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The first month of a newborn’s life: development, care, necessary things. A child in the first month of his life - important developmental features and proper care

The first month of a child’s life is the baby’s first important date. The baby is already going through the newborn period - her cheeks and body are rounded, her facial features are more clearly visible, her skin has become lighter, her maternity hospital caps and undershirts have become small. Your baby has grown significantly and gained weight. The time has come for the first official appearance - a trip to the clinic.

What can a 1 month old baby do?

The pediatrician will measure the baby’s height and weight and check whether the child’s development corresponds to his age. Checks for reflexes and skills.

From birth, the child’s brain is constantly actively developing, everything that the baby sees, hears, touches - all this develops his nervous system.

The baby cannot yet control his body - his movements are still chaotic, but already at 1 month the child can do a lot. What a 1 month old baby can do:

The child must be able to hold his head. When lying on his stomach, the baby can raise his head and remain in this position for some time.
The baby can already recognize his mother and follow her with his eyes. Distinguish her from other relatives and strangers.
The child must be able to fix his gaze on a stationary object and follow a vertically moving toy.
At 1 month, the baby begins to consciously smile in response to the mother’s smile. This is a very important indicator of the correct development of the child.
The baby may try to make some sounds in response to the adult’s speech. This is how the humming begins - the first rudiments of full-fledged speech.
At 1 month, the baby can already distinguish familiar sounds, listen to poems and songs. Recognizes parents' voices.
Sharp, unfamiliar sounds frighten the baby. The child shudders and throws up his hands.
The baby recognizes the mother’s touch, calms down in her arms and may be frightened when placed in the arms of a stranger.
The baby's arms and legs begin to take a more relaxed position. Bent arms and legs, clenched fists - all this is a manifestation of hypertonicity in newborns. As the baby grows up, all these signs should disappear.
At 1 month, the child gets used to a certain daily routine. Eating, wakefulness and sleep occur at approximately the same time.
Newborn reflexes are still intact. The pediatrician will definitely check them.

At 1 month, the child begins to actively move his arms and legs, and turns his head. It is necessary to allow the baby to move freely and put on loose clothing. At this time, it is no longer necessary to tightly swaddle the child while he is awake. The baby's hands should be free.

Development of a newborn: What can a baby do at 1 month? (video):

At this age, the baby watches bright rattles with interest. You can put a toy in a child’s hand and he will be able to hold it for a short time. The baby will try to grab with his hand the object that interests him, thus forming the neural connections necessary for coordinated movements of the child’s limbs.

In the first month of a child’s life, he still needs tactile contact with his mother; pick him up more often, do massage, and gymnastics. These activities strengthen the baby’s muscles, because he still has to learn how to do many different complex movements - roll over, lift himself on his hands, sit down, crawl.

What can you do with your baby at this age?

While awake, actively communicate with your baby. For the baby, this communication stimulates the active development of all senses, and for parents it is emotionally very important and joyful to receive a response from the baby - a smile, a look from the baby, animation at the sight of familiar faces.

Play classical and instrumental music for a while. You can find ready-made collections of classical music for kids. If in the first month of a child’s life you teach your baby to fall asleep to recordings of lullabies, then in the future the baby will get used to it and will fall asleep faster as soon as you turn on familiar melodies. Read folk songs, poems, and jokes to your child.

When performing any actions with your baby (washing, massage, gymnastics), pronounce all your actions. This stimulates the baby’s speech development well. It often happens that mothers silently swaddle and feed the baby, because... the baby still does not understand what is being said to him, and indeed what to talk about with the child. If you don’t know what to talk about, you can simply comment on all your actions (I went, I took, etc.), walk around the room with the baby in your arms and show various objects, name them and explain why they are needed and how to use them. use. This behavior may be unusual, but in the future it will allow the baby to speak faster. Everything you do together with your child, starting from birth, will definitely have a beneficial effect on the development of the baby at an older age.

The main toys for a baby at this age are rattles; they can come in several different shapes and colors, with different textures. Rattles play an important role in the development of a 1 month old baby. Hang mobiles and various pendants of contrasting colors on the crib - the baby will watch the moving toys with interest and follow them with his eyes.

