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Are you expecting the placement of a newborn? Don't miss our conversation about the latest information on baby care with Kristen O’Dell, a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with almost two decades of working with over 10,000 newborns and their families in her hospital practice of Neonatology and Newborn Medicine.

In this episode, we cover:

• Feeding
  • The vast majority of adoptive parents will bottle-feed their baby. How to choose a formula.
  • Is liquid or dry formula better for the baby?
  • How to sterilize the dry formula?
  • Do you need to sterilize bottles?
  • 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?
  • When to introduce solid 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 wake/sleep cycle affected by prematurity or 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?
  • Safe sleep practices: sleeping on the back, no pillows, blankets, bumpers, stuffed animals
  • Sleep training 
• Poop
  • How often should babies poop? What is normal?
  • What does the 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?
  • What type of diaper is best?
  • What type of baby wipes are 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?
• What is the current thinking on circumcision?
• Tips for new parents.

Free Resource Guide from New Mommy Guru

This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the pro

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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

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