Newborn Baby Care
Having twins is double the work but also double the fun, from splashing in the bath to changing their diapers.
The feeling can be overwhelming, just take one day at a time always accepting and asking for help if you need it. Even the most experienced moms can feel the pressures of caring for a newborn let alone caring for twins.
Follow some simple tips on how best to care for your newborn twins’ health.
Premature Twins
Newborn baby care and caring for preemie twins can be a totally different experience. You may have a period of time in the NICU, read more here about caring for Premature Twins
Newborn Baby Care – Umbilical Cord Care
When the umbilical cord is cut after delivery (this is painless), it leaves an umbilical cord stump. This will drop off within 1 to 3 weeks. Special care is required to prevent infection.
- Keep the umbilical stump clean and dry
- Let the stump fall of naturally
- Clean with a cotton swab with either cooled boiled water
- To keep from diapers and clothing rubbing the stump try to fold the diaper away from the stump and wear loose fitting clothing
Sometimes your doctor or midwife will swab the cord with an antiseptic after cutting the cord, helping to prevent infection.
If the belly button area starts to look red, swells or starts to weep contact your healthcare provider.They will always be there for help you with your twin newborn baby care.
Newborn Baby Care – My Best Tips on Bathing Twins
- The best way to bath twins is one at a time, it’s a bit tricky to bath them at the same time at least until they can sit by themselves.
- You can use a baby bath, the family tub or even the kitchen sink. I also used a bath support for our newborn twins, they could lay down keeping their heads out of the water. You could use a couple of hand towels to help with slipping.
- Get everything ready, towels, washcloths, baby soap and lotion (I used olive oil on our twins it was very gentle on their skin), diapers and clothes.
- I would lay two towels on the floor one for an underlay and the other for drying. This way I could go from the bath then wrapped up in a towel in seconds, babies can get cold quickly.
- You could tandem bath your twins with you and your partner (or helper) one does the bathing and one does the dressing.
- When newborn, babies can be bathed less often so you could bath each twin on alternate days.
When twins can sit by themselves bath time is whole different experience. They will love to splash and play with the water and you could add in a couple of toys and bubbles.
Newborn Baby Care – Breastfeeding vs. Bottle Feeding
Planning on breastfeeding your twins?
Breastfeeding will not only save you time on sterilizing and preparing bottles but saves you money on buying formula. Breastfeeding will also help with losing your pregnancy weight and reduces the risk of postpartum depression. Like myself some women will not menstruate whilst breastfeeding, saving you further money and the hassle of getting your monthly lady friend.
Breastfed babies will less likely be obese in childhood and have a better immune system.
Or have you decided to Bottle feed your twins?
Bottle fed twins will allow your partner or other family members to help with feeding time. You could either use formula or pump your milk, this can be put in the freezer too. Here is more info on storing breast milk.
Newborn Baby Care – Changing Diapers
Newborn poop can vary in color from black to green and brown to yellow. Poop color and texture will come down to diet, breastfed babies will have more yellowish color and much softer then formula fed twin babes.
Tips on Diaper Changing:
- Changing table or mat? When using a change table make sure your baby is secure using the strap which is attached to prevent falls. For others it’s more comfortable to change their twins on the floor, you can use a changing mat for this.
- When changing your twin’s diapers it is important to clean their tiny bottoms properly to avoid irritation and diaper rash. Clean with baby wipes or a washcloth getting into each little crease.
- A diaper that is put on too tightly could cause your twins to spit up more often, it can be comfortable too.
- A bit of fresh air can do wonders for diaper rash, if a rash doesn’t clear up within a few days or seems very painful and raw contact your doctor. I used cornstarch dusted on my baby’s bottom to help with a rash (an ingredient often in rash cream) this really worked with all 3 of my children. Consult with your doctor to discuss any treatments.
- Have all your changing stations well set up with everything close by and available. Having more than one changing station is convenient and with twins, necessary.
- A diaper needs changing, the phone is ringing and dinner is on the stove. Turn off the dinner, let the phone ring (they will call back if it’s important) and relax. Changing a diaper when you are stressed will only stress your baby, crying and squirming makes it hard to change a baby. When you are stress your baby can feel it which is why it’s important to relax.
Newborn Baby Care – Twins and their Heads
The fontanel and newborn baby care, which is the soft spot at the top of a newborns head, allows space for growing. This will eventually close anywhere between 9 and 25 months of age.
Newborn baby care – Cradle cap is common and nothing to be concerned about, sever cradle cap is very rear. One way to remedy this is to rub olive oil onto their scalp and leave it over night or 24 hours washing their hair gently. It is important not to pick or scrap at it which can cause infection.
Newborn Baby Care – Twins and their Skin
Newborn baby care when thinking about twin’s skin can look wrinkled and red and maybe dry. My twins also had loose skin like they had to grow into it, which they did and now have lovely soft skin. A newborns skin is so soft to touch hence the saying as soft as a baby’s bottom. Some twins do suffer froma condition known as baby acne and so you need to consult your doctor on treatment for that acne
I would use olive oil on our newborn twins and gentle massage it into their skin, this helps with dryness and is great bonding time that mom or dad can do. Just apart of my routine with newborn baby care.
Newborn babies often get sticky eye, gunk in their eyes. To help avoid infection my doctor advised me to squirt a bit of breast milk into the eye and massage gently in the corner (next to the nose) to get the milk in. Also you can use a wash cloth with cooled boiled water and wipe across the eye from inside (next to the nose) to out.
Jaundice causes the skin (and sometimes the whites of the eyes) to have a yellow tinge due to excess bilirubin in the blood.