infant care: caring baby below 2 year

what is infant care?

The period from a child’s birth until 2 years of age is called the infancy period. During this time, a child shows rapid growth and change. At the same time, the child’s system is vulnerable, hence you need to take meticulous care of your child at this time. The care provided at this time is called infant baby care.

Infant care generally includes feeding, sleeping, changing diapers, taking care of hygiene, etc. It should be noted here that child care also involves medical science. Things like taking care of the child during any medical condition can not be left to intuition or guesswork. Hence, you should consult your doctor or any other medical expert about the things that you must keep in mind while taking care of your child. 

You can also take the help of infant care specialists if you think that infant child care is becoming overwhelming or hectic for you. The specialists will teach you some basic things about child care like how to hold a baby, how to change diapers without causing irritation to the baby, etc. 

importance of infant care

During the infancy period, the bodies of babies are vulnerable to various diseases, medical conditions, and other problems. Adults can bear abnormalities in their daily routine like not having enough sleep for a day or two, or taking food at an unusual time. But unlike adults, babies need to have proper sleep, food, etc. to grow, and maintain their health. To sum up, infant care is important to ensure babies’ growth and prevent them from medical conditions. 

how to take care of an infant

Most parents want to know how to care for an infant baby. Knowing how to take care and taking the actual care is not tough if they just follow a care plan of an infant. Here are a few infant care tips that experts nurses use for infant care:

Bowel movements

The bowels of a child often change consistency and color. The consistency might be soft or runny but if it is hard or dry, your child might be suffering from dehydration. Although frequent stools are normal, if the frequency changes suddenly, your child might be having mild diarrhea. 

Diaper Rash

Do not worry if you see a rash on your baby’s skin that is covered by a diaper. The contact with stool and urine often causes irritation that leads to rashes. Rinse the skin with warm water and soap every time after bowel movements. 

Teething

Most babies start developing teeth at about 6 months of age. During this teeth breakthrough time, babies often become irritable and fussy. If your baby is having diarrhea or fever during this time, you can contact a healthcare provider to ensure that there is no other underlying problem. 

Other than these, you also need to take care of the baby’s urination frequency, vomiting, weight gain, sleeping habits, etc. 

what information would be included in the care plan of an infant

You need to have a care plan for infants in order to make sure that you do not miss a necessary task like vaccines administration. Also, having a care plan makes the whole process easier by giving you an overview of one month or even a year. Generally, the following topics are included in the care plan of an infant:

• Taking steps for promoting infant health even before the birth
• Screening of newborn child
• Basics of infant health like feeding and well-child health care
• Immunization
• Infant oral health care
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Taking care of hygiene
• Knowing why the baby is crying
• Sleeping
• Car Safety

These are just a few topics that should be included in the care plan of an infant. By any means, this is not a full list of things that need to be taken care of. Since every child has different needs, there is no one care plan that can be applied for every infant care.

To make a care plan, you can take the help of a nurse. A nurse for infant care usually has years of experience in taking care of infants. With the developed expertise, he or she will be better able to take care of your child. 

how portea can help you

Portea has a staff of trained nurses with the required expertise in infant child care. Our nurses will understand your child’s needs and provide them infant care accordingly. If infant child care is becoming a little overwhelming for you, our nurses can help you. Now, let’s put an end to your search for infant care near me with the safe and secure care of Portea.

Content is medically reviewed by: Dr Renu Raina Sehgal (Advisory Panel, Portea), Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Robotic Surgery