Table of Contents
Authority Remedies will help you know how to hold newborn.
Overview:
Having a baby is the excitement of not only parents, but also the whole society, as it is meaningful for the existence of humanity. However, having a baby can make great changes in the daily life of a couple and it requires each of them to get used to new skills. Holding newborn is just one of many challenging duties [1].
Everyone wants to hold newborn, let alone his or her parents. It is very emotional when you keep in hands a new spirit who just comes to this world within a few days or even minutes. But not everybody can do it in the right way [2]. The question is why is this action so difficult?
As the newborn is extremely vulnerable and he or she rarely has the ability to defend himself or herself, any damage, even the slightest one, can lead to serious consequences in the future. This is the reason why nurses or professional baby-sitters have to spend a long period of time on training, so you can imagine how terrifying it is [3].
Nevertheless, couples should not be too worried. It is not crucial to hire a nurse to hold your baby because the price is absolutely not low at all. Not all of us can afford the cost and of course, who wants to stand and see other people hold their baby? If you are a parent for the first time in your life, you can learn how to hold newborn with some simple tips and become confident when showing the newborn your care and love in the next time [4] [5].
Here are top 10 tips on how to hold newborn that you can consider applying in order to properly hold the baby and avoid any discomfort for your baby.
1. Wash Hands
This very first tip on how to hold newborn may sound irrelevant at first, and the fact is that many of us do not wash hands before holding newborn. It is a serious mistake. Your hands carry a lot of bacteria and probably virus without your perception. The bacteria may not pose threats to your health because the immunity of an adult is strong in general. On the other hand, the immune system of a newborn is very weak and they cannot resist to any bacterial infection. If you do not want to make your newborn infected with diseases at very early ages, remember to wash your hands with water and soap before touching his or her skin.
2. Remove Accessories
The next tip on how to hold newborn seems more suitable for dads – removing all accessories. The watch, for example, which may cost you thousands of dollars may be a danger for your newborn. When you keep the newborn, his or her skin may be scratched by some objects on your upper body. The most dangerous thing is that the newborn cannot tell you how uncomfortable they are. Besides the extremely painful feeling the newborn has to suffer, the scratch may enable the bacteria and virus to enter the newborn’s body more easily and trigger serious health problems.
3. Confidence
Another great recommendation on how to hold newborn is that your mind has to be well-prepared. It means that you have to be totally confident and calm. The reason is unknown, but scientists also agree that newborns can know whether you are comfortable or not. And if you hold the newborn when you are angry or dissatisfied, they may sense these emotions and react by crying. Therefore, let’s keep your confidence and help your little baby start a new life with joy and pleasure only [6].
4. Keep Your Hands at Right Place
One of the most important things you have to learn about how to hold newborn is where to put your hands. Normally, you should take greater care of the newborn’s head since it is the heaviest. You also have to be careful when keeping the neck in order to avoid problems that can happen later to this vulnerable part.
The right technique is to use a hand to keep the head and the other hand should be placed at the bottom.
5. Contact
When you hold newborn gently in your hands, you should make some direct contact with them to make them feel more comfortable. The baby should be brought close to the chest, especially in the case of mothers. Our heartbeat is believed to be able to bring comfort to the newborn. There is one thing you need to bear in mind: let only one side of their head close to the chest so that they breathe easily.
6. Bonding
You should not keep the newborn in hands without doing anything. This is the perfect time to make both you and the newborn form a close relationship. Singing, reading and entertaining the newborn are the most popular activities parents can do with their baby. Besides, you can change the posture of both hands anytime to avoid being tired and find out the best position. Learn what the best position is by reading your newborn. Although they cannot talk, they can show you simple reactions, like crying or moving, to tell whether they are satisfied or not [7] [8] [9].
7. Cradle Hold
Cradle is one of the most popular methods to hold newborn which is used by millions of parents all around the world. The advantage of this way is to enable you to look directly at the eyes of the newborn. The eye contact can make the baby feel your emotions in a mysterious way and you always need to remember to be happy and calm [10] [11]. To apply the cradle hold, you ought to:
- Use a hand to slide under your baby’s head and neck.
- The other hand should be placed under your baby’s bottom.
- Your fingers should be spreaded as much as possible.
- The hand should be moved slowly into the back in order to keep the head and neck along the forearm.
- Keep the newborn close to you and you can combine some activities, such as singing.
8. Face-to-Face Hold
If the cradle method can enable you to make eye contact with your newborn, the face-to-face method can help your newborn get accustomed to your happy face and smile. It is a great tip for parents who are curious about how to hold newborn in the most exciting way [12] [13] [14].
- A hand should be put behind the head and neck of the newborn while the other is placed under the bottom.
- Keep the newborn in front of you and now you can make different faces repeatedly to entertain him or her.
9. The Football Hold
This suggestion is made for mothers who want to learn how to hold newborn when they drink breast milk. Interestingly, mothers can apply this method when standing or sitting [15] [16].
- You should keep one hand under the head and neck of the newborn and the other hand on their back.
- Keep the newborn lying horizontally and their legs should be extended behind you.
- Keep the newborn close to the chest so that he or she can drink breast milk easily.
10. “Hello” Hold
Another position to hold newborn is known as “hello” hold. It is because this method can enable the newborn to look at everything around them and it is quite suitable for babies that show early curiosity about the world.
- One of your hands should be kept under the bottom while the other is placed across the chest.
- Your chest should support the head of the baby and his or her back is placed against your chest.
You may be interested in some problems that can happen to your newborn:
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