Advice: Caring for Newborns and Infants

This includes the first 180 days of a child’s life after birth. ​Quality health services, adequate nutrition, love and care are important for the health and development of the child.

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DANGER SIGNS:

Seek immediate medical care if your baby:

  1. Stops feeding well or vomits everything
  2. Has any jaundice (yellow-colored skin) in the first 24 hours of life
  3. Has yellow-colored palms or soles at any time
  4. Breaths faster than 60 breaths a minute or has blue-colored lips
  5. Has difficult breathing and his/her chest sucks in when breathing
  6. Is weak or lethargic, difficult to wake up, or will not move
  7. Has a fever (37.5° C or higher)
  8. Has a low temperature (less than 36.5° C)
  9. Has pus from the umbilical cord or eyes
  10. Has a convulsion or fit

CARING FOR YOUR NEWBORN BABY:

  1. Initiate early breast feeding, and only give breast milk for the first 6 months
  2. Do not give your baby water or butter
  3. Keep your baby warm
  4. Wrap your baby in dry blankets and cover his/her head with a hat
  5. Continue Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) for preterm and low birth weight babies
  6. Keep the umbilical cord clean and dry and do not cover it with the diaper
  7. Bathe the baby only every 2-3 days 8. Do not give honey to your baby until 12 months old
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