Becoming a new parent is one of the most amazing feelings, but it can also be one of the most daunting!
Knowing what you should and shouldn’t do in those first few months is crucial, but when you’re bombarded with advice from friends, family, and the internet – it can be hard to determine what’s most important. We have called on the expertise of speakers at The Baby Show to share their tips on making sure new parents focus on what’s most important.
Do follow safe sleep guidelines
Pip Davies, aka Midwife Pip, says: “It can be tempting to make sure your new baby is warm and cosy, but being too hot is a risk factor for SIDS. So following safe sleep guidelines on layers and dressing your baby is really important. When you have a baby, it is easy to be overwhelmed with others’ opinions, but never ignore your own gut instincts – they are very powerful and usually right.”
Never feel like you can spoil them
Vern Hill, babywearing specialist and founder of Carifit, comments: “Never feel like you can spoil them, you can’t; hold them, kiss them, cuddle them, wear them in your baby carrier as much as you like. Research shows it will calm them – and you, as carried babies are designed to be ‘attached’ to their primary care givers. Therefore, you can’t spoil them with contact – and, no, you won’t make a rod for your own back!”
Never leave your new baby to cry
Rachel FitzD, author of Your Baby Skin to Skin, adds: “Babies cannot meet their own needs in any way at all, so they’re totally dependent on their carers for everything, 24/7. Your granny may tell you that babies need to ‘exercise their lungs’, or that by picking them up when they whimper, you’re creating bad habits and a clingy child – but this isn’t true. Babies are unable to learn how to self-soothe or tell the difference between night or day for many months. So, leaving them to cry simply increases their stress – and yours.”
For more information visit www.thebabyshow.co.uk.
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