Bringing home a new baby can feel equal parts joyful and overwhelming. In this Follow Up episode, I revisit a favorite past conversation, I Just Had a Baby, Now What?, and share practical newborn guidance through the lens of both a pediatrician and a mom.

We talk about what newborns really need in the early weeks, how to recognize common cues for hunger, sleep, and interaction, and why simple routines like feeding, diaper changes, tummy time, and cuddles matter more than perfection. I also share insights from a recent parent survey in partnership with Angelcare and Diaper Genie about the products and routines families say helped them most in those early months.

I discuss:

• What the fourth trimester means

• The core needs of a newborn

• Reading hunger, sleep, and play cues

• Why babies cry, and it is not always hunger

• Feeding on demand in the early weeks

• Simple routines that support connection

• Easy ways to engage your newborn

• Why holding your baby does not spoil them

• How to ease stress in the newborn stage

To learn more about Angelcare and Diaper Genie products visit ⁠https://diapergenie.com⁠

and ⁠https://angelcarebaby.com⁠. And don’t forget to follow @⁠angelcare⁠ and @⁠diapergenieofficial⁠

Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and⁠ ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠⁠.

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00;00;00;01 – 00;00;19;18

Dr. Mona

Welcome back to the follow up. It’s Doctor Mona, and this is a series on the show where we revisit a favorite past episode in less time than it takes to change a diaper. Realize the baby peed may change, and start the process all over again. I’m excited to bring back this follow up episode. I just had a baby.

 

00;00;19;18 – 00;00;42;19

Dr. Mona

Now what? Because in partnership with Angel Care and Diaper Genie, I wanted to share some recent survey findings about what modern parents actually need in those early months with the baby, and how it ties directly into so much of what I talked about in this episode. I’m done having babies myself, so I won’t experience postpartum again. Although sometimes I forget about birth, trauma, IVF, and being sick.

 

00;00;42;24 – 00;01;03;26

Dr. Mona

Postpartum times two. And I’m like, hey husband, do you want more? No more for us. But one of the really special parts of being a pediatrician is that I get to walk that stage of life with families over and over again throughout my career. And what’s interesting is that while we often talk about parenting tools, apps and technology, this survey found something simple.

 

00;01;03;28 – 00;01;24;15

Dr. Mona

What parents say helps the most are often the everyday essentials that make routine care easier. For example, 54% of parents say they multitask while changing diapers, which honestly feels about right. If you’ve ever tried to wipe a baby, answer a text from your partner about who’s picking up dinner and keep them from rolling off the changing table all at the same time.

 

00;01;24;18 – 00;01;50;26

Dr. Mona

The survey also found that 62% of parents say diaper odor bothers them at least sometimes, and 28% admit they’ve avoided hosting visitors because of nursery smells or mess, which is a very real part of early parenting that not enough parents talk about. And like. Really? Same here. I would say that’s more of 100% for me. I blame that strong sense of smell for my ability to smell anything.

 

00;01;50;28 – 00;02;10;05

Dr. Mona

And interestingly, 40% of parents currently own a Diaper Genie, which was ranked the second most essential parenting tool after baby monitors. But the part I loved most in the findings was this parents who use a Diaper Genie are nearly twice as likely to view diaper changes as bonding time with their baby, rather than just another chore in the day.

 

00;02;10;07 – 00;02;39;29

Dr. Mona

Parents who use tools that simplify diaper changes and mess and mental load often experience less stress during the routine. When the task feels easier and more manageable, parents are more present in the moment, which can turn a quick diaper change into a small opportunity to connect and giggle with the baby. The survey also looked at bath time 60% of parents report using infant bath supports like the angel care soft touch bath support, which is what I had for my kiddos and parents without one were 28% more likely to say bath time takes too long.

 

00;02;40;01 – 00;02;59;14

Dr. Mona

As someone who uses their bath support product when baby is safely supported, parents can focus on washing while keeping one hand on their baby. That makes the process feel quicker and reduces the stress of worrying about slipping, which is why bath time often feels smoother. And what all of this points to is something I talk about often as a pediatrician and a parent.

 

00;02;59;16 – 00;03;20;20

Dr. Mona

Parenting in those early months is a lot of repetition and routine feeding, diaper changes, bath time, soothing sleep, and when the right tools help reduce stress and friction during those routines, those same everyday moments can actually become opportunities to connect with your baby instead of feeling like just another task to get through. Which brings us to today’s follow up.

 

00;03;20;27 – 00;03;46;29

Dr. Mona

In this episode, I just had a baby. Now what? I talk about the fourth trimester, those first three months after baby is born, and the things I wish people would tell new parents so you can focus on the basics without overthinking everything else. And remember, if you love this episode shared on Social Tag, PedsDocTalk, the PedsDocTalk Podcast, Diaper Genie Official, and Angel care and visit the link in the show notes for the survey results and to find Angel care Group products.

