As babies still don't come with instructions parents naturally have billions of questions born out of curiousity or concern. This aims to answer your top questions about babies and make parenting that little bit easier for you! This has three parts...Enjoy
When is my baby ready to.......
have his first jabs?
have a bath?
use a pillow or quilt?
use baby lotions and potions?
sleep through the night?
to sleep through the night without me worrying about SIDS?
drink water?
go swimming?
go in a front or back carrier?
respond to his name?
have his first jabs?
Your baby will be given his first vaccinations at 2 months old. This will consist of 2 injections as well as polio drops in his mouth.
The current UK immunisation schedule is as follows:
2 months - Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTP) and Haemophilus Influenza B (Hib) in one injection. Meningococcus Group C - one injection Polio - drops on tongue
3 months - the same as above providing a second dose of DTP, Hib, Men C and Polio.
4 months - the same as above providing a third dose of DTP, Hib, Men C and polio
12-18 months - Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR)
4-5 years - pre-school booster of DTP, MMR and polio
Your baby's jabs may rarely be postponed if, for example, he is very unwell at the time he is due his immunisations. Premature babies also have their first jabs at 2 months, regardless of their prematurity. The only exception is babies who are still in SCBU at 2 months old. In this instance the polio vaccine will be delayed until they are leaving Special Care, to prevent a risk to other babies in the unit.
have a bath?
Parents used to be advised against bathing their baby until the cord had fallen off at a few days old. However, research now says this wait is unnecessary. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that newborns should not be bathed until they are at least 6 hours old but preferably not until they are 2 or 3 days old. This prevents the risk of rapid heat loss.
When your baby is born, their skin has a natural protection which is lost when it is bathed. It is best to sponge clean your baby for the first few days and baths should be kept to just 2 or 3 a week.
use a pillow or quilt?
Quilts and pillows can be used from the age of 12 months. By this age your baby should be more mobile and able to roll over in the cot and move out of the quilt if he or she becomes too hot.
It does not really matter, for safety reasons, what tog rating of quilt you use. Obviously you do not want a quilt that is too heavy, or you will find that your little one will become too hot and simply move from under it, but you do want a quilt that is warm enough for the winter.
Most cot quilts are around 10-12 tog rating, which should be ideal. It does not really matter what type of pillow you use either, as long as your child does not have any allergies, although you might want to have a pillow that can easily be washed.
use baby lotions and potions?
When your baby is a day or two old, it is safe to use products that are especially designed for newborn skins. However, unless your baby has very dry skin, baby lotions and oils are not really necessary.
Talc should be avoided in very young babies as the microfine particles can easily be inhaled causing breathing problems. If you do want to use talc on older babies, put it in your hand first and then onto baby. Never sprinkle it directly onto your baby's skin as this again increases the risk of your child inhaling the powder.
sleep through the night?
Most babies learn to sleep all night during their first year but even at 2 years old, 1 in 5 toddlers wakes up and cries most nights.
Your baby needs to be big enough to go longer and longer without being fed, which eventually results in sleeping all night.
There is no exact time when a baby is expected to sleep through the night. The baby's personality may be a factor. Some babies are restless, and they wake easily. Others sleep soundly and for a long time. Others need less sleep, and they wake up very early in the morning.
Breastfeeding mums should avoid caffeine and other stimulants as these will pass through your breastmilk and could cause hyperactivity in your baby.
to sleep through the night without me worrying about SIDS?
Cot death is uncommon in babies less than a month old, but rises to a peak at two months. The risk then diminishes as the baby grows older. Nearly 90% of cot deaths have occurred by six months, and very few occur after a year.
Drink water?
You can give cooled, boiled water to a baby from birth. Breastfed babies do not need water as the foremilk, which they receive at the beginning of every feed, acts as a drink and the hindmilk as food. Bottle-fed babies do need a drink as formula milk is just a feed and not a drink. Offer bottle-fed babies water in between feeds, especially during hot weather.
go swimming?
Most Health Visitors recommend waiting until after your baby has had their first course of immunisations (8 weeks) although Government guidelines suggest swimming in public pools does not pose a risk to younger babies as the chlorine kills off any potential threat, most obviously from polio. As long as the pool is warm enough it's ok to take a baby of any age swimming. Do remember though, mums should not swim until after their 6 week check. Most pools will not take babies unless they have had their first 3 courses of immunisations (12 weeks old).
go in a front or back carrier?
