A short guide to the maintenance of a newborn - part two

EYES

To begin with, it is good to remember that the tear ducts of newborn babies are still very narrow and therefore it often happens that babies' eyes become inflamed. It is quite common and we know an easy recipe for this: prepare a decoction of oregano or burdock (breast milk also has very good results in the treatment of inflamed eyes, feel free to try it) and gently wipe the baby's eyes with it several times a day. But what to watch out for is the direction of wiping. Most of us are probably more used to wiping from the inner corner to the outer corner, but in fact we should do it the other way around, from the outer corner to the inner corner, because that's where the tear duct outlet is. If we are consistent, we can avoid even horrors like tear duct puncturing.

EARS

You may have picked this up, but it's not a good idea to stick anything in the ears of tiny babies, no matter how soft those cotton buds look. The ears have a self-cleaning mechanism that's best left that way and don't bother to work on it, lest it get disturbed. We recommend cleaning the ears from the outside only and not going into the ear canal at all. If any inflammation occurs, a drop of good quality lavender essential oil or grapefruit seed drops, for example, may be the solution. (Tested on my own possum (Vacice) fur.)

MOUTH 

Babies get white in the mouth and on the tongue from drinking milk. This is a normal phenomenon. However, it is not easy to distinguish it from the so-called soor (a candidiasis also known as frog or mealybug), which manifests itself as a white coating on the palate, gums, tongue and inner cheeks. As long as it doesn't cause your baby pain (which it usually doesn't) and it doesn't make you uncomfortable while breastfeeding, it's not something that needs to be addressed. If you notice that it bothers the baby and breastfeeding becomes painful, we recommend making a solution of water and baking soda (1 dcl water + 1 tsp baking soda) and using gauze on your finger to wipe the baby's mouth. Do this gently though, as it can be painful once the yeast has spread. We would also recommend avoiding sugar at that time (to you, of course), which is a great food for yeast and helps it to multiply. If breastfeeding is painful, try not to stop and contact a lactation consultant as soon as possible, she will advise you on what to adjust to get relief and maintain breastfeeding. In the meantime, you can apply anti-inflammatory drops with grapefruit seed extract to your nipples.

NOSE

We end this newborn show with a finger up our nose. I mean, in the nose. I prefer no finger. A newborn's nostril is not yet a fully developed nasal septum, and this can cause your little critter to make all sorts of grunting and crinkling noises, and it's quite normal. It's also normal if you notice your baby burping milk through his nose. Because the septum. It's okay, she's milking, but not until she's 3. It's also ideal not to put anything up that nostril (not even a breast pump, which disturbs the lining of the nose), just wipe gently. When the snot period comes, a few drops of breast milk or the mild salty solutions you can buy at the pharmacy or drugstore will help.

We still have an interesting tidbit for you at the end:

Did you know that it is important to kiss and smell our little creatures as much as possible? The mother's body not only produces more hormones needed to take care of the baby, but also "loads" the baby's microflora and adapts the composition of breast milk to this. That is, when some germs enter the mother's body (through the nose or mouth, for example), which the baby has inside her, her immune system immediately creates antibodies and sends them to the baby via breast milk. Perfectly contrived, isn't it?

We hope we've helped you a little, we've also drawn information from www.mamila.sk.