Chapter 1 – Care and Attention Tailored to the Baby

Taking care of a baby doesn’t just mean feeding them properly, monitoring their health, and ensuring the best conditions for healthy sleep. It also means showering them with attention, cuddles, and hugs, and responding to their needs with awareness. It means creating a welcoming and peaceful environment within the family where the baby feels protected and safe. Through small but essential daily gestures of love, parents can do a great deal to support their child’s wellness and psychophysical development.

In the first few weeks of life, nothing comforts the baby like being held in a warm embrace: feeling safe in their mother’s arms, recognizing her scent, heartbeat, and voice—all these recall the pleasant sensations experienced in the womb. Now, to adjust to life outside, and begin to discover themselves and the world around them, babies need their parents more than ever.

Skin-to-skin contact right after birth, breast crawl, and early breastfeeding, as well as rooming-in, are fundamental for smoothing the transition from the known, reassuring intrauterine world to life outside the womb. In the first days, thanks to the support of the maternity ward staff, new parents begin to learn how to care for their baby. It’s here that they acquire basic skills like: Changing diapers, Caring for the umbilical cord, Washing and dressing the newborn.

Once home, between doubts and emotions, comes the time to manage everything on their own. Generally, parental instinct, along with the knowledge acquired during the hospital stay, is enough to guide them in caring for their baby. Sometimes, however, false myths and outdated advice still circulating among various “sources” of information can cause confusion and anxiety.

This chapter will outline the most common best pratices, based on scientific evidence and the long-standing experience of the professional community.