What to Know About Well Child Check

The most important is to check baby’s weight, length and head circumference and plot the measurements on a growth chart checking for growth and development.

Feeding: Breast milk is the best nutrition for infants, but store-bought formula also can provide the nutrients they need. Should be fed when they’re hungry, which is about every 1-3 hours. 

Don’t give solid foods or juice and don’t put cereal in your baby’s bottle.

A newborn may sleep 14-17 hours or more in 24 hours, waking up often to breastfeed or take a bottle. Breastfeed babies usually wake to eat every 1-3 hours, while formula-fed babies may sleep longer, waking every 2-4 hours to eat. Newborns should not sleep more than 4 hours between feedings until they have good weight gain, usually within the first few weeks.

Developing of newborns:

• Pay attention to faces or bright objects 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) away

  
  

• Respond to sound – they may turn to a parent’s voice, blink

  
  

• Hold their arms and legs in flexed position

  
  

• Moved arms and legs equally

  
  

• Lift head briefly when on stomach (babies should be placed on the stomach only while awake or under supervision

  
  

• Have strong newborn reflexes (rooting and sucking, grasp, fencer pose, Moro reflex)

Immunizations can protect infants from serious childhood illness, so it’s important that baby get them on time.

Always wash your hands before handling the baby and avoid people who may be sick.

Hold your baby and be attentive to their needs. You can’t spoil a newborn.

Keep the diaper below the umbilical cord so the stump can dry. The umbilical cord usually falls off in 10-14 days.

Give sponge baths until umbilical cord falls off and boy’s circumcision heals. Make sure the water isn’t too hot – test it with your wrist first.

Use fragrance free soaps and lotions.

It’s normal for infants to have some fussy periods, but for some, crying can be excessive, lasting several hours a day, and if the baby is around 3 weeks old, peaks around 6 weeks, and improves by 3 months, it can be colic.

Call your baby’s doctor if your infant has a fever of 100,4 F(38C) or higher, taken in your baby’s bottom, if acting sick, isn’t eating, isn’t peeing or pooping, isn’t latching on or sucking well while nursing, doesn’t seem satisfied after breastfeeding, looks yellow, or has increasing redness or pus around the umbilical cord or circumcision. Please do not give any medicine without talking to the doctor first.

• Breastfeed babies will eat about 8-12 times in a 24-hour period, formula fed infants consume about 24 ounces a day

  
  

• 6 wet diapers a day, and the daily number of poopy diapers varies, but most breastfed babies will have 3 or more

  
  

• Around 6 weeks of age, breastfed babies may go several days without bowel movements a day, formula-fed babies have at least 1 bowel movement a day

  
  

• Sleep about 14-17 hours a day, including several daytime naps – breastfed babies may still wake often to eat at night, while bottle-fed infants may sleep for longer stretches

  
  

Developing:

• Focus and follow objects (especially faces)

• Respond to sound by quieting down, blinking, turning the head, crying

• Still hold arms and legs in a flexed position, but start to extend legs more often

• Move arms and legs equally

• Lift the head briefly when on the stomach

• Have strong newborn reflexes

• Breastfeed about 8 times in a 24-hour period or drink about 26-28 ounces (780-840 ml) of formula a day

  
  

• Several wet diapers a day and tend to have fewer poopy diapers

  
  

• Breastfed baby’s stools should be soft and may be slightly runny, and formula-fed baby’s stools tend to be a little firmer, but should not be hard

  
  

• Begin to stay awake for longer periods and be more alert during the day, sleeping more at night breastfed babies may have a 4-5 hour stretch at night, and formula-fed babies may go 5-6 hours, and waking up at night to be fed is normal.

Developing:

• make sounds other than crying, react to loud sounds

• Calm down when spoken to or picked up, look at your face, and at a toy for several seconds

• Smile in response to being talked to, played with, or smiled at

• Hold their head up while lying on their belly

• Move both arms and legs, and open their hands briefly

Do not introduce solids (including infant cereal) or juice for 6 months. If desired, pumped breast milk may be given in a bottle, especially if you plan to go back to work soon, introduce the bottle to get your baby used to bottle-feeding.

Give your baby supervised “tummy time” when awake and always watch your baby and be ready to help if they get tired or frustrated in this position.

Don’t use an infant walker, as they’re dangerous and can cause serious injuries.

Keep small objects and harmful substances out of reach.