Newborn Care
Bringing home a new baby is exciting, exhausting, and often filled with questions. Regular newborn visits help your pediatric care team monitor your baby’s health while helping your family navigate feeding, sleep, weight changes, and everyday newborn concerns.
Ages & Stages Pediatric Group provides newborn care at our Pineville and Gastonia pediatric offices, supporting families through the first days and weeks of their baby’s life.
Schedule a Newborn Visit
Contact Ages & Stages Pediatric Group to request an appointment.
What Is Newborn Care?
Newborn care begins shortly after your baby leaves the hospital and continues through the early weeks of infancy.
These visits allow your baby’s pediatric provider to monitor growth, feeding, development, and adjustment outside the hospital. They also give parents a dependable place to ask questions and receive guidance based on their baby’s individual needs.
Newborn appointments may include:
- A complete newborn physical examination
- Weight and growth monitoring
- Feeding assessment and support
- Evaluation for jaundice
- Review of hospital records
- Follow-up on newborn screening results
- Safe-sleep guidance
- Discussion of common newborn behaviors
- Immunization review
- Guidance about when to call the pediatrician
Our goal is to help parents feel supported and confident as they get to know their new baby.
Why Are Early Newborn Visits Important?
Babies grow and change rapidly during the first weeks after birth. Issues involving feeding, weight gain, hydration, jaundice, or illness may develop quickly and are not always easy for parents to recognize.
Regular newborn care allows your pediatric provider to:
- Monitor weight loss and weight gain
- Evaluate feeding and hydration
- Check for jaundice
- Follow up on hospital screenings
- Identify signs of illness
- Monitor healing after birth
- Answer questions about sleep and infant safety
- Discuss crying, soothing, and normal newborn behavior
- Support the transition to ongoing well-child care
These appointments are also an opportunity to check on how the entire family is adjusting. Parents should feel comfortable discussing feeding challenges, exhaustion, stress, or any concerns they have about caring for their baby.
What Happens During a Newborn Visit?
The exact appointment will depend on your baby’s age, birth history, hospital course, and individual needs. A typical newborn visit may include:
Review of Birth and Hospital History
Your provider may review your baby’s birth weight, delivery history, hospital discharge information, medications, feeding plan, and any concerns identified before discharge.
Weight and Growth Check
Your baby will be weighed and measured. The provider will compare the current weight with your baby’s birth and discharge weights and follow the pattern over subsequent appointments.
Feeding Evaluation
We discuss how often your baby feeds, how feeding is going, and whether you have noticed any difficulties. Feeding support may address breastfeeding, expressed milk, formula feeding, or a combination.
Newborn Physical Examination
Your provider performs a complete examination and checks your baby’s skin, eyes, mouth, heart, lungs, abdomen, hips, reflexes, umbilical cord, and overall appearance.
Jaundice Assessment
Many newborns develop some jaundice during their first days of life. Your provider will assess your baby’s skin and eyes and determine whether additional monitoring or testing may be appropriate.
Screening and Immunization Review
We review available hospital records, including newborn screening information and vaccines received after birth. If a result requires follow-up, your provider will explain the recommended next steps.
Guidance for Parents
Newborn visits provide time to discuss feeding, diapers, crying, sleep, bathing, cord care, skin changes, illness prevention, and what parents can expect during the coming weeks.
When Should My Baby Have the First Pediatrician Visit?
Newborns generally need their first pediatric appointment 1–3 days after hospital discharge, or sooner when medically indicated.
An earlier visit may be recommended because of feeding difficulties, weight loss, jaundice, prematurity, a complicated birth or hospital course, or another medical concern.
Additional visits may be recommended during the first weeks to monitor:
- Weight gain
- Feeding progress
- Hydration
- Jaundice
- Newborn screening results
- Healing after birth
- Any concerns identified during the first examination
After these early appointments, your baby will continue with regularly scheduled well-child visits.
Feeding and Weight Monitoring
Feeding is one of the most common concerns during the newborn period. Parents may wonder whether their baby is eating enough, feeding too often, sleeping too long, or gaining weight appropriately.
During your baby’s visits, we may discuss:
- How often and how long your baby feeds
- Breastfeeding or bottle-feeding concerns
- Formula preparation and feeding amounts
- Signs that your baby is swallowing effectively
- Wet and dirty diapers
- Spitting up or reflux
- Sleepiness during feeding
- Difficulty latching or staying latched
- Your baby’s weight pattern
- Whether additional feeding support is needed
There is no single feeding experience that fits every family. Our providers work with parents to develop an appropriate plan based on the baby’s health, growth, and feeding needs.
Safe Sleep for Newborns
Safe sleep is an important part of newborn care. Babies should be placed on their backs for every sleep on a separate, firm, flat surface designed for infant sleep.
