You spent the last nine months carrying your baby. It’s common knowledge that mothers go through three trimesters during pregnancy. The first trimester lasts from months one to three, the second trimester lasts from months three to six, and the third trimester ranges from months six to nine.
But did you know that there’s a fourth trimester? This trimester takes place during the three months after you deliver your baby. The overarching goal of this trimester is to help your newborn adapt to the world and feel as comfortable as possible. Let’s explore the fourth trimester and tips for raising a newborn.
What Is the Fourth Trimester?
Many mothers describe the fourth trimester as the 12 weeks after their babies are born. Many doctors explain that babies are born too soon, so this trimester is an optimal time to focus on nurturing your child and taking care of yourself.
While newborns grow, communicate their needs, and adjust to their lives outside the womb, mothers also must focus on recovery and schedule medical checkups for their health.
Tips for Raising a Newborn
Raising your newborn during the fourth trimester is a lot of work. You’ll need plenty of sleep so that you can learn to recognize your baby’s needs and focus on your own recovery.
Recognize Newborn Cues and Movement
It takes time for parents to understand the needs and wants of their newborns. Your baby will give unique cues for feeding, changing, sleeping, and other aspects of care. Newborns come with basic instincts, using their movements and voices to show their discomfort, hunger, and tiredness.
Learning to recognize their cues can save you a lot of exhaustion, frustration, and emotional distress. Moreover, if you struggle with lactation or notice your baby struggling to gain weight, organic baby formula can help breastfed babies consume extra calories and gain weight in a healthy manner.
Focus on Physical Recovery
As you take care of your newborn, your body will need to recover to keep up with your child’s needs and demands. The postpartum period consists of aches, pains, exhaustion, and feeling overwhelmed by the most minor things. So, it’s crucial that you take care of yourself alongside your newborn.
Book a physical exam postpartum to check for tears, stitches, and overall healing. Your body needs to remain in good shape to keep up with your newborn and everyday life.
Sleep When Your Newborn Sleeps
Between delivering your baby and bringing them home, everyone will feel exhausted and physically fatigued from adapting to a new schedule. You’ll have some nights without sleep, days spent learning to swaddle and change your baby, and less time to practice self-care.
One of the best ways to recover is to sleep when your little one sleeps. Take advantage of quiet time as your baby rests and catch some additional time for recovery. Whether you rest for 15 minutes or two hours, you’ll appreciate this quiet time as you navigate the fourth trimester.
Candid Mama
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