Babies need time and from Daddy too.

Babies are typically extra close to mommy. My husband was the first to notice that our days-old newborn would respond to my voice more than anyones else’s. It’s the sound she’d hear most often inside my uterus! Then there’s the breast feeding which truly does seal an almost mystical bond between mother and child.

But what about Daddy? Dads, don’t be afraid. Tiny as she is… she won’t break. So take every chance you can get hold her, take care of some baby duties… and just enjoy that bundle of joy. Mommies already have natural advantages to earn baby’s affections. But dads can step up their baby-game too. We’ll tell you how.

So how do you show your baby the world does not just revolve around mommy? You may not be baby’s personal milk bar, but you can be so much more. Here are our suggestions for some good daddy-and-me-time:

Daddy Cuddles

When mom is breast feeding notice how she cuddles baby close to her chest, as she gazes into her eyes? When you get the chance to bottle-feed, make sure to hold baby in the same position, allowing her to gaze up at you. Smile and make her touch your face.

When baby is upset and crying it’s easy to just hand her to mommy. If you know she’s not hungry, take a shot at calming her yourself. Try singing to her, walking her around, gently rocking, or find the pacifier for her to suck on. She must learn that mommy isn’t the only one who can give her what she needs.

Daddy Fun

You can be the fun and funny guy. Make silly faces that will make your baby glow with a smile. Babies love silly faces. As your baby gets older try fun games like peekaboo.

Are you a music lover? Play your favorite tunes and carry baby while dancing to the beat. Skip the heavy metal rock and blaring volume though. Babies love rhythmic motion and music, so play her your jazz or pop or indie rock tunes for some happy dance time.

Daddy Night Shift

You might be gone the whole day for work so take daddy-diaper duty at night. Take charge of feeding, bathing or getting baby dressed for bed — any night time care required — so you become an important part of the little one’s day too. While mom catches up on extra sleep, you might want to take charge of that extra night feeding or soothing baby when she’s fussy at night.

A consistent bedtime schedule is very important to helping your baby sleep through the night. Choose a part of the routine you want to be involved in — like bath or story time. Yup, even babies can enjoy books if they like the pictures and how you deliver the words. This will help baby understand that when Dad says its bath time or story time, it will be bedtime soon too.

Daddy Nightingale

When your baby gets sick it’s important for you to care for her as well — so take a day off to stay home with baby once in a while. Try to go to baby well checkups, so you can hear from the doctor how she’s developing and growing.

Take Daddy-and-Me Walks

Babies love fresh air and relishing new sights. So take your little bundle for a stroll around the block or to the park. Try using a sling or carrier instead of the stroller. This will keep baby close to you throughout the walk. Just be sure baby is slathered in sunscreen if it’s hot outside and bundled up if it’s a little chilly.

Play Time Just With Dad

Set aside time every day or night just play with your little girl. Make it part of her daily routine, so she looks forward to regular daddy time. Little girls and boys need lots of time and affection from daddy too!

The new mom’s fever FAQs answered.

The first time my firstborn had his fever, I was flustered. You worry how such a tiny baby can handle such a high temperature! Well, babies are bound to get fevers at one point but don’t worry… they will survive. In fact, fevers indicate that their tiny bodies are working to fight an infection. What’s important is to figure out what’s causing the fever.

What’s the best way to take a baby’s temperature?

For babies, the most accurate temperature reading would come from a rectal thermometer. In a baby older than 3 months, taking the temperature orally is fine. Use a digital thermometer for oral readings. Avoid mercury thermometers as there’s a chance your child can end up getting mercury in her mouth — mercury is poisonous. Another option is the ear thermometer, it’s the easiest to use but may be off by about a degree.

What indicates a fever?

A normal temperature is about 98.6°F (37°C) when taken orally (in your child’s mouth) and 99.6°F (37.5°C) when taken rectally (in your child’s bottom). Many doctors define a fever as an oral temperature above 99.5°F (37.5°C) or a rectal temperature above 100.4°F (38°C).

Should I try to lower my baby’s temperature?

Fevers indicate that the body is fighting infection. If your child is between 3 months of age and 3 years of age, you may want to avoid giving him or her medicine if he or she is running a low-grade fever (up to 100.2°F [37.8°C]). If your child is achy and fussy, and his or her temperature is above 100.2°F [37.8°C], contact your pediatrician for which medicine to use.

If you have a baby who is younger than 3 months of age and has a rectal temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, call the doctor or go to the emergency room right away. A fever that high can be a sign of a serious infection in young babies.

