Welcome back, we're going to talk about little braces here, your beautiful little baby. So you've generally got them home by now and your thought, What? What did they say about that? Again, I'm gonna walk you through the changes for this little baby in this first week. But remember, you know, the hormones that I talked about in the mom section are quite important. And they affect, I guess, the way you feel about some of these normal changes with the baby.

And you know, if you've had a role way, or if you're someone that likes to get things great and perfect all the time, like you feel like you really want to nail this and do it right every time that you need to know that. That's not possible. And that's not really that important. But the 8020 rule 20% of the time, you can really step it up and you're never gonna do anything dangerous. You know, this is a little human, you're going to treat them like a little human you're going to be you know, being safe and and confident with what you're doing. But you might just go, Oh, well that didn't work.

So you might do it next time. Sorry. But they generally for this first week is still a bit jaundice. Now the Anthony and Paul have talked to you about jaundice and what's normal and so, you know, if the baby gets really sleepy, or you're really worried, you'll contact your health professional about that. But other than that, you're not going to worry that the jaundice levels of problem we know that the hydration so your milk going through the baby gets that jaundice level out and the baby will have really bright orange poos. And so every time you see a bright blue guy, it's a bit more Billy Ruben out the system.

The other thing that Can Help is filtered sunlight. So we don't want you to stick the baby in the sun. We want filtered sunlight. So something that comes through a window or a curtain is perfect. And that will help just to break down some of the bilirubin sitting under the skin during the day. And and so really Other than that, that's all you can do.

You just have to wait for that baby's liver to get on with what it needs to do. So this baby was born with skin obviously Yeah, but this skin that it's born with is the skin that's protected from getting all soggy and wrinkly in your tummy. Because remember, in your uterus, it lived in water. Now you think Fassbender air in the bath I get all wrinkly. And because your skin kind of soaks in that water and it changes the top level of it. Now your babies have this special skin that it doesn't need anymore.

So will shed like a lizard, a whole layer of skin and you think My God, we bought a baby last night. And now look at it, it's all dry. Now that dry is the starting of the shedding. So the dry skin it tends to split in their babies little risks. So in this little wrist area and on their feet. And so you just started there and then goodness me, they'll be like Elizabeth, they'll be going everywhere.

So it takes about a week. If you use a moisturizer, please use them, and fragrance pH neutral one. And that will basically just rub off the skin that the baby doesn't need. And it's not a problem cure scenario, this is normal, and it will just shed off all in its own time. And think about the skin that sits under the layer that the baby doesn't need that's fresh skin that's never had any contact with the world. So it's very sensitive and babies get these little red dots that come and go that's really normal.

That's just their fresh skin that sits underneath and they've got to get used to wearing clothes. Having cream and a freshness and mosquito repellent sprays you know, I don't think we realize how many chemicals we actually have in the world these days. And these little babies have to come to terms with that. Their little belly button, which, you know, for most people, they're like, we'll wait for that to fall off. So I want you to think about it like a bit of rotting flesh. Yuck.

And it is really gross. It's dinky Dicky. Yeah, it's just there and it's a means to an end. So the cord was very important. It nourished and grew this beautiful baby, but you know, it doesn't have any nerve endings attached to the outside be and it's really just a bit of skin that needs to rush and fall off. And maybe you might pop it in a book, or you might pop it in the beam.

I'd pop it in the beam. That's totally up to you. So you Yes, it's gonna get smelly, it's gonna get tricky. And I want you to think about it like a bomb like you don't like wash that and then wash the baby's face because it's yucky. So you do if you're going to wash the baby or bath it, you would do that as the last week, give it a little wash with the flannel with just water. It doesn't need particular creams or treatments or anything, you just keep it clean and dry.

So if you've thought the baby, and then you've just washed their bomb, and you just wash around the pig, so that you get the sticky bit off, and then you dry it with the edge of the towel at the end of the bath. Now, it's very uncommon for belly buttons to get infected. Very, very uncommon. But obviously there is in small cases that does happen. And so have some pictures that you'll be able to see of what healthy and infected looks like obviously, if you're worried, you know, use your own instinct. He might go to see the pediatrician or you might ask the midwife or you might see a GP, just to have that checked out.

And if it is infected, it will look red and cranky. And then you'll you'll pop some cream or give the baby some antibiotics if it needs to, but it's not not that normal for that to happen because it's a function that the body should do all on its own. The other thing that's common with the new little baby is this skin shedding and their nails now I haven't met a family that don't freak out about cutting their baby's nails and thinking What should we do? So I guess to understand that the nail and the back of this finger are attached. And so if you go clicking away, you might find that you get some blood and they know the worst parent in the world. And, and that that little bit of bleeding is because the skin is still attached.

So to avoid that, I tend to stay away. Let that baby scratch them they're closed and that blankets and stuff like that, so that the nails separate and you can just peel them off because they're really soft, the little sides of the nails a little weak. And there'll be a picture that you can see can sometimes also get infected. And, you know, this baby's immune system has that and done nothing until it's been born. So it's very excited. It's like, we can get going, I can, you know, get my white blood cells, you know, interaction and everything.