In the first month of your baby's life, place your baby on his stomach more often. This will stimulate him to raise his head and train the muscles of his back and neck so that he can soon learn to hold his head confidently.

A mother shares her personal experience about the baby’s development in the first month (video):

If a healthy full-term baby at 1 month of life does not yet have such skills, this is not a reason to worry. Be sure to have your child’s hearing and vision checked by a doctor and take your child to a neurologist. If everything is in order, just pay more attention to the baby, work with him - a little later the child will learn all this.

Since the life of a large family was replaced by separate living of a newly created family, young mothers have developed uncertainty and a feeling of helplessness after childbirth in the correctness and timeliness of the development of the newborn.

Without extensive experience in “babysitting” small children, a woman is stupefied by literally everything related to the physiological and mental development of her baby, especially in the first year of the child’s life.

We offer you a brief overview of the development of a child up to one year old. Let’s look at the first month of life, the most difficult in terms of how a young mother and baby adapt to each other, in more detail - week by week.

Week one, let's get acquainted

Sense organs of a newborn. The long-awaited return home. Now the baby can get to know his mother in a calm atmosphere, see, hear, smell and touch the world around him from a new perspective, already familiar to him in absentia from the muffled sounds coming from outside during intrauterine life.

A newly born child's vision is blurry, he can only distinguish large objects located nearby, which is a kind of protection against the sudden surge of variety of colors and shapes. Hearing, smell and touch are quite developed in a newborn; these sense organs developed while still alive inside the mother.

Breast-feeding

In the first week after birth, it is very important to establish breastfeeding. Get used to the fact that for the first time after birth, the baby will be in your arms almost all the time during waking moments and will constantly demand the breast.

It’s not so much a matter of hunger as it is a need to feel the unity that is broken with the mother. Attachment to the breast at one week of age is perhaps the only and most effective way to calm a crying baby.

First bath

The first bath after birth is the most frightening procedure for new mothers and fathers. Try to do it correctly and calmly, so as not to spoil everything the first time and not cause the baby to dislike water.

Physiological characteristics of the newborn that most often cause concern:

Regurgitation. Many mothers worry that the baby spits up often and a lot and does not eat enough. Spitting up is normal for babies up to 6 months old.

They occur due to the immaturity of the digestive tract, immaturity of the nervous system and incorrect organization of the breastfeeding process, during which air is swallowed.

For a one-week-old baby, the norm is to regurgitate after each feeding in a volume of no more than 2 tablespoons and once a day in a “fountain”. You can check the amount of milk regurgitated by pouring 2 tablespoons of water onto the diaper and comparing the stains formed from the water and milk.

Weight loss. In the first days after birth, breastfed babies tend to lose weight. This is normal and temporary. They will gain weight when breastfeeding is fully established.
Jaundice. You may notice that 2-3 days after birth, the newborn’s skin tone has turned yellow. The phenomenon is also normal and is an adaptive process that results in the formation of excess bilirubin in the blood, which turns the skin yellow. If jaundice is not pathological, it goes away on its own in 7-14 days.
Strabismus. Sometimes it may seem that a newborn's eyes are squinting. This occurs due to weakness of the eyeball muscles and inability to focus the gaze. Help your baby learn to use his eyes - hang a large, bright toy above the crib in the center, and the eyes will begin to move in sync within a few days or weeks. In very rare cases, strabismus can last up to six months, which is not yet a cause for concern.
Trembling in sleep. Does your baby startle suddenly in his sleep? It is not at all necessary that he has problems with the nervous system. Swaddle him tightly while he sleeps to create similar living conditions during pregnancy and the baby will become calmer. Such tremors disappear on average by 3-4 months after the birth of the child.
Peeling of the skin. After birth, the baby does not have a very attractive appearance due to a special lubricant that covers his body to facilitate the birth process and initially protect the skin from contact with air. There is no need to take it off for the first 2-3 days. Then it is absorbed and the child’s skin adapts to new conditions, resulting in peeling.

