The First Weeks at Home- Newborn Basics Nobody Explains (Part 1)
EPISODE OUT ON YOUR FAVORITE PLATFORM
LISTEN HERE:
The Tiny Big Joys Podcast | Guest: Miranda | Host: Olivia
The experts arrive. For the first of our expert episodes, host Olivia sits down with London-based NHS and private midwife and lactation consultant Miranda Sykes — better known as Midwife Miranda — to answer the questions you sent in about those first few weeks at home. This is Part 1 of two, and it's the practical half: what matters in the hour you leave hospital, what to actually ask for while you're still on the ward, and what the first twenty-four hours at home really look like. Miranda explains why she'd prescribe skin to skin every day for the first couple of weeks rather than just the golden hour, why your newborn is best understood as a wild Tamagotchi you cannot train, and why so much of what worries new parents — cradle cap, baby acne, a screaming nappy change, a cord that looks a bit gunky — is simply normal. She also takes apart two myths almost every parent believes, about car seats and about hats. This episode covers skin to skin and what it actually does, making the most of your postnatal stay, the first 24 hours at home, red baby and green baby, cord care and the first bath, what's normal and what needs a GP, nappy rash and nappy-free time, how to dress a newborn and check their temperature, slings and car seats, what you genuinely need to buy, the car seat myth, the hat myth, how often a newborn really feeds, responsive feeding for breast and bottle, and how to read hunger and fullness cues.
Instagram @thetinybigjoys
Miranda Sykes is a London-based midwife and lactation consultant, and the founder of Midwife Miranda. She has worked as a midwife in the NHS for over a decade, and after Covid — when so much routine care was stripped back — she started her private practice to give women a hybrid model of care: an add-on, a bolster, alongside the NHS care they were already booked with. She has been running both side by side for the last four and a half years, and added her lactation consultant qualification a couple of years ago. Much of her work, privately and within the NHS, is what she calls demystifying your newborn — helping families tell the difference between a problem and a perfectly normal baby.
Instagram @midwife_miranda
Key Takeaways
Skin to skin isn't just for the golden hour
Most parents know to do it in the hour after birth. Miranda's point is that it belongs at the top of the list for the first couple of weeks at home too. We're carry mammals who stopped carrying — we truss babies up like burritos and put them in cots, when they're designed to be against a chest. Daily skin to skin settles heart rate, temperature and breathing, supports the microbiome and bonding, helps with feeding, and regulates a nervous system that can't yet regulate itself.Ask for time — not another leaflet
If you have the capacity to ask for one thing on the postnatal ward, ask for someone's time. You can be told something a million times and handed a leaflet, but what actually helps is someone sitting with you while you do a first feed. If you've never changed a nappy before — many people haven't until it's their own baby — ask permission and film it. And keep a short list on your phone, because the questions arrive at 3am. One concise list is easier for a busy midwife than six rounds of "can I just ask", and you get better answers.Go home, get into bed, and limit the traffic
Miranda would have all of you in bed for a couple of weeks. Our society doesn't much support that any more, but you're recovering physically and mentally and adjusting to parenthood at the same time. Babies aren't born to be passed around lots of people — they're born expecting their primary caregivers. Keep the oxytocin bubble small.Your newborn is a wild Tamagotchi you cannot train
"If you try and train them, you will lose — the Tamagotchi will win." Newborns are hardwired for survival and have two nervous-system settings: red baby, meaning I think I'm going to get eaten by a sabre-toothed tiger, and green baby, meaning I'm psychologically safe, I'm going to live. Staying together and limiting interruptions is what keeps you both in green.Expect a lot of feeding — it isn't a sign something is wrong
Feeding blows everybody's mind: how much your baby is going to be with you, on you, on and off the breast. There are concerning patterns in some circumstances, but more often than not, lots of feeding in those first days is a good thing.You don't have to rush the first bath — and leave the cord alone
Bathing waits until the cord has come off by itself and dried. In between, top and tail with cooled boiled water and cotton wool, cleaning where the creases are. Don't be tempted to go at the cord with a cotton bud. And give the first bath when you feel ready, with two of you and the bath on the floor — it's a preference, not a deadline.If a cord gets infected, you won't miss it
