The number one killer of children in this country is accidents. The leading accidental killer is the automobile. The risk to your child from the car is greater than the risk from childhood infectious diseases and cancer combined. Always be careful with kids and cars.
You may want to hold your baby in your arms on your way home from the hospital, but this is not in anyone's best interest. The driver will probably be excited about bringing the baby home and will be less attentive to road conditions than usual.
I have heard about of several tragic accidents in this setting. Have an infant car seat ready to use on the way home. Some hospitals may not let you leave with the infant unless you have a car seat. Remember that children should never sit in the front seat.
The back seat is safer whether or not your car is equipped with air bags, which are potentially deadly to children. Children should always war seatbelts-as should parents. Upon arriving home you need time and attention for yourself, your new infant and your other children, who probably are anxious to see you and the baby.
Contact with friends and relatives should be the next most important items on your agenda. If possible, have a relative or friend stay with you, so that he or she can help you with the household chores and free you for time with your children. Mothers who have no relative or no husband to help at home can seek help from neighbors, friends, social agencies, and employment agencies.
Is there life after birth? Becoming a new family is a major physical and emotional adjustment for everyone. In the first few days at home new parents often spend a great deal of time checking their new baby. Perfectly normal infants often appear strange in some way causing concern to new parents.
Most doctors are more than willing to sit down and explain the concerns that parents have over their babies. Very often, however, parents forget to ask about some detail, because of the excitement of having their child and because of the chaos at the hospital ward. It is suggested to write down any questions about your baby and make sure you get a satisfactory answer to each one.
Newborns spend most of their time sleeping, around 18 or even 20 hours, the 6-month-old sleeps 16 to 18 hours, and the 1-year-old 14 to 15 hours. You may observe several types of sleep states. In one state, the child will be motionless and have regular breathing, in another, the breathing will be irregular, the eyes will flutter and hands move
Infants also exhibit different stages of being awake, the least satisfying of which is crying. This is the infant's most obvious way of communicating needs, frustrations, and discomforts but there are other subtle ways of communicating that parents can learn to recognize.
Infants spend much of their quiet time looking and watching. In this stage, the infant is exploring the world with their eyes. They will stare intently into the parents' faces and follow them across the room. Babies have certain likes and dislikes in shapes, patterns, and even colors.
These preferences have been demonstrated even in the first few hours after birth. In the "active alert" state, the infant is looking around actively, as well as moving arms and legs. Newborn babies are often disappointing to parents who expect laughing, gurgling infants.
The image of babies most of us have is actually when they are 4 to 8 months old. Newborns are exciting but it will be many months before thy laugh and gurgle.
Alvaro Castillo has been writing health articles for five years. One of his specializations has been on parenting and pregnancy. If you would like to learn more, then visit his website at myhomeparent.com myhomeparent.com or visit his blog at myhomeparent.blogspot.com myhomeparent.blogspot.com to share your opinion.
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