Does your mother-in-law give you a lot of advice on caring for your newborn? And great! However, you need to know which of them are really useful and which are not worth putting into practice.
The mother-in-law has raised and raised at least one child. This, of course, is about your husband. That is why she believes that she can rightfully belong to the title “Woman Who Knows Everything About Children”. There is no doubt that she will be able to share her experience and give some useful advice. However, there may be enough strange ones. But let's be objective: both the mother-in-law, and your own mother, and grandmother give advice on caring for the baby, but not all of their experience seems to you worthy of inheritance. Do not forget that there were not those times before, so you cannot accept a lot, and the older generation does not always support you in everything. But the remarks of the mother-in-law are perceived by you more sharply, if not to say "with hostility."
You should not aggravate the relationship, but it is better to just have information about what advice may be irrelevant for our time and even harmful for the baby.
1. Every day you need to wash your baby with breast milk
Grandmothers-great-grandmothers are firmly convinced that breast milk is the best remedy for all ailments. Milk should be used to wipe the child's face every morning, and if you get sick, for example, with a cold, then drip your nose, if your eyes fester, then milk can come to the rescue. You should know that pediatric doctors are skeptical about this advice. Experts believe that milk is exclusively for feeding. And if the crumbs have a runny nose or conjunctivitis, then such dripping can only aggravate the problem.
2. If there is fluff on the back of the child, then remove it with a crumb of black bread
First, do an experiment and roll a ball of bread over your hands and feet. You can advise your mother-in-law to do this. How does it feel? Painfully? But how will the baby feel during such manipulations? The hairs on the back of the crumbs are considered normal. It will take some time, and the skin will certainly become smooth.
3. While swimming, you need to plug your ears with cotton
It will be more useful to shut them up yourself - so as not to accidentally hear this advice.
It is not recommended to apply this in practice, because cotton wool cannot protect against water, but rather, on the contrary, it will harm the baby. Under the influence of moisture, the cotton wool will get wet and accelerate the ingress of water into the ear canal. In order to remove water from the ears after bathing, you must first put the crumbs' head on one side, then turn to the other and dab the ears with a towel.
4. To fight germs before feeding, you should wash your breasts with laundry soap.
So, in fact, women who were taught this procedure by the doctors did in Soviet maternity hospitals. However, this did not work for the benefit: such washing contributed to the fact that the skin became dry and cracks appeared, which created discomfort for the mother during feeding due to pain. Modern neonatologists advise nursing mothers to take a shower once a day and keep their linen clean.
5. Nipples should be treated with alcohol or brilliant green
In the absence of cracks, no nipple procedures need to be performed. In the presence of cracks, neither alcohol nor brilliant green will provide effective assistance. Most likely, the result will be exactly the opposite of what was expected: the skin will dry out, the smell and taste of the milk will change, and the baby may react with an allergic reaction. To cure cracked nipples, ointments and creams that include dexpanthenol should be used.
6. Disposable diapers are harmful, as the baby's legs will be crooked
Pediatricians agree that the slenderness of the legs and diapers are not related in any way, as diapers are too soft to negatively affect the joints and bones of the baby. Why does it happen that some babies' legs are bent? The reason may be rickets and improperly developed lower limbs.
Disposable diapers are harmful: your legs will be crooked ... And if you put on a hat, your head will be in the shape of a hat? 🙂
7. Tight swaddling = straight legs
But in fact, swaddling does not give any guarantee that the legs will be straight. To swaddle or not is the business of every mother. In this situation, one should proceed from what is convenient for the baby: to be wrapped in a diaper or dressed in sliders and a blouse. He should be warm and comfortable. Many crumbs sleep better when swaddled.
8. We iron the baby's linen from both sides until the baby is 1 year old.
Why such sacrifices? After all, other things are enough! Diapers and baby clothes should be ironed on both sides until the umbilical wound has healed. Once it has healed, you can iron on one side. If the clothes are made of hard fabrics, it is recommended to iron them on both sides.
