Bringing a newborn home is equal parts magical and overwhelming. The days are long, the nights are unpredictable, and you’re suddenly trying to decode every little cry, yawn, and wiggle. In this Follow-Up episode, I’m sharing the practical newborn guidance I give families every day in my clinic and in my own parenting life.

I’ll cover:

• Feeding in the early weeks (when to wake vs. when to feed on demand)

• How to recognize your baby’s sleepy, hungry, and ready-to-play cues

• Why overtired babies are harder to soothe and what to do about it

• The truth about cuddling: you can’t spoil a newborn

• Ways to engage your baby: tummy time, talking, reading, and even singing

• How infant massage and early routines support both bonding and calm

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00;00;00;02 – 00;00;25;06

Dr. Mona

Welcome to the follow up. I’m Doctor Mona, your online pediatrician and mom friend. This is where we revisit an old favorite episode in less time than it takes your newborn to go from a peaceful nap to a full on cry. I may be done having babies myself, but one of the coolest parts of being a pediatrician is that I still get to see babies, talk about babies, and guide parents through those early weeks and months.

 

00;00;25;06 – 00;00;45;25

Dr. Mona

And honestly, it just never gets old. Those first days home can feel overwhelming. You’re tired, emotional, and trying to decode every little sound and movement in this episode, I share the guidance I give families every day. How to notice your baby’s cues. Simple ways to connect and engage. What to do about visitors setting the stage for sleep and when it’s time to call your pediatrician.

 

00;00;45;27 – 00;01;04;03

Dr. Mona

This episode is a nice feeler, a gentle starting point if you’re in the thick of newborn life. And if you want more, remember, I’ve got free resources on the podcast, my website, and YouTube. Plus, if you’re looking for a deeper dive, I created my paid course, the New Moms Survival Guide, which walks you through all things first year.

 

00;01;04;06 – 00;01;20;05

Dr. Mona

Be sure to download this episode because that’s what helps the show the most. Subscribe to the podcast. And if this episode resonates. Share it on social media and tag at the Dog Talk podcast so I know that you’re listening. Let’s get into it.

 

00;01;20;07 – 00;01;40;15

Dr. Mona

So initially when you leave the hospital, the nurse will say, okay, wake up your baby every three hours to feed. And that is good advice. When you go to your pediatrician, they’ll also give you advice on that. Typically, how it goes is that if the baby is gaining weight and has passed the birth weight, then your doctor will tell you it’s okay to let the baby feed on demand.

 

00;01;40;19 – 00;02;05;14

Dr. Mona

What that means is allow the baby to sleep. And if the baby wakes up, then you feed them. I like the feed on demand and I’ll get into other tips when I talk about sleep in the newborn stage. But that is something that your pediatrician will tell you. But wait until you get the clearance from your pediatrician. Initially, like I said, they may say wake the baby up every few hours because we want to see that the baby is feeding well and knows, hey, you’re not in mama anymore.

 

00;02;05;15 – 00;02;29;10

Dr. Mona

You gotta get out here and start feeding. And some babies are slow to realize that. So remember that you may have some visits with your doctor early on, multiple visits to kind of get through. Okay. How’s the baby feeding? Are they gaining weight? And that is something very common and should offer you reassurance and not worry. The other thing is, they’ll say night time stretches are okay, which goes in line with feeding on demand.

 

00;02;29;15 – 00;02;49;29

Dr. Mona

And that’s something that I really encourage. You do not need to wake up a baby in the middle of the night to feed, unless directed by your pediatrician. This is important because this can help establish sleep routines. So get the guidance from your pediatrician in regards to weight. But if they say yep, feed on demand, do not wake them up to feed, especially at nighttime.

 

00;02;50;01 – 00;03;11;29

Dr. Mona

So that goes into some feeding cues and some feeding recommendations. Now we talk about sleepy cues. So sleepy cues. Initially baby will be sleeping a lot, but by the one month visit they’re going to be awake a lot more. And knowing the signs of being sleepy is important. So in babies, you’re going to start to see this. As they get more alert.

 

00;03;12;02 – 00;03;27;18

Dr. Mona

Their eyes are going to become dazed. They’re just going to stare at you. They may yawn. It’s important to know this so that you can lay them down for a nap. To reinforce to baby that hey, you’re sleepy. It’s time for sleep. And it’s not like you’re going to put them down and they’re going to be sleeping forever.

 

00;03;27;18 – 00;03;45;04

Dr. Mona

It’s a repetition thing. And as you’ll realize, if you don’t have a child already, they get used to where they’re used to sleeping. So if they are comfortable in mama’s arms and now you’re trying to get them into the crib, they’re going to fuss a lot more. What I say about that is let them fuss a little bit and a little bit.

