Newborn basics

A nap on your chest is soothing, normal, and safe — as long as you stay awake. Here's the one scenario that turns a sweet contact nap dangerous, and how to enjoy them without worry.

A sweaty, damp-haired sleeping baby is usually just a warm baby. Here's why it happens, the real risk to watch for (overheating), and the signs that mean it's worth a call to the doctor.

Your sweet baby turns inconsolable every evening — and nothing seems to fix it. The witching hour is real, normal, and not your fault. Here's what's happening and how to get through it.

Skin-to-skin, delayed cord clamping, and the first feed — what the first hour after birth really involves, what the APGAR score means, and why routine newborn care can often wait an hour. A calm, hopeful guide.

Your 6-week-old grunts, goes red, and strains like they're lifting a piano — and then passes a soft poop. That's almost always normal newborn straining, not constipation. Here's the wide normal range, plus the few signs worth a call.

Those little red bumps that erupted on your newborn's face right before the photos are baby acne — harmless, driven by leftover hormones, and not your fault. Here's when it shows up, when it clears, and the hands-off care that actually works.

Back-arching during feeds is common and usually just gas, reflux, a fast letdown, or a baby who's done eating. Here's what's behind it, simple things that help, and the signs of pain that warrant a call to your pediatrician.

You're watching your sleeping baby's chest rise and fall in quick bursts, then pause, and your stomach drops. Newborn sleep breathing is normally fast and irregular. Here's what's normal, the periodic-breathing pattern that scares parents, and the signs that mean call now.

Baby nursing every 30 minutes all evening and melting down? Evening cluster feeding is one of the most normal — and most misunderstood — newborn patterns. Here's why it happens, why it almost never means low supply, and how to survive it.