When you came to the hospital you were two, now it’s time to go home and you are three. The excitement is real to go home with that little bundle of joy you have been waiting, for almost a year.
Planning your homecoming with a baby gets a little overwhelming for new parents. Coming home with a lot of care instructions from nurses at the hospital, where everyone was caring for the mom and the baby… and now handling the baby all by yourself at home… from feeding to bathing, listening to inconsolable crying and whatnot, needs a lot of patience and time.
Here is what you should expect your days to be like, and what to do with a baby at home. Once you get the hang of it, it’s all worth it in the end.
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Coming home with a baby – what’s next
When you get discharged from the hospital, you need to bring a car seat with you, and one of the nurses at the hospital has your newborn sit in the infant car seat and makes sure it is properly installed in the car. The infant’s car seat has to be rear-facing.
Hospital staff guides you about baby care instructions especially regarding circumcision care if you choose to have one for your baby boy. In addition to that, they make sure you already have pediatrics for your baby to set up weekly appointments to monitor the baby’s growth.
Getting baby homecoming outfit ready
Keeping all the excitement into consideration, a homecoming outfit is the most essential outfit your baby could probably have. Even though your baby does not need too many newborn-size outfits, but the homecoming outfit for you and the baby holds a special significance.
Plan a professional photoshoot with a baby at home depending on how comfortable you are with a baby and your health.
Baby’s nursery is set up and childproof
Make sure your baby’s nursery is a child-proof and safe space for the baby to have no harmful, bulky, or tipping over furniture. However, it should have a baby crib, a changing table, and a rocking chair.
While getting your full baby gear for nursery, or travel, or toys, you must have complete knowledge about SIDS and choking hazards.
If you choose to co-sleep your newborn, make sure you have a co-sleeper bassinet so the baby can have a separate space to sleep, instead of sharing a bed.
What to do with a newborn all day at home (Baby’s Routine)
One thing you have to remember that babies love routine. Some households are very particular and follow a rock-solid routine for babies from day one, regardless of the circumstances. Whereas, some parents seem to be a little flexible about the baby’s routine. No matter what way you choose, it should be in the baby’s best interest.
Newborn babies need to be fed every 2 hours. If you want to breastfeed, then you might want to nurse every 2 hours for the first several weeks to have your milk supply settle in. As your baby grows, you can start stretching the time in between feedings.
You can also do feed on demand. Watch out for any hunger cues from your baby. Hunger cues include hand sucking, crying, etc.
If you are formula feeding your baby then your baby would get hungry in 3 to 4 hours because the formula is heavier than breastmilk that takes longer to digest.
Massaging babies before bedtime or bath time significantly improves their sleep. You must follow gentle massage instructions and have massage essentials ready before you begin.
After gentle massaging your baby, keep her diaper-free so that she can enjoy more free play for 15 to 30 minutes. To prevent pee sprays, get a muslin cloth to cover the diaper area instead of using a disposable diaper.
Do not forget to place waterproof changing sheets underneath to prevent any poop stains. Y
Bathing your baby at home
Setting up a bath schedule is a little tricky. Some parents prefer bedtime baths while some like morning baths. No matter what you decide, be sure you start baths once the umbilical cord comes off.
What is the best time to bathe your baby?
This is totally personal preference, how and what time of the day you want to bathe your baby. Some parents follow a bedtime bath routine, so that baby is clean and tends to sleep faster and more comfortably. Whereas some follow the morning bath time routine to have a fresh start to the day.
No matter what suits you according to your circumstances, as long as you are following it consistently, your baby is going to adjust with that… and love it.
For my kids, bedtime baths did not work as they tend to wake up immediately after a short nap. For that reason, I always bathed my kids in the morning after breakfast. so they can enjoy a fresh start to the day.
Always make sure your baby is elevated in a bathtub and well supported on a sling. Be with your baby at all times.
Do not leave your baby unattended, not even for a second. A phone call or a doorbell can wait. If you really have to answer either of them just wrap your baby in a towel and take her with you.
New parents tend to change 8 to 10 diapers a day for newborns. Eventually, this number keeps on decreasing as your baby grows. Diapering is an essential part of parenthood, and here is what you need to know about baby diapering.
Going out with a baby
Going for a walk with a baby is essential. However, you need to prepare a lot before you step out of the house with a baby. Make sure you have all baby essentials in a diaper bag – without overpacking.