The benefits of walking with a newborn outside and when you can start walking

Do not use detergents; if the skin is dry, lubricate it, preferably with any vegetable oil, previously sterilized in a water bath. When walking, ensure that your baby is isolated from gusts of wind and direct sunlight. If you follow these recommendations, the peeling will soon go away.

Week two, getting used to it

A week has passed. For a newborn, this is a huge period of time, including a lot of new impressions, getting to know his body and the world around him. The umbilical wound is healing. The baby completely adapts to the new way of getting food. The number of intestinal bowel movements is normalized and is 3-4 times a day.

Weight gain begins. The baby becomes more and more interested in what is happening around him and begins to listen to surrounding sounds and look at objects more carefully. He can examine all the details from a distance of 20-25 cm. At this time, facial expressions begin to develop - your pet may even please you with his first smile.

Now your happiness can be overshadowed by the onset of intestinal colic, accompanied by prolonged crying and squeezing, twisting of the legs. You can start fighting them, but there is no consensus among doctors about both the cause of their occurrence and ways to alleviate the condition. There is only one piece of advice: be patient, sooner or later they will stop.

Week three, small victories

The third week marks the first achievements in your baby's life. Lying on his tummy, he tries to raise his head and examine the surrounding objects. He succeeds in this for a while. The baby's movements become more and more orderly, he makes attempts to reach the toys suspended above him.

When you address him, the baby becomes quiet, looks into the face of the speaker, reacts to the intonation of the voice and may hum and smile in response. During this period, it is more difficult to calm the baby; to relieve the tension of the nervous system overflowing with new impressions, he may cry for a long time. For some babies, crying for 20 minutes before falling asleep becomes the norm. The intonation of crying becomes more and more demanding.

Week four, summing up

The first month of life is coming to an end. The baby goes from newborn to infancy. The child’s vestibular apparatus is improving - he senses the position of his body in space, which will soon allow him to roll over and grasp objects.

The flexor muscles are still stronger than the extensor muscles and the limbs are in a semi-flexed position.

Muscle hypertonicity is a normal physiological condition for children under one month old.

A month after the birth of your child, you need to undergo a medical examination, during which doctors will evaluate physiological development and its compliance with age standards.

What should a child be able to do by the end of the fourth week of life:

focus your gaze on the object in question, turn your head towards the outgoing sound;
recognize parents and perk up when they appear in sight;
try to briefly hold your head while lying on your stomach.

Height and weight

Here are the average indicators developed by the World Health Organization. In parentheses we will indicate critical values indicating the need for a medical examination. Everything that falls within this range is a variant of the norm.

Second month

The period is characterized by the establishment of a similar pattern of sleep and wakefulness. The baby still sleeps a lot, but now mom knows when and approximately how much time he needs to rest. Now he can firmly grasp everything that falls into his hands.

What a baby should be able to do:

focus your gaze not only on moving, but also on stationary objects;
roll over from side to side;
briefly hold the head from a position lying on your tummy, try to rise on your arms, arching your back, turn your head towards the sound;
demonstrate the support reflex: feel the support under your legs and push off from it;
demonstrate a “revival complex” when adults appear: smile, move arms and legs, arch, “walk”, making drawn-out vowel sounds.

Why does a baby cry after or during feeding?

Third month

If development proceeds at an average pace, then at the age of three months the child has learned to roll over from his back to his tummy and lift himself from his tummy on his arms, maintaining this position for up to several minutes.

Don't worry if your baby doesn't succeed, he will catch up by 4-5 months.

Due to the increase in subcutaneous fat deposits, the baby acquires rounded shapes, swelling with folds appears on the arms and legs. The child puts everything into his mouth and tastes it. At three months you need to undergo a second medical examination.

Skills and abilities:

the revival complex develops further, the child tries to talk using “cooing” and is very happy to see mom or dad;
rollover from back to stomach;
emphasis on the arms with raising the body while lying on the stomach and holding in this position.

Fourth month

Most children by this age end with problems with intestinal colic, and mothers can breathe easy, but not for long - the first teeth may soon appear. Some are destined not to receive the long-awaited respite.

