hi everyone we are the doctors bjorkman a  physician couple going through pregnancy  

ourselves for the very first time sharing  with you all our medical expertise and our  

real life experiences along the way this week  we are going to cover a question i had myself  

so stay tuned as we find out together everything  that your pediatrician wants you to know when you  

are taking home baby for the first time yeah and  in case you've never met us before i'm kurt i'm  

a pediatrician i'm sarah i'm an ob gyn and i am  25 weeks pregnant and we are the doctors bjorkman

so this week we were sitting having dinner and i  kind of realized how little i really know about  

what you need to know about bringing home a new  baby i just deliver them and i said to kurt i said  

you know do they even have diapers at the hospital  for the baby or do you need to take them like what  

do we need to be doing and so with that this week  we're going to dive into all the things that i as  

a board certified pediatrician want parents to  know about taking home and caring for a brand  

new baby so the first thing parents need to know  is that babies eat a lot you can expect your baby  

to be eating at least eight to 12 times a day and  that comes out too at least every three hours and  

so in the pediatrics world we say feet we gauge  feedings on from the time of the beginning of one  

feed to the next and we say babies are going to  feed at least every three hours usually on average  

it is very normal for babies to have  cluster feedings or they may feed and then  

feed again and then feed again but it is safe  to assume that as new parents you're going to be  

very busy with baby just from a feeding  standpoint and i've heard that from a lot  

of my friends who have just recently had babies  just that you're gonna be surprised how much  

time you actually spend feeding the baby in  those first few weeks it's just all day you  

feed the baby yep and so one of the things that  the pediatrician is gonna do at the each day  

in the hospital before you go home and then at  checkups when you come back a couple days later  

then at a two-week visit is they're going to  see how a baby's feeding by measuring their  

weight but you may say hey you know i don't have a  scale at home how do i know baby's getting enough  

and a good way you can know babies getting  enough to eat is by how much is coming out

and so with that just as much as they're eating  you're going to expect that they're going to be  

peeing and pooping a lot too so we like to say  babies should have a wet diaper or pee at least  

three times a day but oftentimes babies may pee  with every feeding too and then with that too  

they're going to poop a lot too and so in those  first couple days that poop is going to be kind  

of black tarry meconium looking stuff but over the  course of the first few days it's going to thin  

out it's going to go to green and then to yellow  if they're breast-fed babies they're usually  

looks a little seedy like there's mustard seeds  in it it's not what they are it's just kind of  

the texture of the digestive breast milk they're  formula fed it's sometimes maybe a little thicker  

but usually we say you know day one they have  one poop day two they have two poops by the time  

they're four days old they're having four poops a  day sometimes with every feeding just the same and  

i would say poor kurt on this one one of the  most common questions that we kurt has gotten  

from my friends um is is is my baby's poop normal  and they will send me pictures of their babies  

diapers full of poop or come show him at the  hospital is this normal so it is very normal  

to be wondering having those questions and so you  can refer back to this of kind of what to expect  

it to look like in those first few days it's  going to change a lot yeah and you might see  

all colors of things in your baby's diapers  um you know the things that i like to say is  

yellow is fine green is fine brown is fine black  in those first couple days is fine things that  

would maybe alarm me as a pediatrician or like  make me look into it further would be if the  

poop was white or if you thought you saw like  actual blood in the poop i think another thing  

that sometimes parents wonder about is just  babies straining you know this is a brand new  

thing for them and so you may say like babies  are just look like they're straining to poop  

a lot of this is just kind of their normal way  of learning their bowels and as long as those  

poops are soft then you don't have to worry so  much about constipation as babies get a little  

older they may start to poop once a day or every  other day and as long as they aren't having pain  

with that or firm balls of poop then you know  that they're in a pretty good spot with that

uh the next thing i like to talk about is sleep um  and sleep is incredibly important and actually can  

be a dangerous time for baby because it's the time  when they are not being observed as opposed to  

when they're awake and they're always in someone's  arms are being watched and so the most important  

thing is that baby sleeps on their back okay we  say an empty crib swaddled just in one blanket  

around maybe one layer of clothes um on their back  to sleep and this was what you know one i wasn't  

100 sure of is what about the bumpers like the  really cute bumpers for the crib yeah and so we  

say no bumpers no extra blankets no toys in the  crib and the biggest reason for this is a young  

baby who isn't able to protect their own face  or roll over on their own we would hate to have  

them have something in front of their face that  would impede them from taking normal breaths with  

that and be a potential risk for sudden infant  death syndrome so we realize this may be sounds  

kind of um over cautious but this is a very real  risk that we know that if we have babies on their  

backs to sleep in an empty crib that is the safest  way for baby to sleep can i ever put the bumpers  

in her crib yeah so once babies are able to roll  themselves over and they're able to kind of take  

care of themselves you could think about having  bumpers in the crib but again the biggest thing  

is for newborn infants empty crib on their backs  it's just so cute but safe baby is more important

the next thing i like to talk to parents  about is just caring for the umbilical cord  