Baby carriers and slings are available for your baby from birth. Reputable brands will indicate a suitable weight or age range which makes it easier to find the most suitable. There are specially designed carriers that allow a breastfeeding mum to feed her baby without having to remove him from the carrier. As your baby gets older and more wriggly, carriers can become uncomfortable for both parent and child. Older babies tend to be happier facing forwards whilst younger babies are more secure and content facing their parent's chest.
respond to his name?
Your baby will start to learn his name at about 5 months old. Repeating his name when you talk to him will make it easier for him to recognise it and make the connection between the name and himself, and then he will turn to you when you call him.
When is my baby ready to… !
stop sucking his thumb/dummy?
roll?
remember things?
eat honey?
have dairy products?
go in a babywalker or bouncer?
use Karvol or decongestant creams?
develop his natural eye colour?
have their photo taken using flash photography?
for their soft spot to close?
stop sucking his thumb/dummy?!
Professor L. MacDonald, a dentist at the University of Manitoba, Canada, says "Thumb-sucking or finger-sucking is a habit that occurs with many infants. Your child will usually give it up naturally by the age of four." Speech therapist Nadine Arditti believes that it's okay to resort to a dummy - providing you use it selectively and sensibly. "See the dummy as a short-term life-saver, not a long-term habit or solution. Wean your baby off his dummy as soon as possible, certainly by 10 to 12 months."!
If a baby needs a dummy, then give them one, but only give it when necessary and take it away at around six months of age. Babies have no long-term memory before this age and will quickly forget that they have ever had a dummy." Prof MacDonald, Dentist, Nadine Arditti, Speech Therapist , Debbie Honer, Health Visitor
roll?
Babies learn to roll months before they can crawl. Some babies begin to roll from back to side during the third month, and most can roll over by the sixth month. However, some babies who are not so physically adventurous do not seem to roll at all.
remember things?
Your baby's first sign of 'memory' shows at birth when he can recognise your voice or, if you are breastfeeding, your smell.
By 9 months he can remember more specific things such as where his room is. Between 14 and 18 months you baby will develop long-lasting, conscious memory (often what adults refer to as their 'earliest memory'). "Your baby's recognition memory - the ability to identify people and objects he has seen before after a delay or time apart - will increase dramatically during his first year."
eat honey?
The Food Standards Agency say, "Don't give honey to your baby until he or she is a year old. This is because, very occasionally, honey can contain a type of bacteria that can produce toxins in a baby's intestines. This can cause serious illness (infant botulism). After a baby is a year old, the intestine has matured and the bacteria can't grow."
The British Honey Importers and Packers Association has advised its members to say on honey labels that honey should not be given to babies under 12 months. Food Standards Agency
have dairy products?
Although cow's milk isn't recommended until your baby is one year old, it's okay for him to eat small quantities of dairy, such as yogurt and cheese from 6 months old.
go in a babywalker or bouncer?
Baby walkers have been discouraged by health visitors, paediatricians and physiotherapists for many years. They do not help your baby to walk, as many parents believe. In fact, they can slow the whole process down.
Baby bouncers on the other hand are fine. They can help to strengthen neck and back muscles and in most cases babies do not spend too long in them at any one time. Your baby can go in a bouncer once he is able to support his head satisfactorily, usually at about 4 months old.
use Karvol or decongestant creams?
Using Karvol is not recommended in babies less than three months of age. Strong aromatic decongestants can be an irritant to delicate mucous membranes. Babies have such narrow nasal passages that they easily suffer with blocked noses when they have a cold. Usually the blocked nose clears gradually when they feed and if this is the case then it is best to avoid using anything at all. If feeding is a real problem because of a blocked nose, then saline (salt water) nose drops are safe to use and can be helpful.
develop his natural eye colour?
Most Caucasian babies are born with dark blue or slate-coloured eyes; most black and Oriental infants with dark, usually brown, eyes. The eye colour of white babies may go through a number of changes before becoming set somewhere between three and six months, or even later. Since pigmentation of the iris may continue increasing during the entire first year, the depth of colour may not be clear until around the baby's first birthday.
have their photo taken using flash photography?
Most babies have flash photos taken of them in their early weeks. While it may make them blink, there is no evidence to suggest that this might be harmful in any way.
for their soft spot to close?
The small soft spot on your baby's head is what we call the fontanelle. All children have these and they are present until around the age of two years, maybe longer if your child was premature.
