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Newborn care Start free

Newborn care guide: fast answers for the first 3 months

Tap your question. Every guide starts with a 10-second answer, then a quick reference you can use with a baby in one arm.

Illustration of two parents looking at their newborn.
Emergency signs: when to get help now
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Emergency signs: when to get help now

  • is breathing very fast, grunting with every breath, or stops breathing for more than 20 seconds12456
  • has blue, grey or very pale lips, tongue or face1245
  • is floppy, unresponsive or very hard to wake124
  • has a seizure (fit)12
  • has a rash that does not fade when you press a glass against it124
  • is under 3 months old with a temperature of 38°C or higher134

Call your local emergency number now. For a baby under 3 months with a temperature of 38°C or higher and none of the other signs, you can call your doctor's urgent line instead.23

The first weeks with a newborn are full of small questions that feel big at 3 a.m. Is this much milk enough? Is green poop normal? When is a temperature a reason to call? Each guide here answers one question in plain words, starting with the short answer, then the guidance at a glance, easy to use with one hand, and clear signs for when to call the doctor or get help now. Each guide is written from guidance by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the NHS and the CDC, and lists the sources it uses.

Sources

  1. NHS: Sepsis (symptoms in babies and children)
  2. NHS: High temperature (fever) in children
  3. AAP, HealthyChildren.org: Fever and your baby
  4. NICE guideline NG143: Fever in under 5s
  5. AAP, HealthyChildren.org: Common conditions in newborns
  6. AAP Committee on Fetus and Newborn: Apnea of prematurity (Pediatrics, 2016)

How we write these guides

Answer first

The answer is at the top. The detail is there when you want it.

Checked against published guidance

We check every number against published guidance from organisations such as the AAP, the WHO, the UK's NHS and NICE, and the CDC, and link to the sources. These organisations have not reviewed our guides. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the AAP, NHS, NICE, WHO or CDC; we cite their public guidance.

Clear about when to call

Each guide says plainly which signs need a doctor today and which need help right now.

Free, with no ads

No pop-ups and no sponsored products. Ella is a shared baby journal, and these guides are part of it.

Honest about how we work

Muchita AI is responsible for these guides. We draft and translate them with AI assistance, then check each statement against the sources listed on the page. No doctor has reviewed them yet. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will fix it.

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