Simple Play activities you should with your newborn at home
Babies open their eyes, look around, do some leg cycling. Once they are tired, they want to sleep again. within a couple of weeks, the baby seems to be more active and playful. Tummy time, peek-a-boo, making silly sounds, sticking your tongue out, and talking are some very fun stimulation activities for your baby at this point.
SETTING UP A SLEEPING SCHEDULE RIGHT FROM THE START
Babies’ naps stretch from a few minutes to a couple of hours because naps are the most essential part of their lives. That’s all they love to do. Eat, Sleep, poop, again, eat sleep, poop. So on and so forth.
Developing a proper and consistent sleep schedule is essential at this point, or at least try to set up a sleep training right from the beginning. One thing as a new parent you have to keep in mind, setting up a sleeping schedule takes whole lot of time and patience, and a little bit of growth. Growth of your baby and you as a parent.
New moms often think about what to do with a baby all day long when you are already, bathing, feeding, and changing diapers. Babies tend to lose hours of sleep as they grow, so it’s not like eating and sleeping all the time, anymore.
Like everyone, babies do need some activities to enhance their development and growth process. Newborn stimulation is essentials for enhancing their sensory abilities. Mimicking faces, sticking out tongue, making silly sounds, is a thorough entertainment for babies of any age.
Activities that improve baby’s hand-eye coordination, exercises like cycling legs and safe rolling over should be part of your child’s learning.
Babies who are to sit in their car seat all day long without any physical activities tend to delay in achieving their developmental milestones. Hence, it is important to let baby explore and stay active while at home and try fun and entertaining activities every day.
In this post, you will find out some fun activities for your newborn, that your baby is going to enjoy and so as you.
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Activities for babies: What to do with your newborn at home
Encourage your newborn’s healthy development with these fun and easy activities that you can do at home all day long.
Tummy time is the best activity for a 2 weeks old baby
Baby tummy time is the most popular activity and super essential when it comes to strengthening the muscles. You can start tummy time as soon as the baby’s umbilical cord is detached. Make sure the belly button is properly healed and dry.
Gradually increase the time duration for your baby while he is on the tummy as it takes a while to actually get the hang of staying on the tummy. Putting some rattles and other soft toys for the baby to grab gets the baby’s attention.
Tummy time lowers the risk of the flat head syndrome. Always remember, you should never leave your baby on his tummy unattended.
Let your baby hold different toys, pacifiers, plushes, rattle toys, balls, etc. This activity will help them have good hand and eye coordination.
You can use soft plush blocks holding and teach them to grab things by putting them on the side easily accessible while tummy time.
Studies reveal that babies’ brain development gets a boost if they are exposed to a lot of learning opportunities. Thus, it is essential for parents to give baby time and attention in a safe environment to ensure smart and brainy kids.
Your baby wants to listen to your voice all day long. Babies are familiar with the mother’s voice from the womb. Reading stories to them is their favorite activity. That way your baby has an innate love for books and reading.
Eye-tracking by moving objects from one place to another
Studies have shown that babies even from the very beginning see and notice things. However, their ability of color recognition takes about 3 to 4 months. Before that, they only see black and white.
Babies recognize mom’s touch and smell from the womb and fall in love with her face after seeing her. Moving away from the baby and have him follow you all along is a fun activity for newborns.
Talking to your baby
Babies listen and observe all the noise around them. They have been listening to your heartbeat, and are familiar with the sounds in the womb. So talking to your baby is the best activity, Bring your face closer and talk.
Talking to your newborn is addictive – once they start responding with their cute baby voices, you can’t resist their mesmerizing baby talk.
Signing a lullaby to your baby
When your little one is having a meltdown or resisting a nap, sing him a lullaby in a soothing voice. You don’t have to remember a song, sing your famous childhood rhyme, if not, your favorite song lyrics will work just fine.
Well, who doesn’t know “Twinkle twinkle little star’?
Play music and dance
One of the best ways to calm a crying baby is to play music – not just any music, but the one they are fond of. Playing music and dancing softly while firmly holding your baby or preferably wearing your baby, is a fun-filled activity.
Your baby will strengthen his grip on the dance moves. Make sure the moves are not too intense as shaking babies can be fatal.
This also encourages an interest in music and strengthens bonding with the parent, which is important for emotional development as well.
