Your chest may swell up with happiness thinking about your newborn baby, but you’re also bound to have millions of doubts and questions about how to take care of your baby, especially if it’s your first time. But don’t worry! With awareness about some newborn care tips and some mistakes you must avoid, you can be great at parenting!

A newborn baby is a delicate little thing that requires a lot of love and care and is solely dependent on his/her parents for that. The responsibility can be scary but with the right guidance and knowledge you will know what to do and what not to do.

Perfect Fit Mommies, an educational channel with postpartum experts, shared a reel through their Instagram page where they shared 5 things you should not do with your newborn. Let’s take a look at what those are.

What not to do with a newborn baby

1. Avoid feeding them cow milk

A newborn baby should only be fed the mother’s breast milk for at least 12 months. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, feeding cow’s milk to your newborn child may put him or her at risk for intestinal bleeding. Also, cow milk has too many proteins and minerals for your baby’s body to handle and does not have the right kind of nutrients needed for a child’s development.

2. Don’t give a bath before umbilical cord falls off

It can be tricky to learn how to bathe your newborn baby but when to give bath has been clearly specified by many doctors. A baby should not be given their first bath until the umbilical cord has fallen off from their belly button and the area has completely healed as otherwise there can be a risk of infection.

3. Don’t give water before 6 months

According to the Unicef guidelines for child development, for the first 6 months a baby doesn’t need water as the nutritional requirements of water are provided to them by breastmilk alone. Also, their digestive system is not that strong to process that much amount of liquid.

4. Don’t give solid food before 6 months

Unicef guidelines say that introducing foods or fluids other than breastmilk to your baby before they are 6 months old can increase their risk of illnesses, such as diarrhea, which can make them thin and weak, and even be life-threatening. Your baby may also breastfeed less often, so your supply of milk, their most vital food, may decrease. A mother’s milk is the safest and healthiest food for the first 6 months of life for all children everywhere.

5. Don’t stimulate their poop

Don’t insert anything in their anus to help them poop even if they are constipated. Babies often get constipated but doctors strongly advise not to insert anything in their anus to stimulate their poop as that can hurt them. Take them to a doctor or try some other home remedies like bending their knees towards their chest.