Can you rock a newborn baby? The correct way to hold a newborn baby

How to hold a newborn baby is the most basic thing that every new mother needs to know. What should you pay attention to when holding a newborn baby? Can you shake a newborn baby? The correct way to hold a newborn baby, see the editor's introduction below~

How to hold a newborn

For adults who have never held a baby before and are parents for the first time, seeing such a weak baby will indeed make them feel helpless and nervous, not knowing how to hold the baby. And after a newborn is born, it has just left the quiet, warm and safe living environment in the mother's womb and suddenly came to a strange world full of air and light. It is also very unaccustomed and feels panic and discomfort, especially when being held by someone, the head and neck are not supported, and there is a feeling of falling down, which will cause fright.

Therefore, as a mother and father, you should learn to hold your baby, so that he or she will feel supported, warm and safe, and comfortable and relaxed. This kind of close holding is the first step in establishing a relationship between parents and children, and is very important for the physical and mental development of the baby. From the time of birth, you should hold your baby several times a day, tease him or her, get him or her to look at you, and talk to him or her. Generally, you should hold and hold your baby when he or she wakes up with his or her eyes open, and when he or she is asleep, try to let him or her sleep in a small bed.

Before picking up a baby, you can first tease him with your eyes or voice to make him pay attention. While teasing him, reach out and slowly pick him up. If you hold a baby lying on his back, you can put one hand behind his head, neck and back, and use the other hand to hold his buttocks and thighs from the other side. Let him lie on your arms for a while to make him feel safe and comfortable. Then gently pick him up and make him as close to your body as possible, and snuggle with you. A warm and safe hug will make the baby feel very satisfied. If you hold a baby lying on his stomach, you can hold the baby's chin, neck and chest with one hand, and reach into the lower abdomen with the other hand from the outside, grab the opposite buttocks and thighs, and gently turn the baby over and hold him in your arms.

The correct way to hold your baby

1. Hand support method: Use your left hand to support the baby's back, neck, and head, and your right hand to support his little butt and waist. This method is more commonly used to pick up and put down the baby from the bed.

2. Wrist holding method: Place the baby's head in the crook of your left arm, with your elbow protecting the baby's head, your left wrist and hand protecting the back and waist, your right forearm extending over the baby's body to protect the baby's legs, and your right hand supporting the baby's buttocks and waist. This method is a more commonly used posture.

3. Don't hold your baby vertically: The head of a newborn baby accounts for 1/4 of the body length. When holding the baby vertically, the weight of the baby's head is all on the cervical spine. When the baby is 1-2 months old, the neck muscles are not fully developed and the neck muscles are weak. This incorrect holding posture should be used to prevent damage to the baby's spine. These injuries are not easy to detect at the time, but may affect the child's future growth and development. Therefore, it is not advisable to hold the baby vertically.

4. Don't hold your baby for too long: People love their children to an incomparable degree, and they don't kiss or love their children enough. They start holding their babies a few days after they are born. However, they don't know that this practice violates the natural law of infant growth and development and is harmful to the baby.

(1) Newborn babies need 20 hours of sleep a day; babies around 6 months old need about 16 hours of sleep. Therefore, except for special circumstances such as feeding and changing diapers, do not hold the baby too much.

(2) Due to physiological characteristics, the stomach and cardia muscles of infants are relatively relaxed, but the pyloric muscles are very tight. In this case, if the infant is held in the arms and played with after breastfeeding or feeding, food can easily overflow from the cardia and cause vomiting.

(3) Babies’ bones grow quickly. If they are held in the arms for a long time, it is extremely detrimental to the normal growth of their bones. It is necessary to hold them outside in the sun from time to time to enhance their immunity, but the time should not be too long.

5. Mother-child communication style: When holding the baby in this way, the mother and baby are face to face, which is most conducive to communication and dialogue between parents and children. The mother can also gently swing the baby in front of her to make the baby more relaxed and happier.

Tips for holding a newborn

1. Don’t shake your baby

When the baby is crying, sleeping or waking up, mothers will habitually hold the baby and rock him, thinking that this is what the baby wants most. However, it is difficult to control the strength of the rocking. If the strength is too strong, it is likely to cause damage to the baby's head, eyes and other parts, and you will also feel a special pain in your arms.

2. Observe your baby frequently

When holding your baby, you should always pay attention to whether his hands, feet and back are in a natural and comfortable position to avoid the baby's hands and feet being bent, pressed, or the back spine falling backwards, which may cause harm to the baby.

3. Correct your attitude when holding your baby

When holding your baby, it is best for mothers to establish the attitude of "holding often, not for long". In other words, hold your baby often, for 3 to 5 minutes each time, so that your baby can feel your love for him and make him feel safe. Never hold your baby for a long time, even holding him when he falls asleep, because this will cultivate the bad habit of crying when you don't hold him, and will also add a lot of trouble to your future parenting process.

4. Pay attention to distance

When holding the baby, the mother should not get too close to the baby, because the germs on your face, in your hair and in your mouth can easily pose a threat to the baby's delicate skin.

A baby crying is not necessarily a bad thing

If there is no abnormality, the crying of a newborn baby is good for the body and is a way for the newborn baby to exercise, so don't pick up or feed the newborn baby as soon as you hear him crying. Parents should pay attention to observe the crying pattern of the baby, correctly judge the reason for the baby's crying, and give appropriate responses. If the baby is held in the arms as soon as he cries, the baby who has not yet left the confinement period will develop a bad habit of not sleeping unless held, and crying when waking up as soon as he lands in bed. In fact, sleeping in the hands of adults is not good for the normal development of the baby's spine. Good sleeping habits should be cultivated from the time of birth. Using a cradle, rocking, or humming a song to urge the baby to sleep are all bad sleeping habits.

Newborn babies are in a special period of vulnerability and insecurity both physically and mentally. The love and physical closeness given by mothers at this time is the greatest comfort for them. Therefore, new mothers must learn how to hold their babies scientifically.