so you may ask gosh like there's this stump of  tissue here at the bellybutton site what do i do  

with it it looks nasty it looks gross there's  all sorts of old practices with that the best  

thing to do is to leave it alone you don't need  to wipe it with alcohol you don't need to clean it  

the goal is to let it dry off dry out and it  usually falls off in the first week of life  

you may notice a couple little drops of blood at  the time um but that's about it and that should be  

it after that you can start bathing the baby but  before that you should just say sponge bathing to  

try to keep that area dry so you said leave it  alone keep it dry you don't need to do anything  

but what am i looking out for that would be not  good yeah so there are some rare complications  

that can come up with the belly button the only  reason that you i as a pediatrician would want to  

hear from you about it is if you thought it was  really red or angry looking or looked swollen  

around the bellybutton site there are some  rare infections that can happen in this area  

or even if you thought there was persistent  drainage sometimes that's a little thing that  

can happen that your pediatrician will be able to  help you troubleshoot and take care of if it's an  

issue at all does it go like above the diaper or  is it in the diaper does it matter if it touches  

the diaper um i usually say if you can keep the  belly button exposed it just helps to dry out  

and fall off and do its normal process a little  bit faster rather than keeping it covered  

where it might stay moist and  get kind of goopy and gross okay

that which we just too talking about things  in the diaper area so lots of questions about  

boy parts girl parts for young babies so for  little girls especially it's very normal for  

them to have some sort of vaginal discharge white  discharge is normal you may even see some bleeding  

in the first couple days and this a lot of  this is just a response to mom's hormones  

as that young baby girl is now transitioning  to the world outside of mom for baby boys  

it's a little different it all depends on  whether the boys had a circumcision or not  

in terms of circumcision care one of the best  things you can do is really leave it alone  

and we do say to to put vaseline on it is a good  way to keep that tissue protected keep it from  

sticking to the diaper and to keep poop off of  it these are good things to keep it both clean  

and to keep it from adhering that can cause pain  usually in the first five to seven days that skin  

will kind of transform and heal and then no longer  be an issue for babies who aren't circumcised get  

questions about this all the time it is best to  leave the foreskin alone you don't need to retract  

it or anything that is something that will happen  over the first couple years of the baby's life  

and so if baby's not circumcised you can  definitely clean the penis but don't try to  

expose the head of the penis at all and that  can do more harm than good for young babies

uh let's see what's next car seats are incredibly  important um as something that you must have to  

bring baby home from the hospital it's one of  the few things that you have to have for you to  

be able to walk out of the hospital with your baby  yeah to answer sarah's question that she had at  

the dinner table earlier this week you don't need  diapers at the hospital you don't need formula you  

don't need bottles um and so the one thing you  do need to bring is a car seat and then it's  

also a good idea to bring an outfit for baby to go  home but even if you don't they will have little  

special baby shirts and swaddle wraps baby hats  and baby hats at the hospital if all you brought  

was the car seat you'd be okay so i just want to  kind of reassure you and encourage you that if you  

feel like you're a little lost or don't  know a lot of these things um that's okay  

i'm in ob gyn i've delivered hundreds of babies  and i didn't know this stuff um i thankfully have  

a pediatrician on hand who can help but there's a  learning curve for everybody and there's going to  

be a learning curve when we bring this little baby  home and so much of this is learning as you go  

um you know like what kind of bottle should you  use if you have a breastfed baby like i learned  

this week you're supposed to boil these suckers  for five minutes before you actually use them  

um so you're not alone we are here to help you um  there's tons of great educational content coming  

for you so just stay tuned um and so important  things about a car seat is to make sure that it  

is not expired um they do have a life span  or after so much time they are considered  

too old to be guaranteed safe for baby um and then  to make sure it's secured in the car correctly  

okay the biggest thing is that this car seat needs  to be facing backwards for a newborn infant okay  

and then make sure to look at the manual that  comes with the car seat to make sure that it's  

installed properly if you have questions about  this at all you can always ask at the hospital  

and they can come down and check your car seat  to make sure that it's installed properly because  

everyone wants your baby to be safe other quick  pointers and tips that we're going to probably try  

to talk about in a future episode is just to make  sure that the shoulders are at the lowest setting  

the shoulder straps um you shouldn't be able  to pinch the strap they should be tight enough  

to where you can't pinch and fold the straps  down on themselves okay that's how you know  

it baby's snug enough other good things is  that baby should just be kind of in one layer  

um if it's cold out blankets or snow suits should  be outside of the straps of clothes yeah okay  

um and the big thing there is that if babies got  a lot of clothing on and then you strap them in  

if they were to get an accident that clothing  or that bedding or whatever can compress  

and baby could potentially slip out so just  kind of one layer of clothing then strap them  

in if they need extra things to stay warm in the  car put it over the top of their straps and keep  

their little faces out and exposed got it so car  seats are that one thing that maybe a hand-me-down  

isn't going to work for because they expire  and it's that one thing we really need to get

another question we get asked about all  the time is how do you keep baby healthy  

and when do i need to call a pediatrician and so  the best things that you can do for a baby is to  

