Newborn Care
Newborn Care
Newborn Care Begins From The Moment Your Baby Arrives
Here at Living Well Pediatrics, we like to begin your newborn care in the hospital and continue as an integral part of the comprehensive care provided by our professional team!
We understand the challenges of taking care of a newborn. We also provide the same gentle care we would use for treating one of our family members. If you’re pregnant, looking for a pediatrician, and you’d like to meet the team, or you need to schedule a newborn visit, contact our office.
Newborn Care FAQs
When does my newborn have their first checkup?
Your new baby has their first checkup within 1 to 3 days after leaving the hospital. Your newborn’s checkup is a comprehensive exam to be sure they’re growing and developing normally. During the checkup, the pediatrician:
- Checks your baby’s weight, length, and head circumference
- Evaluates your baby’s feeding, bowel, and sleeping habits
- Does a physical examination, including an eye exam
- Performs a developmental evaluation
These visits also give parents time to ask questions about their baby, whether they’re not sure about how to bathe the baby, they have trouble with feeding, they’re worried about the baby’s sleep schedule, or any other concerns.
What screenings does newborn care include?
Some states routinely screen for genetic and rare medical conditions, including 32 core and 24 secondary conditions. The goal is to identify and treat diseases early enough to prevent serious complications such as growth problems, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, blindness, deafness, and seizures.
Within the first 24 hours after delivery, your newborn has a hearing screening, and blood is drawn from their heel to run the routine screening tests.
What are well-child visits?
Well-child visits are ongoing checkups for children that follow a specific schedule. After the two-week newborn care visit, your newborn should see the pediatrician at one and two months.
During each visit, their pediatrician will evaluate their growth, developmental milestones, and behaviors. If your baby needs routine blood draws, they can also be done in the office.
Just like the first newborn care visit, every well-child checkup is an opportunity to talk with the pediatrician about baby care and your baby’s health and safety.
Your pediatrician also gives immunizations at the two-month visit to protect your baby from:
- Polio
- Hepatitis B
- Rotavirus
- Diphtheria
- Haemophilus Influenzae
- Pneumococcus
Small doses of the same immunizations are repeated several times over the first 18 months to be sure your infant is fully immunized against contagious diseases.
Lactation Support
Breastfeeding Support
Breastfeeding provides essential nutrition for infants birth to one year and older. As with learning anything new, most breastfeeding mothers and babies (and dads too!) need some instruction and support during this learning period.
That's where we come in!
We have a high number of breastfeeding families. We will do our best to help you meet your breastfeeding goals. Any breastmilk you feed your infant is a gift of health for your child that lasts for a lifetime.
We respect each family's feeding decisions. We do encourage moms to breastfeed exclusively or give only breastmilk for the first six months then continue to breastfeed and give solid foods until your baby is at least 2 years old.
We love babies and enjoy helping families learn how to breastfeed! We will help you as little or as much as you need. We provide in-office feeding evaluations for hands-on help as well as phone support for any questions you may have along your breastfeeding journey.
Some areas we can provide guidance include:
- Positioning your baby at the breast
- Latching
- Caring for your breasts and nipples
- Assessing milk transfer
- Assuring adequate nutrition
- Assembling and using a breast pump, including sizing for the right size flange
- Storing milk
- Returning to work/school while breastfeeding
- Traveling and breastfeeding
- Training a breastfeeding baby to a bottle
- Teething while breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding premature babies
- Managing slow weight gain babies
- Breastfeeding twins
- Breastfeeding babies with special medical needs such as cleft palate, Down Syndrome, and heart conditions
- Managing medications, medical tests or surgery while breastfeeding
