Newborn Quick Reference
Baby's name and date of birth: ______________________________Write these in now
Always the same
Call your pediatrician right away if
- Trouble breathing, grunting, flaring nostrils, or the skin pulling in between the ribs
- Blue or gray lips, face or tongue. This is 911
- You cannot wake your baby, or they will not stay awake to feed
- Refusing feeds, or feeding much less than usual
- Fewer wet diapers than usual, a dry mouth, no tears, or a sunken soft spot
- Yellow skin or eyes that is getting deeper, or spreading down past the chest
- Repeated forceful vomiting, or a swollen, hard belly
- Redness, swelling, or bad-smelling discharge at the umbilical cord
- A rash that does not fade when you press on it
- Your baby seems wrong to you and you cannot say why. Call anyway.
Under 3 months, take the temperature rectally. Forehead and ear readings are not accurate enough to decide on at this age. If a rectal reading is 100.4°F or higher, do not stop to confirm it another way.
Safe sleep, every sleep
Nothing else in there. No blankets, bumpers, pillows, positioners or toys. Room sharing is good. Bed sharing is not. If you are feeding in bed, put the baby back before you sleep.
Medicine
Do not give any medicine, including fever medicine, to a baby under 3 months unless your pediatrician has told you to.
In a baby this young a fever needs to be seen, not treated at home. Fever medicine can hide the one sign that gets your baby looked at.
Never give aspirin. Never give honey under 1 year. Ibuprofen is not used under 6 months.
Feeding and diapers, the rough shape of a normal week
Wet diapers. About one on day one, then roughly one more each day, reaching six or more a day by around day five. After the first week, most babies stay at six to eight.
Feeds. Most newborns feed eight to twelve times in 24 hours, and rarely on a tidy schedule.
Call if your baby is having fewer wet diapers than they were, the urine looks dark, they are feeding much less, or they are hard to wake for feeds.
Weight. Most babies lose a little in the first days and are back to birth weight by about two weeks. Your pediatrician tracks this.
Feeds, diapers and weight
Most newborns feed eight to twelve times in 24 hours, rarely on a tidy schedule. Most lose a little weight in the first days and are back to birth weight by around two weeks. Your pediatrician tracks this.
General information, not medical advice, and no substitute for your pediatrician. Trust your instinct and call if something feels wrong. Fever guidance follows the American Academy of Pediatrics. Safe sleep follows the NICHD Safe to Sleep campaign. On Call Peds Care, Birmingham AL. Reviewed by Leslie Brewer, CRNP. September 2026.
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