With your baby’s due date approaching fast, you and your partner should already have a hospital bag packed and the nursery set up for the first day back from the hospital. Having a baby is an exciting adventure, but the journey cannot be completed without learning essential skills. As new parents come out of the delivery room and are sent home, there are essential things they learn in the meantime at the hospital. Find out what skills you and your partner should expect to learn at the hospital.
Learning To Bond With Your Baby
Bonding is one of the first things parents do with their newborns, and it’s the most important for the first few days of life. However, both parent and baby might not bond right away. Bonding as a new parent is a struggle. But it is simple to overcome with the right building blocks.
At the hospital, nurses spend time helping you bond with an infant through skin-to-skin and face-to-face contact. Again, it sometimes is hard to feel connected to a baby, including your own. However, the connection develops in stages.
You become connected with your infant through feeding, playing, watching them sleep, and changing their diapers. It’s gross, but diaper changes could help build a connection with your baby. Your nurse assists in learning to bond with your baby.
Developing the Art of Swaddling
Swaddling isn’t easy. It’s like trying to wrap a burrito, but after many attempts, you may develop a way to secure an infant in a swaddle. One of the things that the nurses tell you is that swaddling reminds an infant of the womb. Being all snug as a bug makes them feel safe and prevents them from reacting with their natural startle reflex.
The only way to really master swaddling is to keep doing it. You eventually find a way to do it with ease, even if it takes 228 times to figure it out. Now, enjoy your little baby burrito!
Enjoying Moments To Snooze
Between delivery and learning to take care of your baby upon leaving the hospital, you’ll want to sleep. Sleep is essential, and every parent needs it, especially Mama. You are going to enjoy moments to snooze in the hospital and at home. Try to keep sleeping at the hospital to a minimum so you can give the nurses your full attention when they’re teaching you something new.
Of all the essential things new parents learn at the hospital, the value of sleep is the most important. Parents won’t leave the maternity ward without knowing about a baby’s sleep patterns and what they indicate. Learning that and other essential skills will help make the transition to parenting at home smoother.
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