Parents ask how they'd know. Miranda's answer: the smell of an infected tummy button never leaves you. Increasing redness around the stump or a smell means a call to the GP. Otherwise a slightly wet, slightly gunky healing cord is doing exactly what it should.Most newborn skin things sort themselves out
Cradle cap and newborn baby acne are self-limiting — acne often appears around week one or two, peaks around week four and goes by around week six. If the spots merge and look sore, or anything looks genuinely uncomfortable, take photos. Since Covid, GPs will prioritise a newborn and a new mum, and a photograph does a lot of the work.Newborns hate nappy changes, and that isn't a problem to fix
"It sounds like you're trying to murder them." On their back, exposed, legs flopped to the side — that's about the reddest a red baby gets. Nappy-free time is worth it, especially with a hot or sore bottom, but in the newborn phase it may simply be easier to wait.One more layer than you — then check with two fingers
The rule of thumb is one more layer than you're wearing, in thin natural layers you can add and take off. But the rule doesn't always work, so the real skill is checking: two fingers on the chest or the nape of the neck, never the hands or feet. The same as you is right; clammy and sticky means take a layer off; cold to your touch means add one.Bulky clothes and car seat straps don't mix
In a sling you're heating each other, so one layer each. In a car seat, bulk under the straps makes them null and void and you lose the safety — dress them normally and put blankets on the outside.You don't need a car seat to leave the hospital
It's a myth that does the rounds, and keeps doing the rounds. There's nothing in any legal document, and nobody can prevent you leaving with your own child in your arms. A hospital may prefer it, but a pram or a sling is a complete mode of transport too.Nobody quite knows why we put hats on newborns
Hospitals encourage it after birth, but there's no evidence that led to that policy — it simply happened, and now we can't unhappen it. The thinking is about wet hair and the fact that babies are poor at thermoregulation. At home, no hats indoors. And the bit people forget: in and out of shops and cafés in winter, the hat comes off each time.Newborns feed 8–12 times in 24 hours — and the maths explains why
Tiny tummies, breast milk digested in only about 90 minutes, and sleep cycles of 40 to 50 minutes. Roughly two- to three-hourly, with some feeds clustered close together and the occasional longer gap. What matters is the number of feeds across 24 hours rather than evenly spaced ones — and what's coming out the other end. The UNICEF tool "How do I know my baby's getting enough?" is worth printing and keeping to hand.Responsive feeding applies to bottles too
It often surprises people. Rigid schedules can tell the breasts to slow production and lead to blocked ducts or mastitis, and on the baby's side can affect feeding and weight gain. Babies also need to set their own satiety signals — and they will finish a bottle because of the suck reflex, not because they're full, which is why learning the fullness cues matters.If you take one thing away
Miranda's answer to almost every "what do I need?" question is the same: very little. A safe sleep space, a sling, and your own chest. The rest can wait until you know what you actually want.
Book The Tiny Big Joys - Pregnancy & Birth: Questions from Parents Like You is now available
Created by The Tiny Big Joys founder Paula Jurvanen, this warm and reassuring book brings together real experiences, expert guidance and some of the most loved conversations from the original podcast series. It was written for parents who want honest support without pressure, fear, or overwhelming advice.
If you’ve been wanting someone to walk you through what to expect and what to consider, this book is for you.
By supporting the book, you’re also helping us continue creating more free podcast conversations and expert episodes for parents around the world.
You can order the book directly through THIS LINK.
Join the Conversation & Support the Show
Your voice matters to us! This podcast is built for you, and we want you to help shape its future. By joining our newsletter community, you get a direct line to our team to share comments, suggest topics, and ask questions for our future guests. Plus, you’ll be the first to know when a new episode drops.
If you found value in today’s episode, the greatest compliment you can give us is a share. Whether you send this to a friend who needs to hear it or post about it on your social media, your word-of-mouth support is the engine that allows us to keep creating deeply impactful content like this. We are just beginning this journey, and we are so grateful to have you with us from the start. Thank you!