Everyday Care For Newborn

Handling your Baby

New babies have an instinctive fear of being dropped which shows whenever their heavy heads are allowed to flop or their uncontrolled limbs dangle in space. They can neither support their own heads nor control their own muscles and they are only relaxed and happy when someone does it for them. In a crib or carriage the mattress provides support; in someone’s arms the adult body supports the baby’s, but being picked up or put down introduces a potentially alarming moment when one kind of support is removed before the other is established.

The answer is to give new babies a moment with both kinds of support before either is removed. If you are picking your baby up, arrange your hands and arms under and around him while the mattress is still supporting the weight. Don’t even begin to lift until the baby has felt the new security your hands are providing. When you put the baby down, reverse the process: keep your supporting hands in place as you put him down so that the baby has time to register the security of the mattress before you remove them.

Arranging your hands and arms takes practice before it becomes an unthinking skill. But you will not go far wrong if you think of new babies as badly wrapped parcels. If you pick them up around the middle, both ends will flop. If you concentrate on supporting their heads, their legs will dangle. You have to gather them together so that you can move them in a compact bundle. Above all, do make sure that your baby is aware of what you are going to do before you do it, that you move slowly and that you keep to a minimum the distances through empty space which he must travel. If, for example, you are picking your baby up from a porta-crib on the floor, kneel down to take the baby into your arms. Don’t stand up until he is nestled against you.

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Picking Up and Putting Down

Give the baby a few moments supported by your hands and the mattress before you take one of them away. Never pick him up without alerting him to your presence by talking to him and touching him.

• Put your left hand under his neck and your right hand under his bottom. Spread the fingers to support his head and thighs.
• Lean down so that your left wrist and forearm follow her spine right down to her waist level.
• Lift slowly. Your arms support him in the same position as the mattress.
• Your arms are in the right position to put him to your shoulder without anymore jouncing around.
• You can even free your right hand by shifting your left elbow around to brace him against you.
• To put him down, lower him slowly until his head and back are on your left hand and arm on the mattress.
• Lower his bottom and when it too is supported, gently slide your hands from beneath him.