To try as a DIY, put clean wash clothes in an empty tissue box- and let your baby learn and explore taking out objects one by one. You can also connect small napkins by knotting them through the edges and put them in the box… and let your little one explore the magic inside the box.
This one is your baby’s favorite activity for vision development. Bring an object, maybe a rattling toy in front of him and get his attention and then suddenly disappear it. You may notice your baby seems to enjoy the appearance and disappearance of objects visually. If the baby seems overstimulated, try some other time.
Flying objects above baby so he follows along
Mobile toys are great for hovering objects. Moving musical toys in the air or mobile toys in the crib will keep the baby engaged and exploring.
Help your baby sit up once the baby gets good head control
Crawling on textured surfaces to have baby’s hands feel different types of finish. Make sure the textures are not sharp for babies. and are properly childproofed while you do such activities.
Take a paper towel roll and a small tennis ball and let your baby have fun and explore.
Hang a ball from a chair and let your baby kick it with his legs or hit it with a hand. This activity will help strengthen the baby’s legs and arm muscles.
While you are planning activities for the day, make sure they are not overwhelming for the baby. activities should be entertaining, rather than overstimulating. Plan according to your baby’s age as you are the best judge of what your child is capable of.
Semolina is a nutritious food for babies once you start baby-led weaning. Puddings in any form are a superfood for babies older than 6 months. However, semolina pudding takes a while to digest for small tummies so you should not start right away when you start feeding solids to your baby, especially if the baby has a sensitive stomach. Just wait for your baby to be at least eight to nine months old.
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How to make semolina (Suji) pudding for babies
Semolina is found in a grainy powder form.
Ideally, you should use cream of semolina or semolina flour for babies when you are just starting with solids. The cream form is more fine-grain than regular ones. They cook fast and easy on digestion for babies.
Take a teaspoon of organic ghee or butter in a pan, add semolina flour about a two tablespoon. I would add a couple of cardamoms that makes it fragrant and gives a nice aroma to the pudding.
Stir on medium heat, then add water about more than half a cup, and let it cook for some time. Semolina rises about three times its grain size as it gets cooked in water. You can add more water to let it cook thoroughly.
Let it simmer for a while until it gets thicker. Decide the right consistency of the pudding according to your baby’s age, swallowing ability, and preference.
Add honey or sugar as you prefer to make it taste yummy for the baby.
Also, you can add cardamom (it’s optional) while cooking for flavor and easy digestion.
Next, add a little bit of formula or breastmilk as per the required consistency.
Should I blend semolina for the baby?
If you feel the semolina pudding is too grainy for the baby, you can blend it in the blender before adding breastmilk or formula before serving. The pudding will get more custard consistency making it perfect baby food.
Babies thoroughly enjoy semolina pudding. You can add vanilla extract or any flavor to the pudding to make it more delish and enjoyable for the baby.
Can I refrigerate semolina (Suji) pudding?
Once the pudding is cooked, you can blend it for the baby or use it as is. Make a batch and refrigerate for a week. You can also freeze semolina pudding. make sure you have not added any breastmilk or formula for the baby while refrigerating and freezing.
How can I warm up semolina pudding after refrigeration?
Semolina pudding is kind of sticky when cool. Add a little bit of warm water and microwave – whisk well. Otherwise, you can reheat in the pan by adding a few tablespoons of water and continuously mix well. Using whisker may help with lumpy texture.
Can I add almonds and other dry fruit for baby?
To make it a healthier option for the baby, you can blend pudding with almonds, raisins, dates, coconut flakes of your choice. This will definitely improve the taste making it more healthy and beneficial for the baby.
Does Semolina (Rava or Sooji) cause constipation in babies?
Sooji pudding or porridge helps babies’ tummy feel full and enjoy uninterrupted sleep at night. As a general rule, always introduce new foods during the day to rule out any food allergies, so the baby could sleep through the night without getting disturbed due to gas issues.
Planning to welcome your baby girl is such a sweet and special time in an expectant parent’s life. But as you start to gather inspiration for your baby girl’s space decor, you may feel that there are way too many creative ideas for a baby girl nursery.
There are just so many styles to consider when setting up a baby girl’s nursery. Girls’ rooms can be more fun and classy depending on your taste and preference. From boho style to minimalist designs – there are infinite color schemes you can choose. Be it pink nurseries or white with a touch of any feminine color – you can go all classy and modern.
