ABSTRACT Objective to analyze the learning demands of puerperal women and their families about postnatal newborn care based on their knowledge and practices. Method this is a qualitative research developed through the Dynamis of Concrete of the Sensitive Creative Method, with 19 puerperal women and families of low-risk newborns, in a municipal hospital in Rio das Ostras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from March to June 2019. Data were submitted to lexicographic analysis using the software IRaMuTeQ. Results different families’ knowledge and practices regarding postnatal newborn care were identified, in addition to different learning demands related to newborns’ body hygiene, including bathing and handling the umbilical stump, and nutrition, in relation to breastfeeding and use of artificial nipples. Conclusion health professionals, including nurses, need to develop dialogical educational practices based on families’ learning demands, from prenatal care, going through the discharge process in the maternity hospital, until post-discharge in primary care, aiming at promoting safe and quality care for newborns.