After the birth when you are released from hospital, those first few days at home are important for both baby and parents. First time parents can easily feel overwhelmed. Parents having just gone through the intense process of childbirth can be emotionally and physically drained. Fathers can feel a huge burden of responsibility and mothers are often exhausted and have huge hormonal changes occurring in their bodies which can affect there mood and general outlook. It is important in those first few days that you try and limit the amount of visitors and well wishers, it will take some time for you to establish a new routine and to prepare for your new lives together.
First time mothers should pay particular attention to their feelings, some “baby blues” is to be expected with the hormone changes and it is important to realise that these feelings are quite normal and will fade over the first few weeks. However, if you feel that you are more depressed than you expected and these feelings persist for more than a few weeks you should discuss this with your doctor as you may be suffering from “postpartum depression” (sometimes called postnatal depression). Symptoms to be on the look out for include:
- Overwhelming feelings of sadness, depression and isolation.
- Feelings of guilt and worthlessness, thinking you don’t deserve a baby.
- Having extreme feelings towards your baby, ranging from lack of interest to obsession.
Coping with a newborn baby can be hard work, especially for first time mothers in the first few days at home. It takes time adjusting to your baby’s sleep routine. Having a baby is a wonderful and life changing experience, but it can also be a challenging one. To avoid or reduce the “baby blues”, try and get as much rest as possible, take a nap every time baby is asleep. Get friends and family to help with housework. Take advantage of any visitors by letting them look after baby for a little while why you take a bath or have a little personal time. Take it easy on yourself, don’t try and rush to get your life back to normal as quickly as possible. However don’t completely neglect exercise, when you feel up to it, start taking gentle walks with your baby, exercise, fresh air and simply getting out of the house will work wonders for both of you. Try to eat healthily, you need lots of nourishment as a new mother, especially if breastfeeding. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables along with plenty of water is recommended. You may also find it helpful to meet up with other mothers and discuss how you are feeling, you may find that you are not alone and many of them also struggled to cope in those first few weeks.
Fitting a car seat correctly is as important as buying the correct car seat for your baby in the first place. An incorrectly fitted child seat can be as dangerous as not using a child seat at all!
Choosing the right baby car seat - The ideal method to ensure the correct fitting is to purchase the car seat from a reputable store with fully trained personnel that can demonstrate how to fit car seats correctly prior to purchase and then let you practice fitting it yourself. Additionally, once you get the seat home - do not attempt to fit until you have read all the manufacturer’s instructions. Once you are confident you can fit the seat correctly please keep instructions in glove box for future reference.
You will find that many online baby car seats reviews will actually score car seats on ease of fitting and clarity of instructions, this further re-enforces the importance of correct fitting. Please read the following tips which will help you to ensure your child seat is correctly fitted.
1) Push down on car seat when tightening the straps, this eliminates any excess movement caused by soft upholstery and ensures a secure fit.
2) Adjust the harness every time the seat is used. Many buckles will allow the straps to gradually loosen over time so this has to be checked regularly. Once you get into the habit of doing it every trip it only takes a few seconds. When doing this also check the condition of the straps for fraying or splitting, if you see any evidence of this then do not use the seat again. READ MORE
When considering the purchase of car seats for baby there are many factors to take into account, such as price, design, guarantee and safety ratings. These points are often well covered by manufacturers and retailers in their literature. However, we have included some additional factors below which many parents don’t consider (until its too late!) In addition, make sure you know how to fit baby car seats correctly prior to purchase.
Ease of removal and fitting
- How heavy is the seat? many seats weigh over 25lbs, this can be difficult to manoeuvre into the car and difficult to adjust to a snug fit once inside.
- Can you easily remove/fit the seat without straining? Sometimes a combination of the size of the seat and narrow door openings on smaller cars, can make it really awkward to position seat correctly
- Are the headrests/backrests/tensioning systems easy to adjust? Do you constantly have to refer to the manual for every small adjustment required, or are all adjustments intuitive and straightforward?
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Why do we need car seats for babies?
Baby car seats are a matter of law in the UK since 2007. However, this is not just another “petty” law targeting motorists. Every year in the UK, 30 children (under 12) are killed while traveling in cars, with another 7000 injured. The proper use of baby car seats would have prevented many of these deaths and injuries. An unrestrained child (including children using adult seat belts or being held on parents lap) can be thrown forward with a force greater than 60 times their own weight, potentially seriously injuring other occupants and with a high risk of being ejected from the car through a window, often with horrifying results. The only safe way for a child to travel in a vehicle is to be secured using a car seat specifically designed for their weight and size, ensuring that the seat is fitted correctly, if you are unsure about fitting please see How to fit child car seats correctly.
Choosing the best car seats for baby. The first thing to remember about car seats is that the features you look for will change as your baby grows. For a newborn baby car seat a rear facing seat will be required, progressing to a forward facing seat for toddlers and finally a booster seat for young children.
Rear-facing car seats for baby are designed for infants under twelve months, sometimes referred to as “newborn baby car seats”. The seat has to be big enough to support the baby’s head, neck, and spine. If you find that the baby’s head is higher than the top part of the seat, then you need to get a bigger size. There is a choice between 3 and 5 point harnesses, 5 point harnesses offer slightly better protection but are very restrictive. READ MORE
In terms of crying some baby’s are better than others, but most mothers will experience times when the baby is crying and they are unsure what to do for the best .The fact is your child could be crying for any number of reasons, the most common reason is hunger, with the second most common reason being indigestion/wind or colic pain. Often babies will swallow some air while feeding which can make them uncomfortable and therefore they will cry. It is a good idea after every feed to carry the baby upright and pat on back gently until they burp (place a towel over your shoulder for this as often baby will regurgitate some milk along with the burp - you have been warned!).
Other common causes of crying include:
- being uncomfortable – a soiled nappy, itchy nappy rash or restrictive clothing can cause crying in many babies. Ensure that your baby’s nappy is always clean make sure clothing is comfortable and loose fitting.
- Being too hot or cold – try and keep a steady temperature in your home, some babies will cry when exposed to sudden temperature changes when they are being bathed or changed.
- Lack of attention or physical contact – some babies cry as they want almost constant reassurance and cuddles. It is important that you find the right balance in this situation as you don’t want your baby to come to expect cuddles any time of the day or night or you will never et any sleep!
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