 

00;03;45;04 – 00;04;12;08

Dr. Mona

The amount is up to your discretion. One minute, two minutes. See if they’ll settle. If they don’t settle, you pick them back up. The reason why I really want you to know your baby’s sleep cues and start to look for them, is that this is going to be very important. Because if they become overtired, which could which could look like being rigid, wailing, it may be harder to soothe them and maybe harder for them to learn self-soothing skills for sleep.

 

00;04;12;11 – 00;04;39;02

Dr. Mona

So when you are in that newborn period, I get it. I I’ve been there, guys. You’re going to be so tired, but start to learn about your baby. Look at these cues, okay? Are they hungry or are they sleepy? And look for those sleepy cues and reinforce to them every time they look sleepy, dazed, eyes yawning. Put them down in the place that you want them to sleep, whether it’s a bassinet or a crib, and let them sleep and try to figure that out.

 

00;04;39;05 – 00;04;58;24

Dr. Mona

Ready to play cuz as they get older again, after one month, six weeks, two months for sure, you’re going to notice more awake time and they’re going to be ready to play. Ready to play signs includes their eyes wide open looking at you or an object, and they’re going to be very relaxed in their in their body tone.

 

00;04;58;24 – 00;05;21;00

Dr. Mona

So they’re not going to be frantically crying frantic crying is no time for play. Okay. That could be that. They’re either hungry or they’re overtired or they want to, you know, obviously go down for a nap or sleep. So really looking for those ready to play cues. Now these three cues are so important. And they can really teach you about your baby and ultimately help create the eat, play, sleep routine.

 

00;05;21;03 – 00;05;39;19

Dr. Mona

You’re going to hear more and more about this eat, play, sleep routine, but this is kind of that routine that you’re allowing them to eat. You play for them a little bit when they show sleepy cues. You let them sleep and you repeat that cycle. So that’s why I wanted to go over these three cues, because it can really help you in this fourth trimester to getting to know your baby.

 

00;05;39;21 – 00;06;01;07

Dr. Mona

The next thing I wanted to talk about was ways to engage your baby. And remember, the fourth trimester is all about survival mode. I get it, and I was there and don’t feel like you have to do all of this. Tummy time. So tummy time is, I believe, really important than any tot will tell you. The same tummy time can be done as soon as you get home from the hospital.

 

00;06;01;08 – 00;06;20;27

Dr. Mona

The umbilical cord does not have to fall off in my opinion, but it has to be supervised. And what I mean by supervised is that the baby should not be left unattended. Falling asleep. You all are falling asleep, okay? Because safety wise it’s not good for them and obviously can increase the risk of SIDs. So how much tummy time should you be doing?

 

00;06;20;29 – 00;06;43;03

Dr. Mona

Now the recommendations will give you numbers 10 to 15 minutes three times a day. The reality is you do it as much as you can when they’re awake and you’re supervising them, especially early on. That’s really all that you’ll be doing with them. It is really, really important to remember that you do the best you can. Don’t feel like you need to accomplish this checklist.

 

00;06;43;06 – 00;06;59;07

Dr. Mona

If one day goes by and you forget to do it, oh well, just try it again the next day. Try it in different areas so you can do it on a boppy pillow. You can do it with them on your chest. And again it has to be supervised. And just make sure you don’t fall asleep because you could be tired.

 

00;06;59;09 – 00;07;15;25

Dr. Mona

It could be on the ground. If you are on the ground, lay down with them and get to eye level. This was very difficult for me because I had a C-section and some complications, so I wasn’t able to lay on the ground with Ryan until he was about six weeks, two months old. But do whatever you can to implement tummy time from the beginning.

 

00;07;15;27 – 00;07;40;28

Dr. Mona

Another really important thing is reading and talking to the baby from the moment they come home. Now, this is something that I think a lot of mothers forget to do, and a lot of fathers forget to do because they’re overwhelmed. They’re tired, and they just forget. And it’s honestly really awkward talking to somebody who’s not talking back. But I cannot express the importance of talking to the baby and reading to the baby as much as you can from an early age.

 

00;07;41;03 – 00;07;57;27

Dr. Mona

So practically what I did with Ryan is that when he was awake, I would talk to him. I would just tell him I love him. I would tell him about my day. I would tell him what we did together. And it could be as simple as you had a you had a poopy diaper, I did this, I love you, I felt this way.

