Newborn Care

Newborn Care: Important Things Parents Should Know

By Dr Soubhagya Khare24 August 2026Updated 10 September 20266 min read

The newborn period brings a steep learning curve for most parents. A few general points are worth knowing early — including how to tell normal newborn variation apart from situations that need a pediatrician's attention.

The first few days

Expect frequent feeding, unpredictable sleep, and a baby who mostly eats, sleeps, and has wet or dirty diapers on repeat.

Feeding

Frequent feeding — often every 2–3 hours, or 8–12 times in 24 hours — is normal, whether breastfed or formula-fed. Occasional adjustments to technique are common and usually manageable with guidance. Persistent feeding difficulty, a very sleepy feeder, or ongoing pain while breastfeeding are worth raising early.

Breastfed babies may also need vitamin D supplementation, since breast milk alone often doesn't provide enough. The right product and dose is best decided with your pediatrician rather than a fixed general recommendation.

Sleep and safe sleep practices

Newborns sleep a great deal, in short, unpredictable stretches. Current American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidance on sleep-related infant deaths — consistent with IAP parent guidance on back-sleeping — recommends:

Place your baby on their back for every sleep — avoid letting baby fall asleep on an adult's chest, bed, or sofa. Supervised, awake skin-to-skin contact is different from sleep and is not discouraged
Use a firm, flat surface (crib, bassinet, or play yard) with a fitted sheet only — no pillows, blankets, bumpers, or soft toys
Room-share (baby's own crib in the parents' room) for at least the first 6 months
Avoid bed-sharing, overheating, and smoke exposure

Umbilical cord care

IAP guidance advises against applying substances such as oil, ghee, turmeric, or antiseptic powders to the cord stump. Keep the stump clean and dry, folding the diaper below it, and allow it to separate naturally — this typically takes 1–3 weeks. Dried blood, light crusting, or gradual darkening as it dries is normal.

Seek assessment if you notice:

Spreading redness
Swelling
Pus or discharge
A foul smell
Persistent bleeding that doesn't stop

Bathing and skin care

Bathing frequency depends partly on climate — IAP guidance suggests daily in hot weather to every 2–3 days in cooler weather, using a mild cleanser and lukewarm water. On timing, IAP guidance allows a full bath once a healthy-weight baby is home from hospital, while other guidance such as the AAP instead recommends sponge baths only until the cord separates — ask your pediatrician which approach they recommend for your baby. Clean the eyes daily with a water-moistened cloth, inner to outer corner — nothing, including kajal or kohl, should go near a newborn's eyes, as this can cause infection. Skin peeling, mild rashes, or baby acne are common and settle on their own.

Keeping warm without overheating

Newborns lose heat quickly, so dressing your baby in about two more layers than you're wearing yourself is reasonable, with head, hands, and feet covered in cold weather. At the same time, overheating and heavy bedding during sleep are best avoided — a room comfortably warm to you is usually about right.

Normal newborn behaviours parents may worry about

Mild jaundice appearing after the first day (see below)
Baby acne, skin peeling, hiccups, or occasional sneezing
Brief startle (Moro) reflex movements, or visible eye movement during sleep
Irregular breathing with brief pauses, if otherwise comfortable
Stooling anywhere from after every feed to once every few days — both can be normal in breastfed babies
A cross-eyed appearance in the first weeks, usually resolving as eye muscles mature

Jaundice: usually normal, sometimes needing assessment

Some jaundice is very common — an estimated 80–85% of newborns have it — and it generally first appears after the first 24 hours of life. In many babies it settles gradually over the following one to two weeks without treatment, though this is not a fixed rule: whether and when assessment or treatment is needed depends on the individual baby — age in hours, gestational age (preterm babies need closer watching), and other clinical or risk factors your pediatrician will weigh up, not a single timeframe that applies the same way to everyone. It also needs closer watching in babies with low birth weight or feeding poorly. Frequent breastfeeding helps clear bilirubin; water, sugar water, or other feeds should not be given to try to reduce it.

Jaundice appearing within the first 24 hours of life always needs prompt assessment. So does jaundice that is worsening, spreading to the arms, legs, or soles, not settling as expected, or paired with poor feeding, excessive sleepiness, or your baby generally seeming unwell. There is no single bilirubin number or day that applies to every baby — if in doubt, have your baby checked rather than waiting.

Weight and feeding concerns

Some weight loss in the first days after birth is normal, and many healthy, full-term babies regain their birth weight by about 7–14 days. Weight loss approaching or exceeding 10% of birth weight is not an expected target to aim for — it's a threshold that warrants clinical assessment, particularly if feeding or hydration seems a concern. Frequent home weighing isn't usually necessary, and home scales are often inaccurate; your pediatrician will track growth properly at visits. See our article on understanding growth monitoring for more on how this tracking works. Weight that keeps dropping, or hasn't recovered by two weeks, deserves a prompt review — see Baby Not Gaining Weight.

Warning signs that need prompt attention

Fewer wet diapers than expected for the baby's age, especially when feeding is poor or the baby seems unusually sleepy, should prompt assessment. As a general guide, urine output increases over the first few days, with at least one wet diaper on day 1, two on day 2, and three on day 3 — this is a general guide rather than an absolute cutoff.

Other signs that need prompt attention:

Fever (above about 100.4°F/38°C) or a baby who feels unusually cold
Jaundice within 24 hours of birth, or worsening/spreading jaundice
Poor feeding, persistent lethargy, or a baby very hard to console
Difficulty or fast breathing, grunting, or bluish lips/face
Foul-smelling or spreading-red umbilical area, or a rash with blisters or pus
Unusual jerking movements, staring, or unresponsiveness

Routine pediatric follow-up

Most newborns have their first pediatric visit within about 3–5 days of birth, mainly to check weight, feeding, and jaundice, with further visits for growth and vaccination planning. See our Newborn and Infant Care service page for what these check-ups involve.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply oil, ghee, or kajal, as many families traditionally do? IAP guidance advises against both. The cord is best left clean and dry rather than treated with oil, ghee, or powders. Kajal or kohl near a newborn's eyes is discouraged separately, as it can cause eye infection or injury.