Development:
The First Month
 Look
what your baby can do already! She knows your voice and your smell. She's
ready to communicate and by the end of her first month, she shows a preference
for familiar people.
Your
newborn will want to eat and sleep whenever she needs it. Some babies
will sleep as much as 20 hours a day, waking and sleeping randomly. Others
require far less and may spend the time crying instead. None distinguish
between night and day - this is something that will take time and sensible
handling as you adjust your baby to more civilized hours!
First
time for everything
Just after birth, although everything is in place, your baby's body is
trying out many functions for the first time and is physically helpless.
Her birthweight drops and is regained at about 10 days. Over the next
weeks, your baby makes rapid progress, as her systems mature and her weight
increases.
Look
at me!
Your baby's senses are intact but not well developed. Even in the womb,
your baby responds to familiar sounds, like the music of a soap opera
you watch regularly. Her eye muscles are weak and she finds it difficult
to focus beyond 22cms (9"), which is the distance that adults usually
adopt, when holding a baby. It is also the distance at which babies are
held when breast-fed. Bottle-feeding mothers should adopt this distance,
making eye contact with the baby throughout.
I
can hear you
Newborns turn towards and track voices from birth. She recognizes your
smell and your voice within the first few days and is comforted by familiar
voices. She can sleep with a background of general household sounds, so
there's no need to whisper and creep around when she sleeps. Babies differ
in terms of how easily they are disturbed and they take different amounts
of time to settle afterwards. This is perfectly normal.
Little and often
Your baby received ongoing nourishment
in the womb and will take about a month to adjust to a regular feeding
schedule. She may initially need feeding every two to three hours. If
breast-fed, her stools will be the colour and consistency of mustard,
with a mild sour-milk smell. Babies on formula have more formed stools,
which are light brown and smell more like mature stools.
All babies swallow air when they feed. If she swallows too much, her bloated
stomach and discomfort will alert you to burp her mid-way through feeding.
Other babies don't need burping until after feeding. She is also likely
to 'spit' after feeding. This is normal and different from projectile
vomiting, which needs medical advice.
Support your baby's head
Although your baby can raise her head
a little when lying down, her head will flop when she is upright. Support
her with your hand. Within about a week, she will raise her head away
momentarily when resting against you. Within a month she will balance
her head for a few seconds, but still needs support.
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