Your newborn: A parent's guide

Bringing baby home can be a scary prospect. Every little quiver, unexpected rash or erratic breath can send a new parent into a tailspin of worry: Is this normal? Why is she doing that? Should I take him to the doctor? Knowing what quirks to expect from your newborn can help ease your mind -- and keep you relaxed at home instead of worrying and waiting at the doctor's office.

1. Erratic breathing
Because a newborn's lungs are small, like everything else about him, his breathing may seem shallow. That's normal. And it's also normal for his breaths to be of varying lengths, including an occasional worrisome 10-second pause during which he doesn't breathe at all. Called periodic breathing, this pattern is entirely natural for the first few weeks. Newborns also make snuffling noises because they breathe through their noses.

2. Coughing and choking
The fluid that filled her lungs in the womb was mostly squeezed out during birth, but excess mucus post-delivery is normal. And babies have tiny nasal passages, which often require a cough or sneeze to clear.

3. Quivering chin
A newborn's nervous system is not yet fully mature. Shaking arms and legs and a deceptive, jerky smile are also normal movements, especially when the baby is drifting to sleep. They'll subside by three months.

4. Pain
Some parents worry that babies might suffer from the same discomfort that mothers endure during the final labour and delivery. But a mother's body hurts precisely because it is being stretched to accommodate the baby's birth, whereas, pain sensors on an emerging infant have demonstrated that the pressures of the birthing process are no more severe than the pressures on an adult's body just lying in bed.

This is not to suggest that infants don't feel pain. At the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the analysis of videotapes and other records indicated that female infants and uncircumcised male infants showed a higher tolerance for pain during vaccinations than their circumcised counterparts. As lead researcher on one study Dr. Gideon Koren said, "This demonstrates two important findings: It shows us that infants do, in fact, feel pain, and that the pain is not short-lived, as previously thought."

5. Birthmarks
There are different types of birthmarks. Some birthmarks will grow in the first six months, then recede. The best approach for a parent, dismayed to discover her baby doesn't have the unblemished skin she pictured, is to leave the birthmark alone. It will either fade at its own pace or hold fast, in which case little can be done anyway. If concerned, discuss it with your doctor.

Mongolian spots are a type of birthmark quite common in children of Asian, African, Native or Hispanic descent. They are dark blue to black patches of skin often found on the lower back and buttocks, but they can also be on the arms and legs.

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