As much as the new baby comes with tons of joy and excitement, it also brings in a lot of confusion. Your baby may be healthy and fine but they can be struck with some common conditions. Although these conditions are nothing to worry about but if you don’t know about them, you might just raise a storm in your head as to what it is and what to do about it. We have gathered 8 conditions that your bundle of joy may be struck with in the first few months:
Diarrhea
Babies have higher chances of collapsing really quick when suffering from diarrhea. They may cry inconsolably because of frequent bowel movements causing pain. Very frequent bowel movements resulting in watery poops can dehydrate your baby.
You should better focus on filling up your baby with extra fluid so he doesn’t dehydrate. If it is accompanied by high fever and abdominal pain, you should immediately go to the doctor
Baby Acne
Don’t freak out when you notice your baby’s soft and smooth skin covered in small red pimples. Yes, they do look just like adult acne. It usually happens in the fourth or fifth week. It may seem like it is irritating your angel but it is completely harmless. They are caused by pregnancy hormones that trigger the sebaceous glands in the skin.
All you have to is use mild baby soap only once in a day and make sure that the sheets and pillow covers you place you baby on is not washed using strong detergents.
Constipation
Newborn comes with lots of responsibilities along with checking for stools whether they are firm or soft and their frequency too. If the baby’s stool is firm and infrequent, he is probably suffering from constipation. Hard stool can be painful for the baby and requires treatment.
Make sure you reduce the intake of constipating foods like rice cereal and bananas and replace it with high fiber and high fluid diet like barley cereal and pureed prunes. You can even add in a teaspoon of flax oil in the baby’s bottle once in a day as flax oil is a great natural laxative. Always go to your doctor if you don’t notice any bowel movement for more than four days.
Jaundice
Does the skin tone of your baby seem yellowish? Many babies are even born with jaundice but it is nothing to worry about. It is just that the blood of the baby contains high amount of bilirubin.
It only takes few days for the baby to recover from jaundice but don’t get all worked up if you feel it is getting worse because it will reach its peak before getting better. The doctor may suggest phototherapy either by keeping the baby under fluorescent light or exposing the baby to sun light for few days.
Blocked Tear Ducts
Whether you have your own baby or not, you probably must have seen sticky mucus in the corner of baby’s eye. That is because the baby has blocked tear ducts. Again, it is nothing to worry about as it happens to be a harmless condition.
You don’t even have to go to the doctor for it. Tear ducts naturally open up as the baby reaches the age of 2 weeks. The only thing you can do if you want is massage the inner corner of the baby’s eye with a light hand.
Cradle Cap
Does the scalp of your baby seem red and scaly? Heavy flaking, greasy scales and redness may freak you out but it can be easily cured. First off, it doesn’t harm your baby in any way. No need to panic at all. Cradle cap is a result of natural shedding of skin cells and extra active oil glands.
Just wash the head of your baby more often using a mild shampoo. You can also use a brush with soft bristles to get rid of the scale. If it doesn’t make it any better, contact a pediatrician.