Skills and abilities:

holding small objects with ease;
babbling, humming, pronouncing the syllables “ba”, “ma”, “pa” and others;
reaction to your name;
confident holding of the head in an upright position in the arms of an adult;
grasping, pulling towards oneself and tasting objects of interest;
first attempts at squats.

Fifth month

The baby's motor activity has increased so much that the best place for him now is the floor, where he can happily perform all sorts of tricks. By this time he had already become bored with the crib. Now the restless one needs vigilant supervision. Most people start teething, which is accompanied by itching, anxiety and profuse drooling.

What a child should be able to do:

roll over from back to stomach and back, pull yourself up on your arms, make your first attempts to crawl and sit down;
play with toys independently for 5-10 minutes;
“talk” in syllables vaguely reminiscent of human speech.

Sixth month

The child tries to crawl, and many do it well. Attempts to sit down turn into triumph, but the spine does not yet have strength, and the little one cannot sit for a long time. He actively explores the world, showing capriciousness due to his teeth bothering him. At six months you need to have another medical examination.

Skills and abilities:

short sitting in pillows, a highchair, or a stroller;
crawl;
laughter, muttering, and even something similar to singing;
jumping in the arms of an adult with the support of the arms, which becomes the toddler’s favorite pastime.

Seventh month

By this time, the child has learned to understand the meaning of many words and points his finger at objects of interest. He understands that the trick with missing things is just a trick, and they can be found.

Many toddlers begin to experience fear when parting with their mother, which is a high indicator of mental development.

Skills and abilities:

the child stands up with the help of support and moves while standing;
crawls confidently, but it also happens that the baby skips the crawling period and immediately begins to move, holding onto support.

How to prevent constipation in newborns when bottle-fed

Eighth month

Your baby learns to achieve her goal by being persistent and measuring the boundaries of what is permitted. He already understands the word “impossible” well, which greatly upsets the little man. Character traits emerge. A child may already have 4-6 teeth, but there is no clear time frame for teething; all children undergo the process individually. The level of distrust of strangers increases even more.

What can a child do:

sit down independently;
throw toys and transfer them from one hand to another;
take the first steps holding the hands of an adult.

Ninth month

The child is growing before our eyes. Once helpless, he now tries to do everything on his own, despite the fact that it turns out poorly. The baby is good at sitting, standing up and walking with the help of support. Speech skills are developing, some children are already pronouncing their first words.

The child can explain himself using facial expressions, gestures, syllables and words. Copies the intonation of adults well.

At 9 months, a medical examination is necessary to assess the baby's development.

What a child can do:

holds a spoon in his hands and tries to eat independently, drinks from a mug or sippy cup;
at the request of an adult, takes objects that are named to him;
sits, sits, crawls and walks independently with support;
transforms babble into words.

Tenth month

The skills and abilities acquired in the 9th month of life are further developed.

The total daily sleep time for an infant in the first week of life is normally 20 hours, with every 2-3 hours of sleep followed by short periods of wakefulness. The baby wakes up only for feeding. The breathing of a newborn during sleep can be even and calm if his sleep is deep, but if the baby is asleep with his arms and legs and breathes irregularly, then his sleep is shallow.

By the end of the first week of life, a child can already distinguish the aroma of milk from all the smells surrounding him and turn his head in the direction from which it comes. This can be either the mother's breast or a bottle with formula.

The baby understands whether the milk or formula offered to him tastes sweet or bitter.

A newborn can fix his gaze on objects surrounding him nearby, but only for a short time.

During sleep, the child may smile and involuntarily move his legs or arms.

In order not to be alarmed, parents should keep in mind that a newborn's breathing is three times faster than that of an adult, and it is also irregular and shallow.

Child development: second week of life

When the baby enters the second week, he should fully regain the weight with which he was born. Weekly weight gain should be 150–200 g.

How to develop a child per month? You can teach your baby to hold his head by placing him on his tummy to do this, but this can only be done if the umbilical wound has healed.

Within a few seconds, the baby can observe a bright rattle or a moving object.

A sharp sound will make the child flinch and blink, he will listen and stop crying.

