Parents are naturally full of wonderment when it comes to their babies. But sometimes – no matter how prepared they are – they can be caught by surprise by some of the things that accompany being a mom or a dad. Local experts offer tips and tricks for handling some of the most common – and least common – occurrences that come along with the territory of parenthood.

How much sleep does my baby need?

According to Dr. John Sperry of Charleston Pediatrics, approximate sleep requirements for babies are as follows:

Newborn = 16.5 hours/day

1-month-old = 15.5 hours

6-month-old = 14 hours

1-year-old = 14.75 hours

Why do babies get the hiccups? Do they hurt?

Almost every mother who asks about the hiccups should know she probably felt her baby hiccup well before he was born.

“It’s very, very common. It doesn’t harm them. Why they do it probably has to do with just some discoordination with swallowing and things like that,” says Dr. John Sperry of Charleston Pediatrics.

For most babies the hiccups will simply stop eventually. Drinking liquids can also help alleviate the annoyance.

How can I help my baby teethe naturally?

Kai Dilling and wife Francisca of Mount Pleasant are totally in love with their son.

Cole, 7 months, is a happy-go-lucky, social little guy who is the center of attention in the Dilling household. But now Cole is teething and is becoming increasingly uncomfortable as his teeth arrive. His parents know this is normal but wonder if there are any tricks to help ease his sore gums.

He’s right on track developmentally and the pain that accompanies teething is totally normal, according to Dr. James Roberts, associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Children generally start teething at 4 to 6 months, but it’s normal to still be teething well after 12 months.

Roberts recommends using Tylenol to treat teething pain. But the Dillings are cautious about giving their son medication and would prefer a more natural solution to ease his tender gums.

Roberts says giving children teething rings or something cold to gnaw on are alternatives to drugs, with strict supervision of course.

“I’ve even heard of people using a bagel out of the freezer.”

He doesn’t recommend using numbing agents, such as Orajel, because of possible rare complications associated with them. Babies essentially can become hypoxic and unable to breathe.

“I know there has been at least one case at MUSC. So I know it happens, and it’s easily preventable. There’s going to be plenty of people that use Orajel and swear by it, but I don’t recommend it.”

Is my “Mr. Picky” normal?

Jessica and Mike Munday of Summerville tried to conceive for more than three years.

Last year, their prayers were answered when in vitro fertilization finally took and Jessica gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

Carter, now 7 months old, is right on track – about to crawl and a bundle of energy. But sometimes, he just doesn’t want to eat his baby food.

“He shuts his lips after about an ounce and only wants to nurse,” his mom says.

But that is perfectly OK, Roberts says, and the Mundays don’t need to worry. Breast milk or formula is designed to be 100 percent nutrition for the first year of life. Whatever other foods they eat are extra.

Sometimes parents think since the baby is eating jar foods, they should fill them up with food and then nurse or give them formula, but it’s actually opposite.

“What they end up doing is decreasing total calories and range of nutrients. A little jar of Stage 1 carrots has 30 calories. It’s mainly all carbohydrates; if the baby fills up on the jar food and his stomach is filled up from the volume, he’s going to end up drinking less breast milk or formula. It’s actually better for him to drink more breast milk or formula in the first year.”

Bad dream or night terror?

Jennifer Willbanks of Goose Creek has noticed her son Broddy, 3 months, lately wakes up from a deep sleep screaming and very upset. Broddy is normally a good sleeper, and she wonders if he’s having bad dreams.

Roberts says doctors don’t know exactly when dreaming starts, but he thinks every-one – even infants – dream.

“With a 3-month-old, however, it is certainly possible that the baby woke from a scary dream, but it’s equally possible he just woke up ready to eat or crying for some other reason.”

Waking up screaming is fairly common for babies and doesn’t necessarily mean it’s from a bad dream.

But, children do have bad dreams, and they’re usually about being separated from their parents, which is a young child’s biggest fear, he says.

However children 12 to 24 months of age can have what are called night terrors – where they wake from a deep sleep screaming in terror, sit up wide-eyed and then go back to sleep not remembering anything that happened.

What’s the difference?

A night terror wakes children from sleep and they don’t have any recollection of it. Night terrors occur during deeper stages of sleep, like around midnight, Roberts says.

Nightmares or bad dreams occur during REM sleep, a normal stage of sleep characterized by rapid movements of the eyes.

How often are newborns supposed to have a dirty diaper?

Expect to go through 10 to 12 diapers per day.

It’s a good idea to keep a journal of wet and dirty diapers to ensure your baby stays well hydrated, especially for breast-fed babies – it’s harder to determine how much they’re eating, says Dr. James Roberts.

Likewise if your baby has only had one dirty diaper in the last 24 hours, it could be that he’s not getting enough to eat or is constipated. It might be time to call your pediatrician.