Example photograph.
The first week at home is mostly feeding, sleeping and learning each other. What makes it harder in our city is heat and the hours when the light goes off. None of this needs expensive kit; it needs a plan you make before the baby arrives.
Choose the coolest room, not the biggest
Walk around the house at three in the afternoon a week before your due date. The room that stays coolest is the room for the bassinet. Keep the curtains closed during the day and open the windows in the evening when the air cools.
Dress the baby like you, plus one thin layer
A cotton bodysuit and a light muslin is usually enough in the day. At night add a sleepsuit. Feel the back of the neck: warm and dry is right, damp means too many layers.
When the light goes
- Keep a rechargeable fan charged and pointed across the room, never straight at the baby
- Have a dim night light so you are not searching with a phone torch at 2am
- Fill a flask with boiled water before bed for night feeds or washing
- Keep the inverter or generator noise as far from the room as you can
Ask for help with the right things
Visitors love to hold the baby. Ask them to cook, wash, or sit with you while you sleep for two hours instead. In many Agodi homes a mother or aunt comes to stay for the first weeks; agree early what you would like help with.
Know when to call
A baby who will not feed, is very sleepy, has a fever or yellowing skin needs a nurse or doctor the same day. Keep your clinic's number on paper by the bed. We are a shop, not a clinic: we can help with things, and your health team helps with health.
This piece is general information from a shop, not medical advice. Speak to your midwife or doctor about your own care.
