Children · 5 min read · Updated October 2026
Your baby's first month: feeding, warmth and danger signs
The first 28 days are when babies are most fragile. Simple care at home prevents most problems, and knowing the danger signs gets help in time.
Clinician review pending This article is awaiting sign-off by a doctor.
Most newborn deaths happen in the first week, and most can be prevented with warmth, breastfeeding, clean cord care, and quick action when something is wrong. A clinic check within the first 2 days and again at about day 7 is recommended everywhere.
Feeding
Start breastfeeding within the first hour and give only breast milk for six months: no water, glucose water, herbal mixtures or formula unless a health worker advises. Feed on demand, at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours, including at night. A well-fed baby has 6 or more wet nappies a day by day 5 and regains birth weight by two weeks. If your nipples are cracked or painful, the latch needs adjusting; ask for help rather than stopping.
Warmth and skin care
Newborns lose heat fast. Keep the room warm, dress the baby in one more layer than you wear, cover the head, and hold the baby skin-to-skin. Delay the first bath for at least 24 hours. Small or premature babies benefit from kangaroo care: held upright, skin-to-skin on the chest, for as many hours a day as possible.
Cord and eyes
Keep the cord stump clean and dry; apply chlorhexidine gel if your clinic provided it, otherwise nothing: no ash, oil, herbs or dung, which cause tetanus and infection. It falls off in 1 to 2 weeks. Wipe eyes from the inner corner outward with clean water if there is discharge.
Sleep and safety
Place the baby on its back to sleep, on a firm surface, without pillows or loose blankets, and never with anyone who has been drinking or smoking. Keep the baby under a treated mosquito net day and night. Wash hands before handling the baby and keep anyone with a cough or cold sore away.
Vaccines and checks
BCG and the polio and hepatitis B birth doses are given at birth or the first visit; the next vaccines are due at 6 weeks. Register the birth. Watch for jaundice (yellow skin): mild yellowing from day 2 to 10 is common, but yellow in the first 24 hours, or yellow palms and soles, needs urgent assessment.
Go to a hospital now if
The baby is not feeding or is feeding much less; has a fever (38°C or more) or is cold (below 35.5°C); is breathing fast, grunting, or has pauses in breathing; has fits or is stiff or floppy; is very sleepy and hard to wake; has yellow skin in the first day or yellow palms and soles; has a red, swollen, smelly or bleeding cord; has pus from the eyes; or vomits everything or has a swollen belly. Any of these in a newborn is an emergency.
How Telafia can help
A paediatrician can look at feeding, jaundice, rashes and the cord over video, reassure you about what is normal, and tell you when to go in. For the danger signs above, go straight to a hospital.
Emergency numbers
767 works in Lagos State; 112 is the national number. Numbers change: please check locally. If a number does not connect, go straight to the nearest hospital.
Related doctors
Questions about this? A paediatrics doctor can help today.