SingaporeMotherhood | Baby & Toddler
August 2026
Baby’s Here? It’s Time To Do These 10 Things, Mum
That instant after your baby is born, when your baby is placed into your arms, marks an indelible moment: you are now a parent, and life will never be the same again. Ideally, you would luxuriate in this shiny, glittery, rainbow-scented newborn-new mum aura for the next… oh decade or so. Alas, real life calls. And in between breastfeeding, worrying about your milk supply, trying to get some sleep, and staring in awe at the most miraculous thing to come out of you, these are some of the things you (and the hubby) should do.
1. Name Your Little One
Already decided on a name before your baby’s birth? Skip to #2. If not, give it some serious thought. A name is significant. It could be a traditional family name, or the combined names of loved ones from both sides of the family. Many Christians give their children biblical names, and some parents name their child after virtues (like Faith, Grace, Joy) they hope the child will grow up to embody.
For the Chinese, especially, names have power. Many turn to a Chinese geomancer or feng shui master to find a meaningful Chinese name for their baby, using the child’s ‘Eight Characters’. The right name, according to Tian Lu Geomancy, “acts as a continuous blessing, invoked every time your child is called”.
2. Register your child’s birth
Previously you could register your baby’s birth at a gazetted birth registration centre such as the hospital where your baby was born. This is no longer available. You now have to register your child’s birth via LifeSG.
Do this within 42 days of your baby’s birth. It costs $18 (pay by credit/debit card or PayNow) and you will receive a notification to download your child’s digital birth certificate at ICA’s e-services within 90 days. Physical birth certificates are no longer issued.
3. Set up your Baby Bonus and Child Development Account (CDA)
Yes, you get a ‘reward’ for having a baby, and your baby gets their first ‘ang pow’ from the government upon birth. This is the Baby Bonus Scheme, which is made up of Child Development Account (CDA) benefits, and a Baby Bonus Cash Gift.
Currently, the Baby Bonus is $11,000 for the first and second children, and $13,000 for the third child on. Get more info on the Baby Bonus here.
The CDA is a special bank account for your little one. This includes the:
- CDA First Step Grant: a one-off amount that is automatically deposited into your child’s CDA.
- Government co-matching: where the government adds an extra dollar for every dollar that you deposit into your child’s CDA, up to a cap.
It can be used to make payments for their (and their siblings’) educational and healthcare expenses at Baby Bonus approved institutions.
When you open your child’s CDA, a CSA (Child Savings Account) is also automatically opened. This is a joint-savings account where the Baby Bonus is deposited.
4. Make Baby’s Passport
Do this before your baby turns one, and through the MyICA app or website. This ensures that your child enjoys a waiver of their first passport application fee ($70). Yes it’s time to start planning Baby’s first holiday!
(See also: THE ULTIMATE BABYMOON GUIDE: WHERE TO GO BASED ON HOW FAR ALONG YOU ARE)
5. Get Baby a Library Card
You may already have started reading to your baby when they were a foetus in your belly. Keep it up! Register your baby for a library membership through the LifeSG app at the same time when you are registering your little one’s birth.
The next step? Bring Baby out to where the books are. The National Library Board organises programmes such as Baby Lapsit (available at selected libraries) for parents with babies up to 12 months old. At these sessions, parents can learn simple songs, action rhymes, and finger plays that they can use to play with and bond with their babies at home.
6. Do a Newborn Photoshoot
Word of advice: immortalise your baby’s fresh-out-of-the-womb look as soon as possible after Baby is born because it passes in the blink of an eye. Book a photographer when you are pregnant, and make this the first of a series of photographic memories for your growing family, as our colleague Audrie did with her cutie-pie, Aidan (see their newborn photoshoot). Best time for the shoot? “After a feed and a nap,” advises Tey Yong How, chief photographer of 3 Little Pics.
(See also: TOP MATERNITY, NEWBORN & FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIOS IN SINGAPORE)
7. Organise Baby’s Full-Month Celebration
The Full Month (or “Man Yue”) is Baby’s first significant milestone. You can do a simple one at home, book a photogenic venue, or splash out on a fancy hotel. You may even decide to have two parties, one with close friends and relatives, another for friends and neighbours.
(See also: BEST BABY FULL MONTH SETS & PACKAGES: TRADITIONAL & MODERN 满月 OPTIONS)
8. Make an appointment for Baby’s First Hair Cut
Some babies are born with a thick thatch of hair on their heads. Others emerge almost as bald as a Magic 8 ball. In the latter case, parents usually cut or shave the baby’s hair in the hope that new hair will grow in thicker.
(See also: MAKE A ‘TAI MAO BI’ WITH BABY’S FIRST HAIRCUT)
9. Get your Postnatal Massage
Confinement is a time for the new mum to rest and recuperate after Baby is born. You’ve done a massive job growing a baby in your womb for the last nine months and yes, a little pampering is in order. Enter the postnatal massage.
While this is not the blissed-out experience that you may get in a five-star spa, it can have manifold benefits for the new mother. A good massage lady can help soothe post-delivery aches, ‘push’ blood clots out, ease blocked ducts so your milk flows better, and wrap you up to get your body back in shape. In fact, some may argue that postnatal massage is necessary for recovery and recuperation.
(See also: BEST PRENATAL & POSTNATAL MASSAGE SERVICES IN SINGAPORE)
10. Know where the Free, the Cheap (and the Good) Stuff is
Now that the family budget has to support another, you may want to think about budgeting and savings. Your tiny terror could use up to 2,500 diapers in the first year, so knowing where to buy the best diapers in Singapore would be useful.
Hang in there, You’ve Got It
The first weeks of new parenthood can be a hazy, confusing, sleepless time. Hence this handy guide to help you check off what you need to do. One final tip (because we’re so helpful 😁): make use of housecall services and arrange to have everything you need delivered to your doorstep.
This way, you can focus on your little bundle of joy the way you want to, without having to worry about anything else. Now that your baby is born, you are no longer a mum-to-be, but a full-fledged mum. Congrats!
Featured image: Depositphotos
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