keep everyone around them healthy okay their  immune systems are still young still developing  

so it's really important lots of hand  washing for anyone who's going to be  

around the baby holding the baby definitely in  the era of covid this changes things a little bit  

it doesn't mean everyone's got a mask around and  so if you have people coming in to see baby and  

you want to say hey could you wear a mask around  baby that is okay for you as parents to ask  

you know again that's something that you can  weigh the benefits of we say to try to avoid  

large crowds but if there's a bunch of people  that want to come see baby and you want to  

say hey can you please wear a mask around my  baby you as parents can absolutely say that  

i wouldn't say you have to say that but just  something that is an extra thing that we have  

in 2021 that we didn't have easily available  to us pre-covert era yeah it used to be just  

if you want to hold the baby you need to wash  your hands but now it's kind of if you want to  

hold the baby you need to wash your hands have  you gotten the vaccine will you wear a mask  

it's just another layer of things to think about  and then the other part of that is we talk about  

cocooning baby with vaccines so making sure  that everyone who's going to be around the  

baby is up to date with their pertussis vaccine  so this is the whooping cough whooping cough  

for you and me could be kind of just an  annoying cough that lasts a couple weeks  

for babies it could mean life or death and  so this means making sure dad is up to date  

making sure grandma and grandpa and anyone else  who's going to be up to date has had that tdap  

vaccine that p letter p and tdap is pertussis  and making sure that baby is safe from that  

standpoint moms get vaccinated um usually in  the third trimester so they pass some immunity  

on to baby and moms do that in each pregnancy  everybody else in the family just needs to make  

sure you are up to date which is usually five to  ten years every five to ten you need a booster

and so the other part of that is like gosh when  is baby sick when do i need to call and so you  

absolutely 100 do not need to regularly check your  baby's temperature but if you say hey you know my  

baby seems off they've missed two feeds they're  extra sleepy they feel really warm to me those are  

good times to check baby's temperature and i would  say anytime their temperature is greater than 100  

degrees fahrenheit to give your pediatrician  a call so it's a nice easy number to remember  

and this usually glass for the first two months of  life where we're extra cautious with young babies  

and fevers just as their immune system is still  developing the best way and most accurate place  

to check a baby's temperature is actually rectally  um if you are for whatever reason uncomfortable  

with that that's okay um the second best place  that we like to recommend is under the arm  

okay yes okay another good reason to call the  pediatrician would be if um babies wet diapers  

have really dropped off so again we said they  should have at least three wet diapers a day  

peeing at least three times a day if they're  having less than that that would be a sign  

that hey maybe they're not getting enough to  eat they're dehydrated something else might  

be going on so it's another nice rule  of thumb to keep in mind for that okay

the final thing that i like to talk to all new  families about new parents is just about kind of  

mental well-being you guys are going to take home  a new human being mom has just given birth and  

done an amazing thing but it's really hard it's  really hard physically challenging and exhausting  

and this newborn period can be really tough and  so a couple of things is it is normal to feel like  

your mood is a little off um but if there are  big changes if you say gosh i'm having trouble  

connecting with my baby i feel really sad i have  thoughts of harming myself or baby please do not  

hesitate pick up the phone call your pediatrician  call your ob gyn yeah and let us know there's  

definitely a difference between uh baby blues  and postpartum depression and either of those  

us as pediatricians or as obgyns we want to help  young families young mothers get through this  

and the other thing is that babies can be really  demanding and they can cry for what seems like an  

unending amount of time they're so needy and so  if you are ever in a spot where you say gosh i  

am so fed up with my baby it is okay to swaddle  them up put them in their bassinet or their crib  

um on their back with nothing else in it and  take five minutes for yourself you can leave  

baby to cry for five minutes while you go take  a mental moment for you um to just regroup and  

then come back and love that baby with a fresh  mind and fresh spirit um and start all over  

when everything else seems to be going haywire  so i mean i one of my attendings talks about how  

with that first new baby crying kind of losing  her mind she said you know i understand how shaken  

baby happens and she's a physician an ob gyn and  just thought she was gonna lose it um and so it's  

better to just put your baby down in a safe place  walk away for five minutes take a deep breath  

um and come back ready to be a mom or dad  that's it for us this week guys thank you  

so much for tuning in uh please let us know if  you have any questions in the comments below  

also know that your pediatricians your family  care doctors your primary care physicians  

and providers love to hear from you when you  have questions write them down bring them to your  

next visit with baby and we have lots of great  things coming up for you to answer some of those  

last questions to get ready for this  baby you know breast in bottle feeding  

what to expect in the hospital with that new  baby what to expect and labor and delivery  

for mom different things we'll talk about  epidurals and pain control and c-sections and  

great things coming up for you guys in the coming  weeks so like you said make sure you're subscribed  

so you don't miss any of it um we love having  you all here thanks for joining us guys bye

we're doctors but not your doctors anything we've  

said in this video is for education or  entertainment purposes only it is not  

medical advice any specific medical questions  you have should be directed to your provider