There is gorgeous nursery decor for girls, perfect for every taste!
I have curated a list of my favorite decor items for setting up a perfect baby girl room using cute and beautiful nursery accessories. Besides keeping it minimal and elegant, you have to make sure the room is fully functional for you too, as you will spend most of your nighttime sitting there.
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Times have changed to pick the traditional only pink color for girls nursery, but many new parents still love them as pink is always a girl’s color. when you have pink nurseries ideally for girls, a lot of cool and elegant color can also be incorporated in setting up nurseries.
Here are the few stunning colors you can pick for a girl’s nursery in various combinations. You can either paint the desired color for your girls’ room or paint one wall to blend colors. Additionally, you can decorate it with different color accessories to stay in between your chosen theme and colors.
White is your go-to color if you choose a minimalist design. With a touch of black, pink, or any feminine color accessories to make it pop and stand out.
The traditional Light pink and white
Light Yellow and white
Dark pink and light pink with a touch of white
White and rustic
Dark purple and white
Light grey and pink
Purple and white
Black and white and Fuschia pink
Light Beige and Red
Magenta and white
Orange and yellow
Dark green and light yellow
Aqua blue and pink
Polka dots and white, black and purple
Blue and yellow
Teal and yellow
purple and orange with a dash of aqua
These color combinations highly depend on what tone you want to pick for your baby girls’ room. So choose any color with or without combination for your girl’s room.
Add a textured wall to baby girl nursery
Keeping all walls white, except one by making it different than the rest, is a unique feature for the baby nursery room. You may want to paint one wall the darkest of all to let it stand out and being the focal point of the room; depending on how you like it. Also, you can have wallpaper on one wall or all four, as you prefer.
Create a rustic wood element in your baby’s room by adding a wood wall that looks amazing and trendy. Otherwise, you can keep it simple and minimalist by adding rustic wood art.
Creating murals is another fun way to give a perfect nursery feel in your baby’s room. If you love to paint, you can DIY walls by stencil painting or do an art project like mountains, trees, animals, etc., as you like.
Last and not least, don’t underestimate the power of the ceiling. You can do a lot of fun stuff with the ceiling, keeping the rest of the walls light color. Adding a decal wall-art on the ceiling or wallpaper gives a whole new modern and trendy look to your baby’s room.
If you choose to set up a gallery wall, that becomes the focal point of your baby’s nursery. Either you put family portraits or baby first-day pictures up on the wall. The animal decor is a fun trend for both boys’ and girls’ nurseries. You can also choose unicorns, flamingos, butterflies, or floral art themes specifically for girls’ nursery.
Watercolor art posters would look absolutely beautiful in your baby’s room. This amazing art comes in prints only. You can get frames of your choice depending on the baby’s nursery theme.
You can go as much creative as you want with your girl’s room decorations. Either it a unicorn theme or rainbow walls, go above and beyond with your exquisite creative juices making the nursery stand out.
Girls Nursery Wall stickers
Using these pretty customizable flamingo wall stickers would be a game-changer for your girl’s room decor. I suggest choosing elegant wall stickers for the baby girl’s nursery, so it doesn’t get too overwhelming at some point – even if it does get out of fashion, you can always update your child’s room decor.
Check out these easy peep gold dots for a modern nursery room.
Hanging an exquisite piece of boho art in the room enhances the feeling altogether. For boho decor, you can add a couple of wall hangings to make it look trendy and unique.
Here is a million-dollar tip for first-time parents. If you are setting up a separate room for the baby, you have to make sure the curtains are darkening, so the room does not get bright around 4 am waking her up. That being said, putting up blackout curtains is essential to establish a perfect sleep schedule right from the start.
Choosing the right rug for your space gets tricky sometimes. For girls, you can choose white, pink, purple, yellow, green, and any other color you like, depending on the color and theme for your baby’s room.
Girls nursery Crib Bedding set
While you choose baby bedding, make sure it is soft, comfy, and goes with the theme of your baby’s room to make it look more cohesive.
Clearly, wall hanging quickly enhances the feel of a room in a very significant way. It would be best if you did not leave walls empty; rather, put some nice and elegant wall hangings to have a warm and cozy feel in the room.
Customized Name Decal wall art
You can put up a personalized name sign for the baby’s girl nursery that looks absolutely gorgeous. You can choose to have decal name wall art or personalized name wall hanging.
