Pediatric Services

• Nurse frequently in the first few days, about 8-12 times per day. The more you nurse, the sooner your milk will come in.
• Begin by nursing about 5-10 minutes on each breast, working your way up to 15 minutes on each breast. Alternate feedings depending on which side your baby nursed the last time.
• Never breastfeed more than 40 minutes total.
• If you will be going back to work soon, start a bottle of pumped breast milk or formula once a day starting by 1 month of age.
• New babies should be stooling at least 1 time a day.
• New babies should be wetting diapers once for every day old, up to 6-8 times a day.
• If your baby goes longer than 8 hours without wetting, please contact your pediatrician.

• Sterilization is unnecessary if you use a dishwasher or hand wash separately in hot soapy water and let air-dry.
• Let your baby determine his or her own schedule. To start, this is usually 1 to 2 ounces every 2-3 hours.
• Never prop a bottle.
• Burp midway through a feeding and when finished. Do not try to burp longer than a minute or two each time.
• Never microwave a bottle.
• Do not change your baby’s formula without calling your pediatrician.
• If water is used to make formula, use filtered water. Water may be used right out of the tap, unless you have well water. If you have well water, it must be boiled first, and then cooled before using.

• Hand pumps take practice. They are useful for occasional pumping.
  Rented pumps are wonderful for working mothers. The electric pumps work best for daily use and are fast and simple to use.
• Breast milk storage times:
  -Countertop room temperature: 6-8 hours
  -Insulated cooler: 24 hours
  -Refrigerator: 7 days
  -Freezer compartment refrigerator: 2 weeks
  -Freezer compartment of refrigerator/freezer combo with separate doors: 3-6 months
  -Stand Alone Freezer: 6-12 months
• Thaw breast milk in a bowl of warm water. Do not microwave.

• Gently rinse the penis with warm water.
• Apply petroleum jelly directly to the penis or to a gauze pad and place over the penis at each diaper change. Continue for one week after circumcision.
• As circumcision starts to heal, a yellow scab will form. This is normal.

• Newborns do not get very dirty, and there is no natural body odor. Simply wiping the areas with a warm washcloth once a day is all that is necessary.
• A tub bath may be started after the cord comes off at about 2 weeks. However, don’t expect your baby to enjoy the bath until 6-8 weeks of age.
• Do not use soap all over your baby every day to help prevent dry skin.

Patients need to be at least 2 weeks past their first set of immunizations at 2 months old.

Nurture Pediatrics wants to provide a safe, hygienic, and professional alternative to tattoo parlors and mall stores. We offer non-contact piercing and use only medical grade earrings that do not contain nickel to reduce the risk of nickel allergy. We also have the ability to provide numbing cream to reduce the pain of the procedure. Numbing cream can be safely used after 3 months with careful placement on the earlobe, avoiding the ear canal.

Prices start at $75 (for a single ear) and go up from there. Our prices include the earring, the piercing procedure, after care swabs, and after care instructions. There is an additional $25 charge if you desire the local topical anesthesia.

No. Medical ear piercing is based on using medical grade sterile earrings that will not cause nickel allergy, so we will only use our medically sterile earrings.

As pediatricians, we do not recommend cartilage piercings due to the significant risk posed by cartilage infection should it occur. Therefore, we will not pierce cartilage.

New earrings should be worn for 6 weeks to allow for the new tunnel to heal. No twisting! This prolongs healing time and can lead to infection.

Without knowing exactly what is going on, it is difficult to give correct instructions, but in general – if the infection is in the soft part of the ear (earlobe), with the earring in place, apply a warm compress for about 3 minutes, 4 times a day to increase blood flow to the area. Clean with an antiseptic solution and apply a topical antibiotic cream, such as neosporin. If no improvement in 24 hours – seek medical attention. Other symptoms that need urgent medical attention are fever, redness spreading from the piercing, and a very swollen ear.