How to Be a Baby Bloomer

By Lisa Adams

MYLEENE KLASS, Charlotte Church and Emma Bunton are just some of the celebs who will become mums for the first time this summer.

Those early days with that bundle of joy you’ve been looking forward to for nine months are exhausting and bewildering for new parents.

Kids definitely don’t come with an instruction manual, but a new book by top paediatrician consultant Su Laurent and her GP husband Peter Reader aims to at least increase your confidence with the basics.

Su said: "Meeting your newborn baby is without doubt one of life’s most amazing experiences.

"You are likely to feel a combination of exhaustion, elation and shock.

"The wait is over. Your baby has arrived. You can now begin the exciting and challenging role of being a parent."

Here mum of three Su reveals her top tips for those first few weeks.

YOUR FEELINGS

This small person has been squirming, kicking and getting hiccups inside you for months and you’re bound to have formed some ideas about their character. You may feel overwhelmingly emotional or you may not feel much at all.

While there are parents who fall in love with their newborns instantly and talk about recognising their baby as soon as they’re born, many others take longer. This is entirely normal.

They are someone you have never met before and it may feel as though they are a stranger. Relax and let things take their course and you will find that the bond between you will gradually develop.

DEVELOPING A BOND

If you can, hold your baby against your chest immediately after birth.

It will give your relationship a great start and research shows a leisurely period of skin to skin contact between you as soon as possible contributes to breastfeeding success.

During pregnancy, your baby will have become used to hearing your voice and will find it soothing, so don’t feel shy about talking to her.

They will take an interest in faces from birth and if you hold her facing you and slowly poke out your tongue, she might even attempt to copy you.

BREASTFEEDING

Feeding your baby from the breast in the first few days is very important to their health. Before your breast milk comes in at around three days, you will be giving her colostrum. This yellow fluid contains antibodies and nutrients.

Breastfeeding doesn’t always come easily and I sympathise with women who struggle with it. You may find you get hooked on its closeness but even if you don’t, you will have given your baby a fantastic start to life.

CRYING

All babies cry and there is always a reason. Your baby’s ways of communicating are limited so they cry if they are hungry, tired, uncomfortable or need a cuddle.

There are plenty of ways to comfort your crying baby. Try motion (putting them in a sling or taking them for a drive), white noise like placing him in front of the washing machine or next to a detuned radio, or try a dummy if they need to suck. If yourbaby has a full tummy, a clean nappy and is not in pain, try leaving them somewhere quiet to sleep.

SLEEP

New babies generally sleep around 16 hours a day, although they may not do so for hours at a stretch and they certainly won’t sleep according to your conventions.

Try to catch up on sleep during the day when baby sleeps. In the first few weeks, they shouldn’t go for longer than six hours between feeds, so wake them if they have slept for this long.

KEEPING BABY CLEAN

During the first week, you don’t need to put yourself through the stress of bathing baby.

Tiny babies, unlike adults or older children, don’t get dirty quickly so fewer washes are fine. Keep bathtimes occasional and just wash the bits that need cleaning the rest of the time.

Your Baby Month By Month, by Su Laurent and Dr Peter Reader, is published by DK. Special offer price of pounds 13.99 including free p&p (RRP is pounds 16.99). To order, call the DK Bookshop on 08700 707 717.

The offer reference is YBMBM/SDR. Also quote the ISBN of the book which is 9781405318082. The offer is subject to availability. Allow up to 14 days for delivery. Only open to UK residents.

LIFTING AND HOLDING YOUR BABY UP

DR LAURENT says: "While you need to be gentle while handling your newborn, do remember that babies are quite resilient. Be confident in your actions and trust that you won’t harm her in any way. The most important thing to remember is your baby’s head isheavy. She has no control over her neck muscles and will only begin to gain some when she is around four weeks old, so always support her head when you handle her. When you put your baby down, you still need to support her head. Hold her with one handunder her bottom and the other under her head and neck, then lower gently."

(c) 2007 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.