 

00;03;46;29 – 00;04;00;10

Dr. Mona

The makers of Diaper Genie and Angel Care at Diaper Genie, Dot com, and Angel Care baby.com. Let’s get into today’s follow up.

 

00;04;00;12 – 00;04;22;28

Dr. Mona

And again, we talk about the fourth trimester as that three months after the baby’s born. So although this episode is going to be focusing primarily on caring for your baby, I have to express the importance of taking care of yourself as a mom or dad or whoever it is, as taking care of baby is extremely, extremely important to also take care of yourself in that fourth trimester.

 

00;04;23;00 – 00;04;44;02

Dr. Mona

So when you go through this episode, I don’t want you to feel like you need to do everything like a checklist. But this is just basically a guide to get you through those hard months when you first have a newborn and it goes through all the common questions that I usually get in my office. So to begin, when you think about a newborn, I kind of boil it down that they have three basic needs.

 

00;04;44;02 – 00;05;06;22

Dr. Mona

And I know you might be thinking, well, that seems a little drastic. They have a lot of needs, but their three basic needs can fall into one of three things they’re hungry. Whether you’re breastfeeding or formula feeding. They have a dirty diaper and they want it changed. Or do they want to be held or interacted with? So if you can remember these three things, it’ll kind of give you a good frame of reference when you’re figuring out what to do in the middle of the night when they’re crying.

 

00;05;06;28 – 00;05;25;05

Dr. Mona

And I will be doing another episode about a fussy infant or fussy babies, which I think will be very helpful to you. But remember these three basic needs when you are taking care of a newborn. So the first thing I wanted to discuss is the importance of getting to know your baby and what that means is learning about the baby’s temperament.

 

00;05;25;08 – 00;05;45;23

Dr. Mona

And we all have different temperaments. And so as a parent, it’s important to understand the temperament or nature of your baby. For example, mothers will say that in the womb they had totally different pregnancies and every child is different. So if you can start to understand the temperament of your baby in that first trimester, it can make things a little bit easier in infancy.

 

00;05;46;01 – 00;06;09;02

Dr. Mona

What makes them cry? What makes them inconsolable? And this can be different from child to child. Which is why I hope this episode helps you navigate that in order to help you understand your newborn, you also want to look at feeding cues. Whether you are breastfeeding or formula feeding. Feeding cues are important initially, it’s going to be very hard to discern whether they’re fusses for hunger or not.

 

00;06;09;04 – 00;06;28;05

Dr. Mona

And I have to tell you, crying is not always hunger. One of the most common things I hear, and it usually comes from a grandparent, is that, oh, the baby’s crying. He must be hungry. He must be hungry. That is not always the case. So with feeding cues, what you’re looking for is certain things. Initially they could start to root.

 

00;06;28;08 – 00;06;48;10

Dr. Mona

Rooting means that they start to move there. If you put there, you put your finger right by the side of their mouth. They start to turn their mouth towards your finger. They’re fussing. Their hands can start to go to the mouth. These are all signs of wanting to feed, so it’s important to know the hands to the mouth, the sucking, the rooting, the fussing.

 

00;06;48;10 – 00;07;06;15

Dr. Mona

Those are some signals that maybe they’re hungry. And again, not all fussing is hunger. So it’s going to be really important to kind of figure out is this a hunger cry? Is this something else. And it can take a few months to figure that out. Eventually, by the end of the fourth trimester, you should be able to discern a hunger cry versus a non hunger cry.

 

00;07;06;18 – 00;07;27;04

Dr. Mona

So with Ryan, our son, we saw that we were noticing certain cries were just more of an over tired cry. Certain cries were that he just wanted to be held and eventually we started to figure out, okay, this is his absolute hunger cry and it really is something that can help you a lot so that you’re not shoving a bottle in there or shoving a move in there every time they fuss.

 

00;07;27;10 – 00;07;48;24

Dr. Mona

So that’s one thing, because you really want to remember that they don’t always have to eat when they’re crying. The other things I want to go over with feeding, it’s extremely important that whether you are breastfeeding or formula feeding, that you remain in a comfortable position. What I mean by that is that if you’re in a tense position and you’re trying to feed a baby, they 100% feed off that energy.

 

00;07;48;27 – 00;08;06;19

Dr. Mona

So breast feeding, you want to really get comfortable, figure out what what holds are going to be best for you and your baby, whether you had a C-section or other complications. What position is going to give you the least pain to breastfeed your baby? If you’re formula feeding, you also want to make sure that you’re in a comfortable position with baby.

 

00;08;06;22 – 00;08;22;27

Dr. Mona

I found this to happen a lot of times with Ryan. I noticed that if I was getting uncomfortable or stressed or tired and I was bottle feeding him, he could sense that. And then he would start to fuss and I would get tense, and then he would start to fuss. And then I had to tell myself, okay, we need to stop here.

