Being a new parent is overwhelming. It is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. One moment you feel elated, the next, you feel scared, especially when it's time for you to bring home the baby. To help you out, here's the narrowed list of things that new parents are usually scared of, together with effective methods to overcome them.
Umbilical stump infection
Pediatricians usually warn parents of signs of an umbilical stump infection. Now after hearing the word infection, what's left in the mind of the new parent is the fear that an infection may indeed happen. So instead of touching it or minding it often, just ignore the stump. Don't even bother cleaning it with alcohol, according to Baby Center, as it will just fall off on its own. Red flags include continuously bleeding stump, bad smell, or fever.
Caring for a circumcision
It's quite normal for you to refuse to touch the circumcised penis of your baby out of fear that you will hurt him. To make things easier for you, it is recommended that you stay away from baby wipes and replace it with a squirt bottle with warm water. This bottle will help you clean your baby's butt and urine without fear of hurting your baby. Put a physician-prescribed antibiotic cream on your baby's penis, and a little dab on the diaper to help prevent sticking.
Dropping your baby
Many new moms, especially those who had no experience with babies, fear that they might drop their baby on the floor. If you share the same fear, make sure that you don't carry your baby when he is wet (like after a bath.) This is really dangerous as babies are so slippery when they are wet. Get rid of rugs, etc. which can cause you to trip while holding baby, as per Parents advice.
Giving baby a bath
This may be one of the hardest things to overcome for new parents, and at the start, might just need the help of grandma. What you can do is to choose a nice bathtub for baby where he will be comfortable enough and you also won't have a hard time using.
Clipping his nails
Your baby's nails are simply so long yet you are debating whether to trim them or not. Well, for the first few weeks, babies nails are still sticking to their skin and trimming them early might hurt your baby. So wait for the nail to detach from the skin before trimming them.
It is quite understandable for new parents to have fears. However, with the various ways presented above on how to overcome them, you will feel like being a parent is second nature after all.
