Newborn (0–1 month)

✅Key checklist for this stage

• In Korea, the first hepatitis B dose is given at birth and BCG within 4 weeks.
• Check the results of newborn metabolic screening and the newborn hearing screening.
• Book the first infant health checkup (14–35 days after birth in Korea).
• Always put the baby to sleep on their back on a firm, flat surface.
• Use a rear-facing car seat from the day you leave the hospital.
• If a baby under 3 months has a temperature of 38°C or higher, get medical care right away.
• Register the birth (in Korea, within one month) and apply for the Parent Allowance, First Meeting Voucher, and similar programs.

🍼Feeding

Newborns have small stomachs and eat often. Breastfed babies usually feed 8–12 times a day, and formula-fed babies usually every 2–3 hours. Follow hunger cues (mouthing, sucking on hands, turning to search) rather than the clock. Crying is a late hunger cue.

Babies lose a little weight in the first few days and usually regain their birth weight by about 2 weeks. You can tell feeding is going well from wet diapers (6 or more a day is common from around day 5), stools, and weight gain. The first stools are dark green meconium and gradually turn yellow.

Vitamin D supplements are recommended for breastfed babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends 400 IU a day; discuss when to start and which product with your pediatrician. Before 6 months, babies do not need water, barley tea, or juice.

😴Safe sleep

Newborns sleep most of the day, but in stretches of 2–3 hours. A sense of day and night develops over several weeks.

• Always lay the baby on their back to sleep, never on the tummy or side.
• Use a firm, flat mattress with only a fitted sheet. Remove pillows, bumpers, toys, and soft bedding.
• The AAP recommends sharing a room but not a bed for at least the first 6 months. Do not sleep together on an adult bed or sofa.
• Keep the room from getting too warm, and do not overdress the baby or put a hat on for sleep.
• If the baby falls asleep in a car seat, stroller, or bouncer, move them to a flat sleep surface.

🛁Body care

The umbilical cord stump usually falls off between 1 and 3 weeks. Until then, keep it clean and dry and fold the diaper below it. Before it falls off, a sponge bath is enough instead of immersing the baby in water.

Jaundice is common in newborns and usually clears on its own. But it needs a doctor if yellowing appears within the first 24 hours, spreads down to the belly or legs, or the baby feeds poorly and seems floppy. Report white or gray stools right away.

Trim nails while the baby sleeps with baby nail clippers or a file. Moisturizing is often all the skin needs.

🩺Health, vaccines, and checkups

Under Korea's national immunization schedule, hepatitis B dose 1 is given at birth, BCG (tuberculosis) within 4 weeks, and hepatitis B dose 2 at 1 month. Exact dates for your baby can be checked on the KDCA immunization helper service.

In Korea, the first infant health checkup is at 14–35 days. It includes measuring length, weight, and head circumference, an exam, and advice on feeding and sleep. If the newborn metabolic screening or hearing screening at the birth hospital called for a retest, make sure to get it.

💛Caring for parents

The 'baby blues', with tearfulness and mood swings in the first two weeks or so after birth, are common. If low mood continues past two weeks or makes caring for the baby very hard, it may be postpartum depression, so see a doctor. When crying makes you feel overwhelmed or angry, lay the baby down in a safe sleep space and step out of the room to breathe. Never shake a baby.

💉Vaccines & checkups in this stage

• General checkup 1 — 14–35 days after birth

Korea's Childhood Vaccine Schedule →   Infant and Child Health Checkups →

💬FAQ