 

00;07;58;00 – 00;08;19;26

Dr. Mona

Talk to them. It actually can really help you if you’re dealing with any of the emotional aspects of postpartum. So something that can really help you from the beginning. The other thing is cuddling your baby. You are not going to spoil a newborn. Please remember that what anyone else tells you, they need to feel secure. So in that in that first few months, it’s okay to cuddle them.

 

00;08;19;28 – 00;08;38;26

Dr. Mona

It is okay if they don’t nap in their crib or bassinet for every nap. You want to try to encourage that, but it’s okay if you’re cuddling your baby. It’s okay if they cry and you hold them because that’s what it’s all about. Going back to my main three issues that babies, you know, that cause them to fuss, you know, are they hungry?

 

00;08;38;26 – 00;08;54;09

Dr. Mona

Do they have a dirty diaper or do they want to be held? That’s going to become very important because they want to be held. They want to feel love. They want to feel nurtured. So that is something that I want you guys to remember, because I don’t want you to feel like you can’t hold your baby. That holding your baby is going to cause them to be spoiled.

 

00;08;54;09 – 00;09;16;13

Dr. Mona

It’s just not true. The other thing you can do with your baby is as they become more alert and their eyes are more open, you know, two weeks, one month depending on the baby. Using black and white contrast images rattles as well so that they can practice tracking. Babies can’t really see color, and they love the contrast. A lot of the reason why babies love fans ceiling fans.

 

00;09;16;16 – 00;09;35;11

Dr. Mona

I joke with my pediatrician. I have a pediatrician, obviously for reason that we call it Mr. Fan, so Ryan will stare at the fan and just start smiling and a lot of babies do that, and I believe that a lot of the reason why they like the fan is that it’s contrasted against a white ceiling. So it’s unique to them and it’s shapes and they love that.

 

00;09;35;17 – 00;09;54;25

Dr. Mona

So really interesting as to how babies visualize in the first few months. And we we know that they like these black and white contrast images and it can really help their neural development. You also should be singing and singing and singing. And I know these things might be like, well, when do I have time? I have to breastfeed and bottle feed and clean.

 

00;09;54;28 – 00;10;13;23

Dr. Mona

This is as much as you can. These are just tips that when you are awake and you’re feeling like you want to do it, do it. When you sing, you have to look at them in the eye and smile. And this is hard if you’re not a very excitable person. And if you are not a very bubbly person, but you do not have to be bubbly, it’s doable.

 

00;10;13;25 – 00;10;34;29

Dr. Mona

Speak in high pitched musical voice. Little babies love it. Be I N-g-o bingo was his name o m. Your baby may not always get that smart. You may not always get that smile. But oh, it is just such an awesome thing. And singing it. It allows connection with your baby. It helps your mood too, because who doesn’t love to sing?

 

00;10;35;00 – 00;10;53;15

Dr. Mona

You can dance around if you want to and it really helps with bonding. And I feel that so much with Ryan. And I really encourage you guys to sing. And if you don’t have a good singing voice, who cares? It is just something between you and your baby and something that goes a long way for their social and emotional development.

 

00;10;53;17 – 00;11;21;18

Dr. Mona

And another thing to engage with your baby in this time frame, that time and infant massages. I cannot express the importance of a routine as early as you’re feasibly able to do it. What that looks like is that a bedtime routine, you know, around 6 or 7 p.m. obviously, they’re not going to be on a perfect feeding schedule from early on, but starting to implement that around six weeks and doing it as much as you can, you know, every night, every other night is really going to help.

 

00;11;21;18 – 00;11;45;23

Dr. Mona

Now, I love infant massages. What that means is getting some baby oil or coconut oil and massaging their legs, massaging their arms, massaging their belly. What that does is also part of that bonding. And it also can help you relax and help baby relax. A lot of the things that I’m telling you guys is stuff that really helps you as a mother or father or caretaker.

 

00;11;45;25 – 00;12;04;26

Dr. Mona

It really helps when you massage and put on some light music. When you’re singing, when you’re cuddling, reading this will help reduce your anxiety and your, you know, your stress that comes with taking care of a newborn. And that is why I encourage it so much.

 

00;12;04;28 – 00;12;26;08

Dr. Mona

And that’s your follow up. Just a small dose of the real, relatable and eye opening conversations we love to have here. If you smiled, nodded, or had an moment, go ahead and download, follow and share this episode with a friend. Let’s grow this village together for more everyday parenting wins and real talk. Hang out with us on Instagram at the PedsDocTalk podcast.

 

00;12;26;15 – 00;12;41;27

Dr. Mona

Want more? Dive into the full episode and more at PedsDocTalk.com. Because parenting is better with support. And remember, consistency is key. Humor is medicine and follow ups are everything. I’m Doctor Mona. See you next time for your next dose.