Most of the babies pass urine in the first 24 hours of life. Many of them pass urine during delivery itself and if so, they may not pass urine during the initial hours. Try to feed frequently; it may encourage him to pass urine early.

If the baby is a boy, and if he is not passing urine, request the pediatrician to consider what is called posterior urethral valve; which is a partial block of the tube which carries the urine from the bladder through the penis. If picked up early, this condition can be rectified with medical management.

Do not apply oil, powder, ointments, cigar ash, cow dung or any other substance over the umbilicus and leave it alone to dry and fall by itself. Report back if the umbilical skin is red, hot, has pus, or blood.

Do not use very hot water for bathing the baby, use a gentle soap, avoid all cosmetics like oil, talc, lotions, creams, after the bath. Wrap the baby after the bath and feed the baby immediately. Generally we don’t suggest bathing for babies less than 2.5 kgs, if so discuss with the pediatrician in person and take a call.

Most girl babies tend to have some sticky secretions from the genitals around 2-7 days of life. This is normal and innocuous, secondary to the decreasing levels of the maternal hormones in the baby’s blood after delivery. Just keep the area clean and it will resolve soon.

There may be engorgement of the breast of the newly born babies (boy or girl), due to passive transmission of the hormones from the mother, and may secrete few drops of milk. It is called witch’s milk and is normal. There are few people who tend to remove it by squeezing the breast. Such a practice is dangerous and may lead to pus formation and may need a small surgery to drain the pus. If left alone, breast engorgement will resolve by itself in 10-14 days.

If the baby is not feeding well, crying continuously, looking yellow, sleeping continuously, irritable, has abnormal movements or abnormal color report back immediately.