๐๏ธCaring for a newbornโ
While the child is a baby, lay the baby face up on a firm, flat surface that does not tilt; inclined cradles and baby seats can't be used as a bed. Adults share the room with the baby but not the bed. Put no soft things such as pillows, quilts, bumper pads or stuffed toys in the bed. In the U.S. alone, about 3500 babies a year die of sleep-related causes.
- High value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐Caring for a newbornโ
A baby should get the first shot of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Of people infected with hepatitis B in infancy and early childhood, about 95% go on to chronic hepatitis. Most people infected as adults clear it on their own. So the earlier this shot is given, the more it helps. If the mother's hepatitis B surface antigen is positive, the baby also needs hepatitis B immune globulin at the same time, within 12 hours of birth.
- Top value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐Caring for a newbornโ
Vaccines in the national immunization program are free all the way, and the vaccination unit cannot charge. When a child enters nursery or school, the immunization certificate is checked, and missed shots will be found and made up. If you missed some, only the doses not yet given need to be caught up, with no need to start over, and you can continue even if the maker has changed.
- High value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Child aged 3โ18, Pregnant or trying
๐ผCaring for a newbornโ
Start feeding in the first hour after the baby is born. For the first 6 months, feed only breast milk, not even water. From 6 months, add solid foods, with an iron-rich animal food every day, and keep breastfeeding until 2 years or longer. If there is not enough milk or you can't breastfeed, use formula.
- Moderate value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐ก๏ธCaring for a newbornโ
Formula is not sterile, and it may carry a kind of bacterium. If a newborn is infected, between 40% and 80% die. When you mix, first pour hot water into the bottle, wait until it cools to about 73.8 โ, and then add the powder. In most cases that kills this germ down to less than one hundred-thousandth (ๅไธๅไนไธ) of the original. Hot water leaves a little less vitamin C, but the formulas that were tested still met the standard. Let it cool after mixing before you feed, and throw away what is left.
- High value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- Disputed
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐ฏCaring for a newbornโ
Do not give honey to a child under 1 year old. This includes honey water, honey stirred into solid food, and pastries made with honey. Honey can carry bacteria that cause botulism. The gut flora of an adult can hold them down, but an infant's cannot.
- High value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐Caring for a newbornโ
A newborn has very little vitamin K stored. Without a supplement, there can be bleeding, and the late-onset kind is often bleeding in the brain. In Tashkent, where this prevention was not widely done, 478 in every 100,000 (10ไธ) newborns got this bleeding. Prevention is estimated to cut it by more than 78%. If you give birth at home or at an irregular facility, ask on your own whether the shot was given.
- Top value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐ก๏ธCaring for a newbornโ
If a child under 3 months has a temperature of 38 โ, go straight to the hospital. Don't watch at home, and don't give fever medicine first and wait and see. The American Academy of Pediatrics has set out a specific management plan for feverish babies who look reasonably well, so "looks alert enough" is no reason to wait at home. The UK guideline also classes a child under 3 months with a temperature of 38 โ as at high risk of serious illness.
- High value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐Caring for a newbornโ
A baby's head is large and the neck has little strength. Shaking hard can cause bleeding in the brain and eyes, and it can kill the baby or leave a lifelong disability. Gently rocking a baby to sleep does not count; the danger is violent shaking you can't control. When you are about to lose your temper, put the baby back in the crib and walk away for a few minutes. Letting the baby cry for a while is safer than holding and shaking.
- High value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐งทCaring for a newbornโ
No official body has ranked "which brand is best." The only things you can check are two: the product-quality spot-check reports from the State Administration for Market Regulation (ๅธๅบ็็ฎกๆปๅฑ), and the regulators' investigations of specific incidents. Expensive does not mean safe, and imported does not mean up to standard. Buy a small pack first and try it for a week, check whether the child gets a red bottom or marks from elastic, and stock up if it fits.
- Moderate value
- Evidence C
- Saves money
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐งธCaring for a newbornโ
A stroller, a swaddle blanket and toys are used for a short time, so borrow first, buy used if you can't borrow, and buy new last. A used car seat must be confirmed to have no serious crash history, no recall and all parts present; if you can't confirm that, don't use it. In one Scottish study, sleeping regularly on a mattress another child had used came with about 3 times the risk of sudden death, but it is unclear whether the mattress caused it. It is best to buy a new mattress.
- Moderate value
- Evidence C
- Saves money
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐ฅCaring for a newbornโ
Babies with severe eczema or an egg allergy who ate peanut regularly from 4 to 11 months old had a peanut allergy rate of only 1.9% by age 5, versus 13.7% for those who avoided it completely. For children who already showed some reaction on a skin test, the figure was 10.6% for those who ate it and 35.3% for those who avoided it. Take the child to the doctor before adding it. Never give a whole peanut, because it can block the windpipe.
- High value
- Evidence A
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
โ๏ธCaring for a newbornโ
More than 80% of newborns turn a little yellow. If the baby is yellow before 24 hours old, or is yellow and also sleepier than usual and hard to wake, won't feed, or is limp or stiff, go to the hospital right away. If the baby gets more yellow after 24 hours, or the stool turns pale, get it checked as soon as possible; pale stool may mean biliary atresia. Too much bilirubin can damage the brain and leave a lifelong disability.
- High value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐ฅฌCaring for a newbornโ
Vitamin B12 is found almost only in meat, eggs and dairy, so a fully vegan person has to rely on fortified foods or supplements. If the mother is fully vegan and does not supplement, a breastfed child is easily short of it. Problems mostly show up at 4 to 8 months of age: failure to grow, delayed development, and, if it drags on, nerve damage that may not be reversible. The child's solid foods need an animal food every day.
- Moderate value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- Disputed
- For: Pregnant or trying, Child under 3
๐ผCaring for a newbornโ
A baby sitting in a walker can dash more than 0.9 meters in 1 second, and in most injuries an adult was right there watching. In the U.S. from 1990 to 2014, about 230,000 (23ไธ) emergency room visits were for children hurt in walkers; 90% of the injuries were to the head and neck, mostly from falling down stairs along with the walker. Walkers also don't teach a child to walk.
- High value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
โ๏ธCaring for a newbornโ
Breast milk has very little vitamin D, and babies shouldn't get much sun, so it has to be given every day. In rural Turkey, 3.8% of children who were not given it developed rickets within a year, and none of those who were given it did. Give the dose as the doctor says. A normal full-term baby generally doesn't need extra calcium within 6 months.
- Moderate value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
๐Caring for a newbornโ
Water at 65 โ touching the skin for 2 seconds gives most adults a third-degree burn, and a baby's skin is thinner. Put cold water in the tub first, then add hot, mix it well, test it with the inside of your wrist or your elbow before putting the baby in, and don't wash the baby under a running tap. After one U.S. state lowered the factory setting on water heaters to 49 โ, hospital admissions of children for hot-water scalds fell by more than half.
- Moderate value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