 

00;08;22;29 – 00;08;39;13

Dr. Mona

I would either get my husband or if my husband wasn’t home, I would calm myself. I would put him down in a safe spot and I would just read a just take a breath and go back to it, because that fidgeting that newborns do and a lot of babies do can cause a lot of anxiety for parents that, oh, something’s wrong, something’s wrong.

 

00;08;39;17 – 00;09;01;24

Dr. Mona

So try your best to be patient with it. Try your best to not fidget so much, because the baby can really sense that. And if it didn’t happen to me, I wouldn’t have believed it. I mean, I always knew it going in, but having experienced it, it really, really does happen. So just be mindful of that. The other stuff with feeding, feeding on demand.

 

00;09;01;26 – 00;09;22;06

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;09;22;09 – 00;09;38;00

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.

 

00;09;38;00 – 00;09;58;19

Dr. Mona

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 an mama anymore. 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.

 

00;09;58;21 – 00;10;20;02

Dr. Mona

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 nighttime stretches are okay, which goes in line with feeding on demand. 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.

 

00;10;20;05 – 00;10;41;00

Dr. Mona

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. So that goes into some feeding cues and some feeding recommendations. I could go on and on about feeding and formula and breastfeeding, but I wanted to give you guys some tips.

 

00;10;41;02 – 00;11;00;21

Dr. Mona

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. Their eyes are going to become dazed.

 

00;11;00;23 – 00;11;21;13

Dr. Mona

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 the 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. 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.

 

00;11;21;13 – 00;11;39;16

Dr. Mona

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. 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.

 

00;11;39;23 – 00;12;05;21

Dr. Mona

And again I’ll get into more about this sort of allowing them to fuss a little bit when I get into the the sleep segment of this talk. 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;12;05;23 – 00;12;27;03

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? 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.

 

00;12;27;09 – 00;12;54;06

Dr. Mona

Whether it’s a bassinet or crib, and let them sleep and try to figure that out. And I’ll get into sleep a little bit more later, 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;12;54;06 – 00;13;16;12

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;13;16;16 – 00;13;36;15

Dr. Mona

You’re going to hear more and more about this eat, play, sleep routine as I do more episodes, 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;13;36;17 – 00;13;53;04

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. I just wanted to give you guys some tips when they are awake and parents ask me, well, what do I do with them?

 

00;13;53;04 – 00;14;12;13

Dr. Mona

I’m exhausted, but there are a week I need to entertain them. These are the tips that you can use. Okay. 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. The umbilical cord does not have to fall off in my opinion, but it has to be supervised.

 

00;14;12;15 – 00;14;32;27

Dr. Mona

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 now? The recommendations will give you numbers 10 to 15 minutes three times a day.

 

00;14;32;29 – 00;14;54;22

Dr. Mona

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. If one day goes by and you forget to do it, oh well, just try it again the next day.

 

00;14;54;25 – 00;15;10;15

Dr. Mona

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. It could be on the ground. If you are on the ground, lay down with them and get to eye level.

 

00;15;10;15 – 00;15;29;04

Dr. Mona

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. Another really important thing is reading and talking to the baby. From the moment they come home.

 

00;15;29;06 – 00;15;47;20

Dr. Mona

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;15;47;25 – 00;16;04;21

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;16;04;24 – 00;16;26;18

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;16;26;20 – 00;16;45;18

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;16;45;18 – 00;17;01;03

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;17;01;03 – 00;17;06;09

Dr. Mona

It’s just not true.

 

00;17;06;12 – 00;17;25;09

Dr. Mona

Thank you so much for tuning in when you just had a baby. It’s easy to feel like you have to figure out everything all at once. But the truth is, those early months are about learning about your baby and focusing on the basics. Every baby is unique, and when you’re trying to understand them, it helps to have some routine and a few things you can rely on.

 

00;17;25;12 – 00;17;48;13

Dr. Mona

That’s also what the survey reinforced to me as a pediatrician. Parenting in those early months is made up of small daily routines, feeding, diaper changes, bath time and sleep. And when those routines feel easier and less stressful, we can have more space to actually be present with our babies. Sometimes the right support or tools can turn everyday tasks into moments of connection, and to just another thing to get through.

 

00;17;48;16 – 00;18;09;17

Dr. Mona

Remember, if you love this follow up, download the full episode. Share this on social media. Tag PedsDocTalk The PedsDocTalk podcast, Diaper Genie Official and Angel care and visit the link in show notes for the survey results and to find Angel care Group products. The makers of Diaper Genie and Angel Care Diaper Genie, Dot com, and Angel Care baby.com.

 

00;18;09;20 – 00;18;14;07

Dr. Mona

Thanks for being here. As always, take care of yourselves and I’ll chat with you all next time.