The sleep area should remain free of:
- Pillows
- Loose blankets
- Crib bumpers
- Stuffed animals
- Sleep positioners
- Other soft objects
Room-sharing without bed-sharing is recommended for at least the first 6 months. Keeping your baby’s crib, bassinet or other approved infant sleep surface in the same room allows the baby to remain nearby while sleeping separately from adults and other children.
If your baby is swaddled, always place them on their back on a firm, flat sleep surface. Discontinue swaddling as soon as your baby shows signs of attempting to roll.
If your baby falls asleep in a car seat, swing, carrier or another sitting device outside of travel, move the baby to an appropriate firm, flat sleep surface as soon as practical.
Parents are encouraged to ask questions about bassinets, cribs, swaddling, sleep clothing, pacifiers or any product being used for sleep.
When Should I Call the Pediatrician?
New parents should never feel embarrassed about calling with a question.
Contact Ages & Stages Pediatric Group if your baby:
- Is not feeding normally
- Is difficult to wake for feedings
- Has fewer wet diapers than expected
- Vomits repeatedly
- Has worsening yellowing of the skin or eyes
- Is unusually sleepy, weak, or difficult to console
- Develops redness, swelling, bleeding, or drainage around the umbilical cord
- Has difficulty breathing or is breathing differently than usual
- Develops a new or worsening rash
- Has a significant change in behavior or activity
- Has symptoms that concern you
How to Prepare for Your Baby’s Appointment
If available, bring:
- Hospital discharge paperwork
- Birth and discharge weights
- Available newborn screening information
- Immunization records
- A list of medications or supplements
- Feeding notes
- A record of wet and dirty diapers
- Insurance information
- Questions you want to discuss
Newborn Care at Our Pineville and Gastonia Offices
Ages & Stages Pediatric Group provides newborn care for families in Pineville, South Charlotte, Gastonia, and surrounding communities.
Contact the office as soon as possible after your baby’s birth or hospital discharge so our team can help schedule the appropriate first appointment.
Pineville Pediatric Office
Our Pineville office provides newborn visits, feeding guidance, weight monitoring, safe-sleep education, and ongoing pediatric care for families throughout Pineville, Ballantyne, South Charlotte, Fort Mill, Indian Land, Matthews, and nearby communities.
Select Saturday appointments are available through the Pineville office based on scheduling.
Gastonia Pediatric Office
Our Gastonia office provides newborn visits, feeding support, weight monitoring, safe-sleep guidance, and ongoing pediatric care for families throughout Gastonia, Belmont, Mount Holly, Cramerton, Dallas, Bessemer City, Kings Mountain, and surrounding communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I schedule my baby’s first appointment?
Newborns generally need their first pediatrician visit 1–3 days after hospital discharge, or sooner when medically indicated.
Contact Ages & Stages Pediatric Group after your baby is born so our team can help determine the appropriate appointment timing based on your hospital discharge instructions and your baby’s individual needs.
What should I bring to the first newborn visit?
Bring your hospital discharge paperwork, available screening and immunization information, insurance information, and a list of questions. Notes about feeding and diaper changes can also help your provider evaluate how your baby is adjusting.
Is it normal for a newborn to lose weight?
Many newborns lose some weight during their first days. Your baby’s provider will evaluate the amount of weight lost, feeding progress, hydration, and subsequent weight gain to determine whether additional monitoring or feeding support is necessary.
Can you help with breastfeeding or bottle-feeding concerns?
Yes. We discuss breastfeeding, pumping, formula feeding, combination feeding, feeding frequency, diaper output, and weight gain. More specialized feeding or lactation support may be recommended when appropriate.
What is newborn jaundice?
Jaundice causes yellowing of a baby’s skin or eyes and is common during the newborn period. Some babies only need monitoring, while others may need testing or treatment. Contact the office if the yellow color appears to be increasing, your baby is difficult to wake, or feeding is not going well.
When should I call about my baby’s temperature?
Contact the office immediately if a baby younger than 3 months has a rectal temperature of 100.4°F or higher. A fever in a young infant requires prompt medical evaluation.
How should my newborn sleep?
Place your baby on their back for every sleep on a firm, flat infant sleep surface. Keep pillows, loose blankets, stuffed animals, bumpers, positioners, and other soft objects out of the sleep area. Your baby should sleep in a separate sleep space rather than sharing an adult bed.
What if I have a question before the next scheduled visit?
Call the office. Newborn symptoms and feeding concerns can change quickly, and you do not need to wait until the next scheduled appointment to ask for guidance.
Schedule Your Baby’s Newborn Visit
The first weeks with a new baby can bring new questions every day. Ages & Stages Pediatric Group is here to monitor your baby’s health, support feeding and growth, and help your family feel more confident during this important transition.
Newborn appointments are available at our Pineville and Gastonia pediatric offices.
Medical Disclaimer:
This information is intended for general educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical advice. Contact your baby’s healthcare provider with questions about specific symptoms. Call 911 for a life-threatening emergency.