Your 4 Week Old Baby

By now you’ll likely have become familiar with cluster feeding (when your baby wants a lot of shorter feeds over few hours), as well as how often your baby goes through diapers. The amount of feeding is only going to increase as your baby grows, so here’s some tips and solutions for the more common issues related to breastfeeding. It’s worth noting that not everyone can breastfeed comfortably, or at all, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Formula is a great substitute for women who have trouble breastfeeding. 

Mastitis – This occurs when a milk duct is blocked, causing inflammation. This is relatively simple to treat, most commonly by continued consistent breastfeeding and/or expressing. In more serious cases, antibiotics can be used as well as anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, but this is best done when recommended by a doctor.

Dry/cracked nipples – This is quite common in early mothers, as the nipples haven’t yet “toughened up”. Using lanolin ointment or nipple balm helps to rehydrate the area and soothe inflammation. For mummas with sensitive skin, finding the right balm can make all the difference, and speaking to your midwife will help a lot here.

Problems latching/painful suckling – Sometimes it’s baby’s cheek and moth strength, sometimes the shape of mumma’s nipples, sometimes it’s something else entirely. Whatever the problem, there’s a few different ways around this. Using a nipple shield can help protect your sensitive areas from enthusiastic feeders, while pumping and bottle feeding can help with those who have trouble suckling properly.

Sore nipples – Similar to treatment for dry or cracked nipples, using a suitable balm after feeding can help. Another trick that sounds a bit odd but works wonderfully is chilled tea bags, particularly when the pain is worse.

In all these options, it’s recommended to continue breastfeeding, as the problems often resolve themselves, and continued feeding of the baby is important. Change your nursing pads regularly, switch between breasts during a feed and practice patience to nip it in the bud.

The strain of pregnancy leaves many with back pain, among other things. While this may initially be relieved once you’ve given birth, it can still become a problem. Constant carrying of the baby, poor posture due to tiredness (or let’s face it, flat out exhaustion) and fluctuating body weight can all put an extra toll on your back.

Taking care of your back while you’re pregnant isn’t always the easiest thing to do, so we’ve put together a couple of quick and easy ways to stave off back pain.

• Take 10-15 minutes each day to practice some post-partum yoga to help keep everything in check. 
• When lifting up your baby, bend at the knees and keep your wrists straight.
• When carrying your little one for longer periods of time, try to use a baby carrier or sling. This will take the load off your back but also sooth them as well.
• Avoid putting them on your hip. As the baby grows, the weight will only increase and cause more strain. Try to stop the habit early.
• Swap between your right and left arm as you carry bubba to stop your back being lopsided.
   

If you’re already dealing with back pain, consider a back brace, physiotherapy or remedial massage (which can also be a nice treat yourself gift). Try to minimise painkillers as they tend to mask the symptoms and may lead to your back just getting worse.

All that feeding isn’t for nothing. Whether it’s bottles or boobs, your baby will have been feeding a lot the past week or two. Their bodies and brains are developing, and this week that’s starting to step up a notch.

Physical development is starting with the way they’re moving, especially their arms and hands. You’ll likely notice that your baby’s hand is moving up to their face. While this likely isn’t an intentional movement, it’s a good sign everything is moving in the right direction. You’ll also notice they should start to be lifting their head up and building strength in the neck so the they can look around more (though it’s likely you’ll be the object of their attention still for some time).

Speaking of looking around, their vision and hearing will be starting to sharpen. You’ll notice they will start to follow a moving object if it’s close enough, and reactions to noises will be more noticable. These are signs of  mental interaction developing, so spending more time with bubba talking, playing and being close helps not only with your bond and mental health, but it’s helping train your baby’s brain!