So often this little thing on the side of the baby's fingers can look infected and be a bit puffy and a bit red. Now, if you feel like it's tracking up the finger, and you think, oh, that doesn't look very good. Again, say doctor, but if there's just a little bit of gooey stuff or a bit red and cranking on the sides of the baby's fingers, you're not going to worry. It's the normal process. The body is doing what it should be doing. You don't need to do anything.

No treatment, it will just sort itself out. And I guess you can think Yay, this baby's immune system is working very well. And that's the dots and the little scratches and stuff that comes up because it's very reactive for the first few weeks. And so we talked about scheme and belly buttons and fingers and fingernails and bar thing and, you know, we kind of touched on the bow. They do have big swollen scrotum. Starting there's not a man that goes to your, I think, yeah, look at my boy, he's got big balls.

But those big balls are swollen from the base. They will come back up so he won't have balls around his knees when he's a teenager. Don't worry. So yeah, they just get swollen. You always get poo stuck underneath you and wipe that out with the mouth and wipe underneath. But yeah, that will settle down.

And I haven't talked about circumcision because I think that there's enough information available about that. To you, and the hospital when your health professional will go through circumcision. It's just too political. I know you think really, no, people are very, very opinionated on it. So we're just gonna leave that one alone. But last thing, which is that I think that I get asked a lot is how much to dress the baby in layers.

How many layers hats, no hats. So let's make it simple. So it's a small human, you're human. I'm a human. We're all humans. So today in red light, which is where I'm living in, and it's about 18 degrees.

So I'm currently wearing 123 layers. So I haven't got a hat on. I'm inside though. So I don't need a hat. You know when you wear a beanie and you get all hot because you head to my regular now Most babies are like Brutus with not much here. So they haven't got the hair to help them through my regulate.

But they've got extra fat on their bodies. So you know, with the layers that you put on them helps to regulate their temperature, and they can start to do that themselves. But I would only encourage your hat when you're going outside and it's windy, and you're thinking all the baby's going to get colder than it would. So if I'm wearing three layers simulate, this top is very thin and a jacket. So Brutus here is wearing a singer and a girl suit. And if I was going to pop him to bed, I would wrap him up and tuck him in with a light blanket.

So therefore, he's got one layer more than me, but he's not outside, he's going to go to sleep inside. So he doesn't need a hat and he doesn't need an extra layer on top of that. So there's some information on On layer waiting. You think, what are you talking about? And it's about knowing that your synthetic fibers don't keep you as warm as your natural. So you walls Cotton's bamboo, very in fashion at the moment.

But they're natural fibers that keep us warmer. And these synthetic pretty blankets, they actually don't keep your baby very warm at all. So that's why you tend to need lots of them. So he's wearing two cotton clothes. So if you had a singlet and a suit, and Muslim wrap, which is your like cotton rat and a cotton blanket, perfect. If I was in, well, I go maybe I'll go to Darwin.

Well, no, it's nice that Darwin this time of year, so he wouldn't need all of these layers because outside it's 30 degrees and probably a bit humid. So if I was in Dallas, I'd be wearing a be dipping a pina colada like wearing my bike, um, but I would be wearing probably one layer, I'd be wearing a singlet, and a pair of shorts or a dress. And a bra. We might count that. And so Brutus would be wearing like a little suit without a singlet. And if he was going to play, you'd probably wrap him in a light Muslim breathable lap wrap.

So that's one layer more than me. So I know there's lots of information on the season keeps the website about not having your baby too hot. Now the other sleeping professionals that talk about keeping your baby really hot that sleeps longer and you're thinking so I say one layer more than you. If you're outside and it's cold or windy, you might add a second layer and a hat. If you're going into the car, you need to remember to take that off because the wind has gone away and the baby will get too hot quite quickly. This is something that you're gonna learn, you're gonna feel it out, don't feel like you need to get it right.

Don't feel like you need to check the baby's temperature every five minutes, like a crazy person. Because that's just gonna ruin your confidence, I want you to feel your baby, touch them, you know, this little bit in the knife of the neck is the perfect, perfect place to fool your baby. And if you feel it, and it feels a bit cold, at layer, if you feel it and it's a bit hot and sweaty, take something off, you know, checking their temperature on their head. And you know, you've got these things, use them so that then you feel confident with what your baby needs. So, that was a lot. You're gonna get some more information from some of the other experts, but it's gonna hopefully, start to help you to understand what you're seeing what's normal, what to do.

And so you get confident with with what's going on with this little baby and with you well I'll hear hear from you on the Facebook page if you've got questions or you think that didn't make any sense, and you know, maybe looking at the resources that are attached to this week will also help you. But if you still don't know, I just added a question and we'll get back to you. Because I'm sure if you're thinking that someone else probably is as well. So no question is a silly question. And you know, you hear from me a bit more next week.