Bringing home your newborn baby can be a frightening experience for
first-time parents, but doing your research in advance, some careful planning,
and help from friends and family can make the process much easier and give you
time to enjoy your new arrival.
To help you as much as we can, we have brought together information and
advice from our own team as well as experts from around the world - paying
particular attention to those areas where we ourselves struggled! But please
remember that, if you are worried about mother or baby in any way, you should
contact your doctor or paediatrician for advice.
A Day With A New Baby
Your first days at home with your new baby can be bewildering and overwhelming.
Is there such a thing as a typical day with a new baby? Probably not, but the
more you know in advance the more you can be prepared...
Caring For Your Newborn Baby
Newborns are surprisingly resilient and with a few basic principles of care you
will be adept at looking after your baby in no time.
Breast feeding or bottle feeding? On demand feeding or scheduled feeding? When
to wean? We answer your questions here... Feeding Your BabyLots NEW!
How To Bathe Your New Baby
Bath time is a time of special bonding between a baby and her parents, and
something most parents come to look forward to - once their initial fears have
passed!
Swaddling Your Baby Swaddling is an ancient practise although it went out of fashion for
a while. Now it is once again recognised as helping to soothe and calm a baby.
Coping With A Colicky Baby
If your baby suffers from colic, you may well be despairing! Evenings can seem
unbearably long and it is hard to know what is worse - watching your baby in
apparent pain, or listening to the endless crying. We have suggestions on how to
cope...
Coping With Lack Of Sleep
Sleep deprivation and its effects are a very real problem for new parents, so
you should be prepared with various strategies in advance to help you cope.
Babies And Pets
Introducing your baby to your pet for the first time.
Coping With Unwanted Advice
When you bring home your first baby, everyone is very happy to offer you advice
- which you don't always want!
Coping With The New Way Of Life
Your old life is over and your new life as a parent has begun. Are you ready for
the changes?
Should You Follow A Routine?
If you like routine in your own life (and are prepared to bend your activities
to suit your newborn), a sensible baby routine may be for you...
First Steps Towards A Routine
Even if you are sure you should follow a routine with your new baby, it can be
hard to sift through all the advice about the best way to do it
What To Do With The
Umbilical Cord
Many new parents are surprised to find that baby arrives home with an umbilical
cord clamp in place. Find out how you treat it here.
How To Cope With Visitors
While all new parents are keen to show off their new arrival, sometimes the
influx of visitors can be overwhelming. Here's how to cope...
Travelling With Your Newborn Taking your newborn out and about can seem daunting at first. Here
are our tips for making travelling with your baby a stress-free experience.
Introducing Baby To Siblings Bringing a new baby into your existing family can be difficult when
you have other children at home, but a little bit of forward planning can ensure
a happy relationship between siblings.
How To Include Your Partner Partners are more supportive than ever before
during pregnancy and birth - but sometimes can feel excluded in the early days
when new mothers are breastfeeding and often the women in the family take
over...
Choosing A Baby Sling
A discussion of the various types of baby slings available to you and advice on
finding the one to suit you.
The Benefits
Of Using A Baby Sling Baby slings or carriers have been used for thousands of years - for
good reason! We discuss the benefits here...
Should My Baby Watch
TV?
Television programs made specially for babies are becoming more easily available
- on cable, satellite and the internet. Should you be signing up for them?
Asking
For Help From Friends And Family
Bringing home a new baby can be overwhelming and exhausting, so most new moms
can benefit from asking friends and family for help - and it isn't a sign of
weakness to do so!
Coping With Newborn
Twins
Twins mean double of everything. This means double the clothes, nappies, baby
equipment, food, stress – and love. This may sound obvious but acceptance is
often an important step in dealing with a difficult situation...
Social Time For BabiesNEW!
Babies need social time and quiet time in the same way that adults too. The
challenge for new parents is to learn to recognise their baby's social
signals...
White Noise Creates A
Happy Haven For Crying Babies
Experts believe that you can significantly decrease crying associated with colic and recreate this whooshing noise by playing white noise for your crying baby.
Basics For Buying And Using A
Breast Pump
Breast pumps offer dads a chance to get involved and working mothers to continue
to breast feed their babies - but how do you choose the kind that's right for
you?
Clothing Crisis For New Mums
What do you wear straight after birth? When can you get back into your
pre-pregnancy clothes? And when would you want to?
Dislaimer
AV Baby content is for information only. If you are at all worried about your
baby, please seek the advice of your midwife, doctor or paediatrician.
Diary of a New Mum Week 33
A Baby Cage In which I purchase a play-pen and wait to see how Jessica-Ann will react...
You'll be amazed at how much equipment you will need for your newborn
baby! Here we help you to think through and plan for your requirement. De-cluttering Before
The Baby Comes Home
Make sure you know your rights so that you can use your maternity or paternity
leave to good advantage. Maternity And
Paternity Leave
Surprising numbers of parents get their baby's nurseries wrong - filling them
with pretty accessories but often leaving out the real essentials! Don't fall
into these traps... Nursery Do's and Don'ts
What do you need to buy for your baby's first clothes and bedding? A Basic Layette
If there is one parenting issue which causes the most anxiety, disruption and
unhappiness, it is baby sleep problems! Establishing a good sleep routine from
the very beginning can be crucial to a peaceful and happy family. Baby SleepLots NEW!
What should you expect at 6 weeks, 6 months or 1 year? We provide useful
milestones and developmental stages so that you can keep an eye on your baby's
development in the first year. Baby Stages
Print, cut and assemble a mobile to decorate the baby's room - or make
use of matching room signs, door hangers, photo frames and more! Room Decorations To Print
Everything from nursery mobiles and cut-outs to birth announcements and baby
shower invitations and scrapbook paper! Baby Printables
