Baby's First Three Months | Learn To Know More About Your First Baby

Bright Red Rash Around The Anus: You might find your baby gets a bright, red rash around her anus. It's unlikely this rash with bothers your baby and, once she stops pooing so much (around six weeks), the rash gradually fades and disappears. Until this happens, avoid washing the area (a daily bath is fine) or using disposable washcloths. Clean with tissues and pump-pack sorbolene and glycerin, then apply a generous dollop of a good barrier cream at every nappy change.

Noisy Breathing: Babies breathe rapidly, often irregularly and at times sound as if they have a blocked nose. As they cannot blow their nose or clear their throat and their tiny airways are very narrow, normal mucous and milk accumulates, which makes their breathing sound weird to adult ears. Inhaling the fluff and dust in the air is another reason babies sound blocked up and noisy when they breathe. Noisy breathing accompanied by strange squeaks don't mean your baby is at risk in any way or has an allergy. If she is otherwise well, ignore it if you can - there's no need to use drops or any device to extract things from your baby's nose.

Sneezing: You're probably aware that your baby sneezes a lot. Baby sneezing is due to fluff and dust in the air and it is a good way for her to clear her nose.

Hiccups: Adults find hiccups tedious, but babies don't seem to mind them at all. A top-up at the breast or some cooled, boiled water helps if your baby's hiccups are worrying you, but there's no need to do anything. Hiccups are not caused by the way you're feeding or burping your baby!

Sucking Blisters: You might notice small blisters on your baby's stop lip. These are called sucking blisters and are normally present when babies get all their food from sucking. They're a natural condition and don't cause discomfort.

Lumps:
Tiny Movable Lumps: Tiny, moveable lumps are sometimes felt under the skin anywhere on a baby's body, including the head. They're harmless and are likely to be either a small sebaceous cyst or a lump caused by burst fat cells. Neither need treating, but if you're unsure, check with your health professional.

Lumps In The Jaw: You may feel lumps under the skin on your baby's jaw or cheekbone. These are due to fat cells bursting during labour and are more likely to present after a forceps delivery. The lumps are harmless and disappear in a few weeks.

Lumps Like Small Peas On The Back Of The Neck: They are enlarged lymph nodes and aren't significant unless they're large, tender or warm to touch. If this is the case, see your family doctor.

Fingernails: Mothers are often advised to bite, peel or file their baby's fingernails, which are fine when your baby is newborn, but after the first week, feel free to cut them with a small pair of blunt-ended scissors. Wait until your baby is relaxed, gently pull away the skin from behind that nail and cut the top off the nail. Nails need cutting about once a week.

Grunting: You're probably amazed at the strange noises your baby makes, especially as you lie awake in the middle of the night unable to sleep as snuffling, snorting, squeaking, grunting and groaning fills the air. All babies make noises in the night and all babies grunt to some degree. A few grunt more than they cry, especially premature babies, who tend to be big grunters.

Baby Poo: The first poo your baby passes is called meconium and is a greenish, black sticky substance that gradually changes until the amazing, unpredictable array of bowel motions start to appear. Mothers are often amazed at how many times their baby does a poo in the early weeks.

It's quite normal when you're breastfeeding to feel as if you're putting food in one end only to have it returned from the other immediately. Frequent, runny poo doesn't mean your baby has diarrhea or that your milk is too sugary or rich.

Most breastfed babies (but not all) poo many times a day in the first sex weeks, gradually decreasing the number in the second six weeks. Some may go only once a day or every other day. As long as they're thriving, this is a normal variation. Babies who have formula usually do dark, sticky poo that looks like plasticine. They tend to poo less than breastfed babies, but, ideally, should go at least once every two days.

Conflicting Advice: Most new mothers find that conflicting advice is rife. Generally, in the areas of health, nutrition and safety, there's not a great deal of variation in advice, as recommendations in these areas are usually backed up by solid scientific evidence. However, as research into human behavior is difficult, this advice is likely to be based more on theory and opinion. This means it's always possible to find "evidence" to support opposing points of view. Sleep is a good example. When you need advice, try to find one person you trust. In the sticky behavioral areas, read everything you can and make up your own mind.