When we first touch our little bundle of joy, the newborn delights that are said to take our breath away include that mouthwatering smell, those lovely little eyelashes, and the minuscule toes. You will experience many unexpected things as a first-time mother that no one has prepared you for. In order to better equip you to care for your infant, let’s examine these surprises.
- They have freezing feet
Your baby can get freezing feet, and it’s enough to make a new mum whip out an extra swaddle. But it’s quite common because newborn babies can’t easily regulate their temperature. They also aren’t able to shiver like adults to generate heat.
An infant’s circulatory system is still learning how to pump ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ around his whole body, soo after birth, it’s most important job is to send ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ to your baby’s vital organs: the lungs, heart, brain, digestive and urinary systems. Because of this, other less important parts, like baby’s feet or hand might receive less ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ flow. This reduced ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ flow could mean that baby feet always cold. It could take up to three months for a baby’s ᴄɪʀᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ system to mature and efficiently pump ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ to parts of his body, including his little feet. According to the World Health Organisation, the baby’s hands and feet should be pink and warm.
- They don’t shed tears
While newborns can most certainly cry – they actually can’t physically shed tears because their tear ducts and glands are only producing enough tears to protect their eyes.
But don’t worry, somewhere between one and three months your baby will begin crying real tears.
- Their head pulses
It’s a little unnerving, but babies have soft spots (fontanelles) on their heads and sometimes they PULSE! Eventually, the head bones will meet and fuse and the soft spots will close. It’s not a design flaw; it’s actually a clever way to help baby’s heɑd through the birth canal.
- Crying isn’t always hunger-related
Newborns have one way to tell you they aren’t happy and that’s to cry. But it’s not the only thing they fuss about. They may need burping, might be too hot or too cold. Sometimes they are overtired or just feeling a little off.
It can be super hard to hear your newborn cry and not know how to fix it, but as they grow you’ll come to learn what their various cries mean.
- Snuffly sleepers
From little grunts to adorable ticks and odd noises during REM sleep, babies can be noisy little sleepers. That first night in the hospital you’ll probably lay wide awake listening to make sure your tiny bub is ok. Apart from making it hard for YOU to sleep, their noises aren’t usually anything to be concerned about, but there are reasons why a child’s snoring shouldn’t be ignored.
