What I’ve learned in the past 12 days of having a new born

These are mainly experiences tested and applied several times by various family members and our Pediatrician. 

·         One key way to boost mother’s milk supply is by eating ‘red meat’ and lots of freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices such as apple, and celery.  If you have a boy, we believe that they are affiliated with ‘warm nature’= ta’be garm. Therefore, adding ‘cold natured’ veggies such as squash and cucumber juice is recommended as well.  For the red meat, we try ‘beeftak’ or thinly sliced beef top or tip round steak marinated in lemon juice and olive oil and then sautéed with a little bit of live oil for about 2 minutes until browned.  It helped me increase my supply by a lot. On the other hand, if you don’t drink enough liquids, are over exhausted by going out of the house for over 3 hours or get nervous in general, your supply may go down.  However, as we say it has gone out for ‘chera=grazing’ or hiatus and will be back soon again with trying the methods described above!

·         Before breast feeding, it is a good idea to wipe the breast area with a clean wet towel or wash cloth and also express some of the initial milk ( either by hand if not too engorged or by a breast pump).  This will help discard the bad tasting, almost sour milk at the tip of the nipple and also flatten the nipples for a better latch( hand expressing).  It will also reduce the spits and the gassy feeling of the baby afterwards and will make the baby want to nurse even more eagerly!

·         A good breast fed baby will general about 1 wet diaper per day of his life for the first 3-5 days and after wards about 6-8 per day.  You may use the diapers with wetness indicator stripe at the beginning which helped us a lot with having a peach of mind about counting the wet ones!

·         If a baby cries after being fed, changed in diaper and burped and napped, you may use an orthodontic pacifier and also put him in one of the electric swings for a good sway.  They have worked wonders for us when he was cranky and also helped with avoiding to hold him which is a bad habit to keep.

·         Don’t buy too many new born clothing items.  Just wash the few they have as they grow pretty fast ( about 1 oz per day ). 

·         Don’t forget about Vitamin D drops for breast fed babies.  You may apply this( about 400 IU per day or one drop) on the nipple or the pacifier or just drop it in their mouth.

·         If they get a diaper rash, don’t use any wipes, just apply a wet wash cloth to clean the area and don’t forget to use your best friend, Desitine, or Vaseline cream.

·         The new born breast fed babies may wake up any where from every 2-5 hours at nights as their stomach is about the size of a marble.   This habit will gradually change by the 6^th week, or  as we call it ‘Shabe Chelleh=the fortieth night’!  Make sure though not to let them sleep more than 2 hours in a row during the day so they don’t get their night and day mixed up and are ready for a longer night time sleep.

·         Obviously, we don’t wash and ‘Submerge’ the baby in the water until the umbilical cord, and the circumcision ring if a boy, have fallen.  In the meantime, you can give the baby a sponge bath by bathing his legs, arms, face , head and tummy with mild soapy wash cloth.  This will help his skin breath more by opening up its clogged tissues and help the baby gain more weight!

·         When the baby’s mouth gets those white curdles or as we call it ‘Paneerak’ it can mean the milk is coming down and baby is gaining weight!  Remember the milk may not come out for up to a week during which the baby may loose some weight due to dehydration but this should be resolved and compensated shortly after milk comes down.