How to Care for an Infant

Caring for an infant can be challenging, whether it is your first time being a caregiver or if you've cared for many children before! As a parent or caregiver, taking care of yourself is an important part of caring for your child. You can help protect your baby’s health by staying up to date on all vaccines, such as the whooping cough vaccine and the flu vaccine.

As a caregiver, you can help protect your baby’s health by staying up to date on all vaccines, such as the whooping cough vaccine and the flu vaccine. Another way to prevent the spread of disease is to ensure you have clean hands whenever caring for an infant.

In addition to ensuring you are staying healthy, understanding the basics of sleep safety, needed routine checkups, vaccinations, safety tips, developmental milestones, and feeding stages will help you know what to expect as your baby continues to grow. Remember that even the smallest interactions, like reading to your baby, singing to your baby, and having age-appropriate play time with your child, can help your baby to build healthy emotions and resilience! Most parents will have questions along the way. Talk to your child's pediatrician if you have a question about what is normal for your child. You can also visit HealthyChildren.org for trusted information about caring for your child.

Babies may experience different behaviors or symptoms to be concerned about as they grow and develop. The most common ones are shaken baby syndrome, colic, jaundice and an ear infection. Use the pdf guide below to identify some symptoms to look for.

Common Infant Disorders

Babies may experience different behaviors as they grow and develop. Common conditions that babies experience include colic, jaundice, and, as babies get older, ear infections. Remember that in the first 4 weeks of life, fevers are emergencies for babies. If your newborn feels warm, check their temperature. A temperature of 100.4 or higher is an emergency. If your newborn has a fever, call your pediatrician’s office right away or take your child to the emergency room.

Helpful Resources

5 Things to Know About Caring for Infants
by Mecklenburg Birthing Connections

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Common Infant Illnesses
by Mecklenburg Birthing Connections

Download .PDF
Basic Car Seat Safety

Download .PDF