You can also get printable names or alphabets for nursery wall art that will complement the theme of your room, enhancing the feel of your girl’s room.
Wall floating shelves for baby books and toys
In my experience, wall shelves can be a game-changer when it comes to the functionality of the room and using the vertical space most efficiently. Later on, when your child is a few months old, or a few years later, you may need higher spots to keep things out of reach for your child.
While your newborn may seem busy in eating, pooping, and sleeping, her brain is rapidly developing with every passing day. Choosing toys and accessories that help in sensory development for your baby is essential. Not only just ordinary looking toys but now a lot of parents prefer modern accessories and educational toys for the little ones.
For newborns, simple black and white toys and books help to develop her vision, while soft toys with rattles can help to build her attention span.
Here is the curated list of toys that are absolutely gorgeous and entertaining at the same time
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Best contemporary toys for newborns
Many modern families prefer to have unique toys for babies that enhance their sensory skills and make them smarter as they grow. These suggested toys are budget-friendly, pretty looking, and educational for little hands and minds.
1. Sophie the Giraffe
Sophie the giraffe is a celebrity favorite teether and toy. Also, the dots print helps babies with eye and hand coordination. You can never go wrong with choosing this giraffe for your little one.
This trendy avocado rattle is way too cute to be on a stroller. Babies love this toy. It has a plushy texture and a clear rattle pit-center with colorful beads.
These unique and modern stacking cups are super entertaining for your baby four months and older. Mushie colorful stacking toy helps develop both the body and the brain starting around six months. The basic skills learned from stackable cups become the foundation for more complex tasks like using a writing instrument.
Coffee cup teether with rattle beads inside, a crinkle newspaper, and textured doughnut rattle. Now, the baby has her on-the-go toy coffee mug and donut to enjoy a fantastic start to the day.
These high-contrast rattles are unique for visual development, and they make a soft, cozy, and soothing sound by a gentle shake or squeeze, which cultivates baby hearing and touch development.
Cutely crafted with six plushy rings including a beeping duck, a windmill rattle, a sunflower rattle, a teether ring, and a crinkle ring. The crinkle sound is used to calm fussy babies because of its similarity to the white noise heard in a mother’s womb. A perfect entertaining toy for babies and toddlers.
Check out this similar plushy animal in this cute soft car, ideal for babies.
This wooden baby activity gym is a gorgeous first toy that will encourage him to reach and grab for the dangling toys and beads. Baby Play Gym features three hanging toys that stimulate your baby’s senses in so many ways. Not to mention, this toy is going to make the nursery look modern, unique, and very expensive.
These well-made rattles feature multiple easy-grip handles for babies with plenty of holding spots. They have lovely and appealing shapes and the perfect size for little hands to grab and shake. Your little one won’t get enough of them! Holding rattles improves the baby’s strong grasp reflex. As their fine motor skills develop, they will learn to hold and shake them. A thorough enjoyment for your baby altogether.
The Wimmer-Ferguson 3-in-1 triangle has a reversible, multisensory activity mat that features graphics to encourage infant visual development. A 12″ square mat can be placed flat or in a triangle position with magnets for tummy time play. It has a hidden mirror for a peek-a-boo effect, a teether, a squeaker, crinkle paper to engage little one in multiple ways.
This cute flashing musical toy is an absolute you baby’s favorite. This toy includes harp, flute, french horn, piano, violin instrument sounds, and much more than your child can learn.
Beiens baby visual stimulation cards are developed by educational experts. This pack included 80 flashcards, 160 Pages with shapes, geometric figures, etc. Not only these are helpful for visual development but also the learning process starts early which makes babies smart.
Not to mention, they are odorless, safe and soft for babies.
I’m hoping this list has helped you find a perfect gift for the baby shower basket or a cute gift you can give to a new baby in the family on the next visit.
Hi – I’m Madiha. Thank you for stopping by. Stay awhile for helpful tips on pregnancy, postpartum, and anything about motherhood Join the tribe, and let’s grow together as moms. Enjoy having kids while they are little and more fun.
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Hi – I’m Madiha. Thank you for stopping by. Stay awhile for helpful tips on pregnancy, postpartum, and anything about motherhood Join the tribe, and let’s grow together as moms. Enjoy having kids while they are little and more fun.