Physiological jaundice may persist until the end of the child’s second week of life.

Child development: third week of life

What should a child be able to do at this time? In the third week of life, the baby can already pick up a small object or the parent’s finger. He is also able to examine an adult's face by looking into the eyes.

Lying on his stomach, the child tries to lift his head and lift his chin off the surface.

Now, quite consciously, he turns his head in different directions while he lies on his back and looks at the world around him.

The process of a child’s development in the third week is obvious: he perks up in response to gentle speech addressed to him, moves his legs and arms, and looks for the speaker.

A three-week-old baby sleeps for a total of 15–18 hours; during one feeding, he is able to suck up to 80–100 ml of mother’s milk or formula.

Child development: fourth week of life

The weight gain during the first month of life should be about 600–800 g, and the height gain should be 3 cm.

What can a child do at this age? He holds the head for a few seconds while he lies on his stomach. The baby already clearly knows his mother’s voice, recognizes the taste and smell of breast milk or formula.

It is at this time that a child, when addressed affectionately, is able to focus his gaze on the face of the person speaking, and also learns to distinguish the intonations of speech addressed to him. In response, he makes sounds.

A child can follow an object only if it moves horizontally.

During the first month of a child’s life, you must remember to obtain his birth certificate, which is issued at the registry office or at the MFC. To do this, you must have with you the passports of both parents, the child’s birth certificate, which was issued at the maternity hospital, as well as a marriage certificate.

Every parent needs to know what skills their child should acquire by the end of his first month of life in order to be able to lay the foundation for the physical and mental health of the baby. It seems to a young mother that her baby eats and sleeps all the time during the first days after birth, but he already has certain skills that need to be developed. It is better to do this with the help of special exercises, and you can do it in short periods of activity between sleep and feeding the newborn.

A baby at 1 month is not very active yet; he is just beginning to adapt to the world around him. However, mother’s care and her communication with the baby are very important for his development

What should a baby be able to do at 1 month?

The baby can adapt to new living conditions with the help of innate reflexes. Some of them disappear after 1-2 months, but there are also those that, transforming into conditional (acquired), remain until the end of life. So, what can a child do in the first month of his life? Neonatologists (specialists in the development and health of newborns) identify 8 main reflexes that can be considered indicators of infant development. These are the following reflexes:

Grasping: If you stroke your baby's tiny hand or just touch it with your finger, your baby will squeeze it tightly. You will be surprised how tightly he will squeeze your finger.
Search reflex: if you lightly touch any cheek of a newborn, he will immediately turn his head in that direction. This is how natural instinct helps the baby to find a source of food - mother’s breast or a bottle of baby food.
Sucking: When the fingertip is circled around the baby's mouth, he makes sucking movements with his mouth. This reflex is also responsible for searching for food.
Moro reflex: if you hit the surface where the child is lying once, 20-25 centimeters further than his head, the baby will spread his arms to the sides, straightening his fingers, and then return them to their original position.
Babinski reflex: As you stroke the outer edge of the ball of the foot, you will notice how your baby's toes spread out and the entire foot moves out to the side.
Babkin reflex: by the end of 1 month of life, the baby should confidently turn his head and open his mouth if you press on the tubercle of the palm under the thumb.
Crawling: When a baby is placed on his stomach and his feet are touched, he will try to push off from the adult's palm.
Automatic walking: Supporting the child in the armpit area, lower him so that his feet touch a hard horizontal surface - the little man will perform movements reminiscent of walking.

Features of the physical development of a newborn

This article talks about typical ways to solve your issues, but each case is unique! If you want to find out from me how to solve your particular problem, ask your question. It's fast and free!

A child is considered a newborn when he is 1 month of age. Having been born and making its first cry, the baby adapts to life outside its mother’s tummy. He adapts to new conditions and this entails a change in the parameters of physical development. The child's circulatory system changes radically: those blood cells that supplied oxygen and nutrition to the fetus during pregnancy have already collapsed.

