Basic Baby Care for Newly Adopted Babies

Eat

• The vast majority of adoptive parents will bottle feed their baby. How to choose a formula.

• Is wet or dry formula better for the baby?

• What type of bottle is best?

• Does the bottle type differ if the baby is born premature or has Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome?

• Does the temperature of the formula matter?

• Can you make the bottles up once a day or do you have to make it fresh for each feeding?

• When should you consider a specialized formula and what options do you have?

• How often should a baby eat?

• Other feeding options: adoptive mother induce lactation to breastfeed; donated breast milk.

• How do you know if your baby is getting enough food?

• If your baby spits up a lot when should you worry that they aren’t getting enough food?

Sleep

• What is a typical wake sleep pattern for a newborn?

• When should you expect your baby to sleep for 5-6 hours?

• Is the sleep/wake cycle affected by Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)?

• At what point can you start trying to get your baby to not wake up many times for a feeding at night?

• Will introducing solid food, even if watered down, help your baby sleep through the night?

• How can you establish healthy sleeping habits for your baby?

• When do most babies start sleeping through the night and what is “sleeping through the night”—how much sleep?

• Sleeping on the back, no pillows, blankets, bumpers, stuffed animals

• Sleep training

Poop

• How often should babies poop? What is normal?

• What does typical healthy newborn baby poop look like?

• How do you know if there is a problem?

• How can you tell if your baby is constipated? And what should you do?

• “P fruits make you poop”

• What type of diaper is best?

• How to treat diaper rash?

• How can you tell if your baby has a yeast diaper rash?

• What is colic?

• How do you treat colic?