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Caring for a premature baby at home: newborn, features
Care for a premature baby needs a little more thorough than for an ordinary baby. If the baby was born before 38 weeks, it is considered immature, more sensitive to the negative effects of the environment.
Such an “early” baby still has poorly developed thermoregulation, so it is necessary to constantly monitor his body temperature. When dressing up a child, you should not focus only on your feelings, because the child perceives everything differently. Half an hour after you put it on, measure your body temperature. Based on this, you will understand whether the baby is dressed moderately warmly.
Caring for a premature baby has its own characteristics
In the first month of life, make sure that the air temperature in the room with the child is within 22-24 ° C. If your baby has problems maintaining body temperature, change his clothes and change the diaper as quickly as possible.
Feeding a premature newborn
It is best to feed the premature baby with breast milk. However, if there is no milk, you need to choose a special infant formula for babies born prematurely. Even breast milk needs to be fortified for very premature babies. To do this, it is decanted and mixed with special additives. In the first month, feed the baby on demand, but at least once every 2,5 hours.
Premature babies often spit up after feeding. To reduce the amount of regurgitation, follow these tips:
- feed your baby at a 45 ° angle;
- after feeding for at least 20 minutes, hold it in a column;
- between feedings, lay the crumbs on your stomach.
If your child has more serious digestive problems, talk to your doctor.
Hygiene procedures at home
Take the first bath in the first few days after returning from the hospital. The air temperature in the bathroom should be 25-26 ° С, and the water temperature should be 37 ° С. In the first months, use boiled water for bathing, do not add herbs to it. You can use special baby bathing products.
Treat the umbilical wound 5-10 minutes after bathing.
Immediately after bathing, the child should be wiped off as quickly as possible. After that, it must be wrapped in a dry diaper so that it does not get overcooled.
Follow all these guidelines if your newborn is not full term. Also, remember to see your doctor regularly and get all your vaccinations according to your personalized plan.