to notice that baby's sleeping and wakening periods are lengthening. Most babies will start to take two or three naps during the day.
For additional questions, please call (480) 728-3343.
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