Hello World,
It's not easy for a new parent to be certain when an infant is ill. Health care workers are so used to requests for information that a parent's genuine concern can sometimes be treated too casually. Rather than trust her own instincts, a mother can begin to doubt herself.
The good news is that there are tangible and objective measures of a baby's health.
WEEK ONE From the start, newborns will need to nurse for no less than 15 minutes, 8 times per day during the first week of life. Listen and you should hear the baby swallowing milk. Baby's first sticky-black stool - called meconium - should pass. This will transition from a black-green color to a brown doughey consistency. By day 4 or 5 the color will be yellow. Wet diapers will appear by the second day. By the end of this week, the frequency of wet diapers will increase to 2 or 3 per day.