What’s the best fever medication?

Do not give fever medicine to babies younger than 2 months. Talk to your pediatrician first before giving any medication, even if it’s available over-the-counter.

Acetaminophen (like Infants’ Tylenol) relieves pain and lowers fever. Check the package label or ask your doctor about the correct dosage for your child. The correct dosage depends on your child’s weight and age.

Ibuprofen is another medicine that can be used to lower a fever in children over 6 months of age. Talk to your doctor before giving ibuprofen (like Children’s Advil, Children’s Motrin) to your child. Your doctor will tell you the correct dose for your child.

Help your newborn settle down with swaddling.

The first few weeks outside the comfortable confines of the mother’s womb is unsettling for most newborns. Swaddling, or wrapping your baby snugly in a blanket (like a burrito) can help her transition this period. A good swaddling technique can also be crucial in letting you get a good night’s rest. When baby sleeps well, so do mommy and daddy. Many fussy babies have been calmed down by a good swaddle.

Swaddling keeps babies from being awakened by their own startle reflex. A newborn is not yet used to her own muscle movements so it often jolts her out of sleep.

Both my kids were soothed by swaddling. My daughter liked her arms inside the swaddle cocoon, my son liked his arms set free. Either way is fine, take your baby’s cues. I had used a swaddle blanket for them — the kind with velcro enclosures. There are many swaddle blankets to choose from these days so shop around and read reviews on which ones work best.

However, I did observe that a simple flannel blanket worked very well when my babies were swaddled in the hospital. The plain flannel blanket is still an option for you. You may want to take a swaddling lesson from the nurses who do it so well in the hospital. My friend’s husband became a swaddling pro by doing that. You Tube is also worth visiting to see if there’s a good instructional clip worth bookmarking.

Here we found a good, step-by-step guide to an effective swaddling method:

1. Lay the baby blanket flat on a bed or other safe, flat surface in a diamond shape. Fold the top corner down about 6 inches.
2. Place the baby on her back, so her head is above the fold.
3. Holding your baby’s right arm to her side, pull the left corner across her body and then tuck it under the right side of her back.
4. Pull the bottom corner up over her feet and tuck into the fabric stretched across her chest.
5. Holding your baby’s left arm to her side, bring the last corner across your baby’s body and tuck under the left side.

Now here are a few other tips to take note of:

1. Lightweight flannel baby blankets are great to use because the fibers stick together well.
2. Swaddling is only effective for a few weeks after birth. After two months, swaddling — which inhibits movement — can restrict motor development.
3. Do not swaddle a baby in a room that’s too warm. Adjust room temperature to consider the extra warmth that comes from the swaddle blanket. Overheating a baby is a risk factor for SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
4. Some babies do not like being swaddled at all. If the swaddling makes her even more fussier, then it’s not for her. Again, be sensitive to your baby’s cues.

What’s normal and what ’s not?

That teeny tiny body can raise some really big questions! First time parents often expect their newborns to look instantly like picture-book cherubs. Surprise, surprise… they often come out wrinkly, skin of a strange color, all puffy with their heads misshapen. We love them no less, but here’s a rundown of what makes newborns look more strange than cute. Some may even worry if their baby is normal.

Head

If you have had a vaginal or normal birth, do not be alarmed if your child’s head is shaped like a cone. Passing through the narrow birth canal does that to a newborn’s skull which is still soft and movable.

Don’t worry and let nature take its course. Your newborn has two areas on her head, known as soft spots or fontanels, where the bones haven’t joined yet. The larger, diamond-shaped area on the crown stays there until about 18 months, while a much smaller, triangular soft spot on the back of the head usually disappears between 2 and 6 months. The larger fontanel should be flat or slightly depressed when the baby is held upright. Because the brain is also protected by a thick, sturdy membrane, you can gently wash and comb the hair over this area.

You may also notice some bruising or swelling of the scalp, particularly if forceps or vacuum extraction were used. In time, these should heal.

Call your doctor if the large soft spot is deeply sunken accompanied by dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea. A bulging fontanel also warrants a doctor’s visit to rule out meningitis.

Skin

Newborn skin is typically mottled especially when she’s cold. Her hands and feet also appear reddish in the first 2 or 3 days.

