- Did you know that from around six weeks of age
your newborn will start doing fewer poops overnight.
And when this happens, it dramatically reduces the number
of diaper changes you need to do throughout the night
because there's actually no need to change
your newborn's diaper after every wee.
Now this is great because it means
more sleep for you and your baby.
And that's because diaper changes
are quite stimulating for a newborn which means it's harder
to get them back to sleep after a change.
So, minimizing the number of changes will also reduce
the amount of time you both spend awake each night.
Just remember that once you notice your little one
is pooping less overnight,
be sure to apply that barrier cream
before you put them to bed.
And this will reduce the likelihood
of them developing your diaper rash
and allow you to leave that diaper change until the morning.
And if your little one starts to soak through the diaper,
then simply switching to using diapers
the next size up overnight should do the trick.
As more padding will mean more wee can be absorbed
and put a stop to those leaks.
This is just one of a bunch of kind of strange
but really helpful tips and hacks
that I'm going to share with you in this video,
that will make life with a newborn much easier.
This next one is for new parents of baby boys
and it's also related to going to the bathroom.
But I promise every tip isn't related to that.
If you've got a little boy,
you might have already experienced this.
But as soon as you remove their diaper
they decide it's time to urinate.
I remember when this first happened with my son,
scrambling to grab another diaper to try and catch it,
but being way too slow to avoid a mess.
And it seemed to happen every single time.
Well, you might be surprised to learn
that it's actually not by choice.
When you remove a baby boy's diaper,
it's the exposure to the air
that often causes them to urinate.
So to avoid it, you can do one of two things.
You can either run a wet wipe across their belly
before removing the diaper,
and this cold sensation may make him wee
before you actually remove the diaper
or before you remove the diapers,
simply flap the front of the diaper a few times,
which may seem a little weird,
but the exposure to that cold air
will ensure that any wee is actually contained
in the diaper before you remove it.
While we're still on the topic of diapers,
let's talk about another common occurrence
new parents often have the pleasure of managing
and that is poop explosions.
When these occur, the clothing your little one is wearing
can mean the difference
between an extremely messy diaper change
or just an unpleasant one.
If you can, dress your little one in a onesies or shirts
where the material actually overlaps at the shoulders.
Clothes with these overlaps means that when your little one
does have a poop explosion
which they're going to do quite a lot,
you can simply pull the clothing down over their body
and this will prevent you from smearing poop
all over your baby's body and their head,
and make that poop explosion easier to deal with.
Another thing you're also going to notice at some point
is your newborn will start grabbing
onto absolutely everything including your hair,
jewelry, or earrings.
Now, this grabbing isn't deliberate.
It happens because of something known
as the palmer grasp reflex.
This is an automatic reflex which occurs
when something strokes or touches your newborn's palm
and that results in their fingers automatically closing.
So, as soon as something brushes or touches their palm,
their fist closes on it,
and usually that's whatever is hanging down.
So your hair, jewelry, or earrings.
Now, you'll also notice that if you try
and pull the item out of their hand,
their fingers tighten their grip.
But there's an easy way to fix this
that is really gentle on your little baby as well.
All you need to do is gently bend your newborn's wrist
in an inward direction.
Now this won't hurt your baby at all,
and it will actually cause their fingers
to automatically open and allow you to remove
whatever they're holding
without causing you additional pain.
Now, this trick is also extremely helpful
during bath times when you're trying to clean
in between your little one's fingers.
Simply bending their wrist forward
will lead to their fingers opening up
and make cleaning between those tiny fingers a breeze.
Another difficult spot to clean during bath times
is your little one's toes.
But the good news is you can also make this easier
by triggering another one of their reflexes.
But before I tell you which one it is,
if you haven't already,
make sure you click on the link in the description box below
to get the free Developmental Milestone chart
so you know exactly what to be expecting
in your baby's first year of life
as well as when to be concerned.
So, to make cleaning between your little one's toes easier
you actually activate their plantar reflex.
When this reflex is triggered,
your newborn's big toe will bend back
towards the top of their foot,
and their other toes will fan out.
And this will make it possible to clean
in between those toes.
So to activate this reflex, you just stroke the sole
of their foot from their heel to their toes.
Now I've got another bath time tip for you
that will help to reduce your newborn's bath time screams.
If your little one hates having a bath
or becomes distressed while they're in the bath,
simply pop in a pacifier or position their hands
close to their mouth for them to suck.
Sucking is extremely soothing for newborns
and will help to stop those tears very quickly.
Now, if your little one gets upset
when you take them out of the bath,
here's a great way to instantly calm them down.
First, make sure they're dry,
and then you can try and hold them
in what we call the 'Flex and Hold Position'.
This position allows your newborn to suck their hands
while you gently move them up and down
while simultaneously shushing them.
The combination of movement with white noise, so your shushing, and sucking
is extremely soothing for a newborn.
And this will quickly calm them down.
This holding technique is actually one of four
that you can use to instantly calm a newborn.
So, to find out what the other three positions are,
make sure you watch this video next.
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