Caring for Your Baby at Home

At Stanford Children’s Health your baby’s health and safety is important to us. This document will guide you on how to care for your baby around someone who has or may have the Coronavirus/COVID-19 infection.

Self-Isolation

Any caregiver who has or may have the Coronavirus infection should:

• Stay 6 feet away from the baby
• Stay in a specific room away from other people at your home
• Use a separate bathroom if possible
• Sleep in a different bedroom than the baby
• Avoid sharing dishes, drinking glasses, cups, towels, or bedding with other people in the home
• Wash personal items with soap and water often
• Avoid having visitors over unless needed

People who have coronavirus should stay isolated at home for :

Symptoms	When can you come back to the hospital
Tested positive with symptoms	10 days after positive test AND 24 hours with no fever or feeling better without using fever-reducing medication like Tylenol or Advil.
Tested positive without symptoms	10 days after the day symptoms first appeared

Call ahead before visiting a hospital, emergency room, or clinic for any reason.If you have to see the care team, tell them someone in your home has or may have the coronavirus. This will let them take steps to avoid spreading germs. If you have a medical emergency call 911 and tell the dispatcher that someone in your home has or may have the coronavirus. This will let them take steps to avoid spreading germs.

What should I do if I need to be around the baby?

If any caregiver needs to be around the baby they must:

• Wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
  AND
• Wear a facemask that covers both the nose and the mouth

Breastfeeding

If you have or may have coronavirus, talk with your care team about the options of breastfeeding your baby or pumping your milk and having a healthy caregiver feed it to your baby.

How do I safely breastfeed?

1. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

AND

2. Wear a facemask that covers both the nose and the mouth for the whole feeding.

How do I safely pump my milk?

1. Wash your hands: Before, hand-expressing or pumping, mothers should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
2. Wash your hands and pump parts: After each pumping session, mothers should wash their hands and all pump parts.

To create and keep a good milk supply you must pump at least 8 times in a 24 hour period.

Keeping Your Home Clean

C lean “high-touch” surfaces every day.

• Wash household items: Do NOT share dishes, cups, eating utensils, towels, or other items.
• Clean “high touch” surfaces: Doorknobs, drawer pulls, faucet handles, toilet handles, phones, computer keyboards, or other items.
• Clean soiled items: Wash any surfaces or fabrics that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them.
• Wear disposable gloves if possible: Wash your hands after removing the gloves.

Safely Getting Rid of Contaminated Items Place ALL used disposable gloves, facemasks and other contaminated items into a plastic bag. Seal or tie the bag closed before putting it into your household trash. Wash your hands after touching these items.

Protecting Others

For the health and safety of everyone, please do the following:

Cover coughs and sneezes

• Use your elbow instead of your hand to cover coughs
• Clean hands right after a cough or sneeze

Do not touch your face

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Wash your hands often

• The best way to do this is with soap and water or sanitizer gel with at least 60% alcohol.
• Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice to yourself. This takes about 20 seconds and will help you track time.

Our providers are always here for our patients. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.