Yellowish skin indicates jaundice which happens to about 60 percent of normal newborns. The yellowish pigment comes from an oversupply of bilirubin. Babies make too much bilirubin when their liver is still not mature enough to clear it all away. Jaundice usually crops up after 3 or 5 days then resolves itself with some morning sunlight after about another week. Treatment may be needed, but that is something your pediatrician should asses.

Call doc is your baby’s lips or face turns blue during crying. Sometimes, persistent blueness can be a symptom of a heart abnormality or other illness. Consult a doctor right away.

Breasts and Genitals

Male and female newborns tend to have swollen breasts and genitals. Again, nothing to worry about — it’s just an effect of mom’s hormones still circulating in baby’s body. After a few weeks the swelling will disappear.

Those pregnancy hormones may also cause a baby girl’s labia to swell for a few days after birth. Vaginal discharge, sometimes even some bleeding can happen.

There are also instances when baby boys are born with undescended testicles. This means, their testicles have yet to drop into their scrotum. This tends to happen to premature boys. After a few months this usually normalizes. If after a year they haven’t dropped, hormonal treatment or surgery can be discussed with your doctor.

5 things the doctor would like you to know.

New moms always have something to worry about. I’ve been there! It was a world of difference between taking care of my first child and my second. Nothing teaches like experience. But some diligent research can also go a long way. So for new moms out there, as well as expectant moms, we gathered our Top 5 Facts You Need to Know About Your Baby.

Confident moms aren’t born, they’re made. Arming yourself with knowledge can help you through those first few months with a little more confidence. To lessen the worrying that often comes along with caring for a new baby, there are a few things you should know.

1. It’s normal for many babies to lose weight after birth.

They can lose about 10 percent of their body weight by day three of life. Breast-fed babies tend to drop more than bottle-fed counterparts because breast milk doesn’t usually come in until the third day after birth. Why the newborn’s weight loss? Exhausted from the birth experience, babies are so sleepy, more than they are hungry. They are also losing some of the fluids they were born with. But don’t panic. “Babies enter the world with enough fluid on board to get them through the first three to five days, whether they feed or not,” says Dr. Suzanne Corrigan, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. After a week, your baby will start gaining weight again.

2. Rashes are routine.

Baby skin is known for being soft and smooth and lovely. In reality, that’s not the case in the first few days or weeks. Baby acne is very common in the first days of life because the mother’s estrogen is still circulating in the baby’s body. Overactive hormones do wreak havoc on the skin. When hormones normalize, baby acne will disappear. Seborrheic dermatitis, or cradle cap is another common skin problem for newborns. This causes scaly, flaking skin on baby’s eyebrows, behind her ears, and on the neck. Like baby acne, no treatment is necessary — just cleanse with a mild, hypoallergenic soap.

3. Spit happens.

This used to freak me out with my firstborn son. I thought he was vomiting — Is this spit or is it vomit and is he suffering from some serious stomach disease? The fact is, muscles that close the stomach are still underdeveloped in newborns so milk tends to come right back up. Aside from this, mucus also gets regurgitated. Milk plus mucus looks like vomit more than just spit. You only worry if your baby is projectile vomiting — meaning the vomits shoots out of his mouth and not just drips onto his clothes. Burp your baby after every feed and keep her upright for a few minutes to lessen the spit up and help keep the food down.

4. Pooping can be peculiar.

Baby poop is very different from grown-up poop. Breast-fed babies typically have loose, yellowy, mustard-like stools with every feeding. Bottle-fed babies, whose stools have more of a mayonnaisey texture, may go only two or three times a day. “Newborns often have an active gastro-colic reflex,” says Dr. Miriam Bar-on, professor of pediatrics at Loyola University Chicago. “Eating relaxes the reflex, which makes them poop.” But even if your baby isn’t pooping after every feed, don’t worry. “Breast-fed babies can have a stool with every feeding, every other day, or even every four days and then have a big blowout,” says Dr. Bar-on. “All are normal. And bottle-fed babies can poop three to four times a day, then twice a day, and then just once a day. As their digestive systems mature, they tend to have fewer stools.”

5. Babies cry, yes that’s what they do.

Many new parents are surprised about the amount of noise such a tiny person can make. But crying is what babies do to communicate, as they still don’t know how to talk. When they’re hungry, wet, soiled with poop, hot, cold or uncomfortable — crying is how they will let you know. Parents usually will get the hang of their baby’s signals or learn their daily rhythms better after a few weeks of caring for them. The crying should lessen when you anticipate their needs better. You’ll even be amazed by how a hug or a cuddle from you can do wonders to calm your child!