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As a new parent you want the best products and spare no amount of money. Friends and family suggest all kinds of “must have” items for your new baby. What’s hot and what’s not? By the time your baby is ready to arrive it can be confusing to a new parent on what items you really need to raise a baby. It’s real simple and doesn’t cost you much in the beginning to raise a newborn. Babies do three things when they are born. Eat, sleep and poop.

They need a place to sleep, feel warm and safe and have plenty to eat. With a newborn you don’t have to rush out and buy a crib just yet. You’re going to be waking up plenty in the middle of the night for feedings and wet diapers. To make it easy on mom and dad a must have item is a co-sleeper baby bed like The Snuggle Nest. This bed fits right in-between mom and dad. It gives new parents peace of mind to have your little one sleeping right next to you safely. A great added feature is a little light that you can turn on in the middle of the night to check on your baby. This avoid having to turn on bright lights at night to see. The co-sleeper folds easy and can be taken with you where ever you go.

To make feedings easy for you and baby there is formula that is premixed ready to go. Similac and Enfamil make 2oz ready to use bottles. These are great for night feedings! You just pop the cap off and replace with a nipple. I had a box sitting next to my bed at night. You don’t need to refrigerate to store, only after opening. When your baby moves up in formula amounts you can then step up to the larger premixed bottles. The price difference from powder to premix is only a few dollars more. Well worth the cost!

Have plenty of baby bottles on hand. I found the regular plastic BPA free bottles work just as well as the fancy curved or drop-ins. The nipple shape and style is what matters most at this age. Make sure to use a smaller nipple hole when you first start bottle feeding your baby. (Size 1) This keeps your baby from eating too much and choking. Your baby will tell you which bottle he/she likes best and just stick with that bottle. Dishwasher safe is best for properly sterilizing your bottles.

Blankets are a must have as well. Good large blankets to wrap your baby in at night. Babies love to feel warm, safe and secure. Learn how to wrap your baby tightly (the hospital will teach you this) and place your baby on his/her back at night. Make sure it’s not too tight but snug. This feels most like the womb to them. Newborn babies need to keep there body heat close to them. Always keep on a snug cap and booties as well. Heat escapes from the top of babies head and feet.

Diapers, of course is another must have, but which ones? You want to keep your baby dry. Keeping baby dry stops most diaper rashes before they start. I found Pampers Swaddlers to be the best. They have a wet indicator on the diaper. There’s a yellow strip on the front of the diaper that turns blue when your baby is wet. No guessing games here. These diapers are great! Don’t settle for less expensive diapers. Leaks can be messy and awful for you and baby. Especially at 3am! Swaddlers are well worth the money.

Mylicon is the final and BEST item to buy for baby. This is a gas relief product that really helps gassy babies. You baby will have gas after every feeding. Sometimes burping is not enough. When your baby is crying and he’s not hungry, wet or sleepy it’s probably gas. Give him the recommended dose (located on box) and your baby will feel better within minutes.

I have listed above some of the “must have” products I’ve used with my newborn son. Raising a baby takes time, patience and lots of love.

Jennifer-AwwNaturalBaby.com

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U.S. Gets High Rate Breastfeeding Signs for Newborns

Breastfeeding is the right of a new born baby. Milk is produced in a woman only when she is pregnant. Breastfeeding brings nearness of a baby to a mother Breastfeeding, a natural and healthy option for newborns, infants, and toddlers can provide not only nourishment but long-term benefits, for both mother and baby. And yet, while many mothers start off with a breastfeeding routine, many migrate to the bottle earlier than is best for the child.

Three million babies in America, 75% of the ones born in 2007, started off on breast milk; 43% were still breastfeeding when they were six months old, according to CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s) 2010 Breastfeeding Report Card. The three-quarters (75%) breastfeeding initiation rate meets the country’s Healthy People 2010 target. Half of all US states had rates of over 75%.

The report reveals that the percentage of babies that started off on breast milk ranged from 52.5% in Mississippi to 90% in Utah.

Breastfeeding is considered to be the only best start to every infant’s life. Mothers are advised to breastfeed their infants exclusively for six months ( minimum) and give appropriate complimentary foods, and continue breastfeeding their baby until one to two years of age. The most important health benefits for children include a reduced risk of respiratory illnesses, asthma, ear infections, stomach problems, as well as a decreased risk of diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Breastfeeding has also shown to potentially ward off allergies, diabetes, and even obesity later in life for breastfed babies.

However the annual” Breastfeeding Report Cart” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention give statistics that seem quite high for the first few months of life and then drop severely as time marches on.  The good news is that we are trying. In fact, the Report Card shows that 75 percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 – over 3 million – started life breastfeeding, which meets one of the nation’s Health People 2010 goals. However, after 3 months, the rates fall and then take a real tumble at the 6-12 month stage.

The southern part of the country seems to fall particularly short at the 6-month stage, with many of the states logging less than a 30 percent breastfeeding rate. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina and West Virginia trail the country, while their Western counterparts—California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado—all boast rates above 50 percent.

Several factors usually play into the lack of breastfeeding, (i)most importantly hospital practices in promoting breastfeeding postpartum,(ii) familial support, and  (iii) the workforce. According to the report, birth facility policies and practices significantly impact whether a woman chooses to start breastfeeding and how long she continues to breastfeed. Several specific policies and practices, in combination, determine how much overall support for breastfeeding a woman birthing in a given facility is likely to receive and how likely her baby is to receive formula in the first 2 days.

Once a woman is at home, breastfeeding requires a dedication, essentially being a food source on demand 24/7. This may not be possible given a family situation where there are multiple children or elders to care for. Likewise a swift return to work can make it difficult to continue the practice of breastfeeding, although it is certainly possible. There are laws mandating support for breastfeeding mothers who return to work by requiring a minimum level of breastfeeding support from the employer. Such laws support the economic goals of employers and employees as well as the well-being of mothers and children.

The medical director from the Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center in the University of Rochester has said, “Every newborn should be breastfed as this would provide the best nutrition, the greatest infection protection, the most illness prevention, and the greatest food security and psychological protection for the infant.”

Breastfeeding offers many benefits for both the baby and the mother:

It is easy to digest
It contains antibodies that protect the baby from infections – a study showed how breastfeeding transfers immunity to babies
It reduces the risk of becoming overweight/obese later on in life
It requires no measuring and careful preparations – it is the ideal way to feed on demand instantly.
Breastfed babies are less likely to have diarrhea compared to formula fed babies.
Some studies have linked breastfeeding to higher intelligence later in life.
A mother who breastfed her children has a considerably lower risk of developing Diabetes Type 2 when she is older, compared to a woman who had children but never breastfed.
Women who breastfeed appear to have lower risk of inherited breast cancer.
Children who are breastfed are less likely to suffer from behavioral or mental health issues than those who are not breastfed, research has revealed.
Breastfeeding may prevent or delay allergies in high-risk children.

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina M. Benjamin,said in August 2010:

“I am committed to promoting and supporting optimal breastfeeding practices with the ultimate goal of improving the public’s health. This is because breastfeeding is the best source of infant nutrition, and it provides immunologic protection and health benefits both to breastfeeding mothers and to the children they nurse.”

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