At birth there are usually two open soft spots, both on top of the head, one at the back and one at the front. The soft spot at the back of the head closes quite quickly, but the one at the front can stay open for a while.
Parents are often concerned about the soft spot and see it as a weakness in the skull but it actually makes your baby's head much more flexible than an adult's and so it is much stronger
When is my baby ready to…
swim in the sea?
cut his first tooth?
fly longhaul?
use biological washing powder instead of non-bio
have his teeth brushed with toothpaste?
be shy around people?
need his first pair of shoes?
have paracetamol/nurofen?
stop having his overhead cot mobile?
use a spoon?
swim in the sea?
Providing your baby has had her three doses of immunisations, it will be fine to take her into the sea. Before you go on holiday, you could check that the particular beach you will be visiting is safe. Your travel agent should be able to advise you.
cut his first tooth?
There is great variation in the age at which teeth erupt. Some babies are born with a tooth or teeth, whereas in others the first tooth may not appear until after 12 months of age. The first to erupt tend to be the lower central incisors (bottom middle teeth) but again this does not seem to be the case for all babies. There is absolutely no reason to be worried if a tooth has appeared earlier than expected. Some people worry that early teeth might interfere with breastfeeding (hurting the mother's nipple), but this doesn't seem to be the case.Find out more about teething
fly longhaul?
Usually if your baby is born at term and is healthy with no evidence of any respiratory problems, then it is safe to fly long haul when the baby is three months old. (Most specialists would recommend waiting until three months after a caesarean before flying long haul.) It would be worth mentioning your travel plans to the paediatrician who examines your baby after birth and also to your GP. The advice you are given will depend upon any problems that your baby might have, the country you plan to visit and how you plan to get there.
use biological washing powder instead of non-bio?
There is no hard and fast rule regarding this matter. Start using it gradually and don't wash everything in it at once, so you can see if there is a reaction to it. If your child is known to have a sensitive skin it may be best to stick with non-biological washing products long term.
have his teeth brushed with toothpaste?
The most important thing is to start brushing as soon as the teeth erupt but using toothpaste on new teeth is not critical until after a child is over a year old. For children younger than one year, brushing without paste is sufficient. If your infant is fussy during brushing time, the taste of an extremely small amount of toothpaste may encourage cooperation."
being shy around people?
From the age of around seven months children can become very wary of adults, other than their parents. This is because they realise at this age that they can be separated from their parents and they are just beginning to realise that they are individuals.
How a child's parents handle this stage is important. If you recognise your child's shy and therefore try not to introduce her to situations in which she will feel threatened, you will find that this perpetuates the shyness, even though you are protecting her from situations she does not like. The only way to improve her relations with other adults is to increase the contact that she has with them. Try to act in a very light-hearted way about her reaction and make as little fuss as possible. She will eventually, with your help, get over this. She may always be shy, but she will learn to cope with it.
first pair of shoes?
Don't feel rushed into buying shoes as your toddler only needs them when her feet need protection against the environment. When the environment is safe, going barefoot is good because she can feel the floor better.
One of the most important things is the correct fit. Get your baby's feet measured by a trained fitter about a month after she starts walking. This gives your child the opportunity to experience walking without the interference of shoes. It also allows the muscles in the feet and the arches to start to develop. First shoes should be flexible and soft to allow the continued development and strengthening of your baby's feet.
having paracetamol/nurofen?
Paracetamol is not licensed for use in children under 3 months but in practice is safe after 2 months but only under medical supervision, for instance after your baby's first vaccinations. Ibuprofen suspension such as Nurofen can be given to babies from the age of six months old. (NB: Ibuprofen should not be given to anyone with a history of asthma.)
stop having his overhead cot mobile?
Overhead cot mobiles should always be hung out of baby's reach. They should be removed from the cot altogether (perhaps suspend from the ceiling) when your baby is about five months old or pushing himself up onto his hands and knees. Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
use a spoon?
Most babies don't learn how to use a spoon until well after their first birthday. The food they try to pick up with a spoon sometimes lands on the floor but they are learning and they need practice to become skillful with a spoon. Try using two spoons, one for your baby and one for you. That way your child still gets fed but enjoys copying you and practising her spoon control. Most importantly, keep it fun. Be prepared for the mess. If your baby sees you getting upset then eating will become an unpleasant experience for her.