The baby develops its own immunity, because it was born absolutely sterile. In the “working” mode, the endocrine system begins to function, the child’s digestive system improves, and it is during this period that the baby may experience colic, because its intestines adapt to independent work.

Summary table of basic skills

Sphere of development	What's happening?
Movements	The arms and legs are bent at the joints, they move involuntarily and uncoordinated - muscle tone is increased. All actions are controlled by unconditioned reflexes.
Vision	By day 10, the baby can keep moving objects in its field of vision. Can follow an object (toy) at a distance of about 30 cm, but only in one direction. By day 20, holds stationary objects (an adult’s face) in the field of vision for up to 5-10 seconds.
Hearing	By the 10th day, he shudders and blinks at sharp sounds (cotton, hitting the table) at a distance of about 30 cm. He can focus on sounds and voices for up to 10 seconds.
Sensory	Distinguishes between salty, sweet and sour tastes. Reacts to strong odors by crying and grimacing.
Speech	The vocal apparatus is trained by ringing screams, grunting, and smacking.
Intelligence	The baby's sensory development (sensory-motor) has begun. Now he is practicing the skills given to him from birth: sucking, responding to sounds, light stimuli, temperature. The first conditioned (not innate) reflexes are developed.

- It seems that I am absolutely helpless, but I can already do a lot!

Psychomotor development of the child

Psychologists believe that by the end of 1 month of life a newborn can already do a lot. Inexperienced parents cannot always appreciate the new achievements of their baby. When he smiles or raises his head, they take it for granted (we recommend reading:). At the same time, every parent needs to know what a month-old baby can already do:

He knows how to distinguish between the voices of his own and strangers, and from them he can single out his mother’s voice and actively respond to its sound.
The baby has developed vision. He can focus his gaze on a single object and follow its movement. The child also begins to distinguish between bright or contrasting colors.
The baby's general physical condition is still weak, but physical activity is an essential part of his life. One of the main movements is the following: the baby, lying on his tummy, tries to lift his head in order to turn it in different directions.

When your baby begins to wake during the day, be sure to talk to him. Make the first eye contact and the baby will feel safe. When changing a diaper or swaddling, watch the condition of your hands: they should be dry and warm. You can soften your palms by rubbing the cream, because children in the first month of life have very delicate skin that is susceptible to various irritants, causing them tactile sensitivity.

The third week of life is of particular importance for a newborn, because during this period innate (unconditioned) reflexes turn into conditioned ones. A baby at 1 month begins to live according to the “rules”: for example, when left alone, he calls his mother to him with a long, loud cry. As soon as the mother is nearby, he stops screaming - these are the “rules” of baby behavior.

Psycho-emotional state of the child

The baby always feels the emotional state of his mother at the level of intuition: if she is calm, he is also calm. When he feels his mother's irritation, he immediately lets out a rebellious cry. In fact, the baby is a mirror of the mother's emotions: she will smile, and so will he, the mother will stick out her tongue, and the baby will repeat after her. In the second month of life, sound signals are connected to the baby's emotions. If you constantly communicate with a child, already at 2 months he begins to “coo,” that is, make sounds that imitate human speech. They are still meaningless, but they are the most reliable indicators of a normally developing baby - entire “conversations” can be conducted this way.

For a 1-month-old baby, safety is most important: small quarrels and other unpleasant emotions can negatively affect the child’s psyche. A calm environment, a friendly atmosphere, close surroundings and family members best contribute to the baby’s good health.

The baby’s mood and emotions at this age greatly depend on the mother and her own condition. Children's doctors strongly advise not to swear in the presence of a baby, not to discuss unpleasant things in front of him - the baby feels it all

How to Help Your Newborn Learn Important Skills

According to pediatricians, from the very birth of a child, great importance should be given to his development and upbringing. How can you help him make more discoveries? The list of recommendations looks like this:

In the house where a newborn is growing up, there must always be a favorable atmosphere. Select a distant room for him so that no extraneous sounds can be heard there: TV noise, dog barking, car horns. Sharp sounds can only scare the baby. You should have a feeding chart so as not to unnecessarily irritate your baby.
To support the baby's tactile sensitivity in the first month and a half, adults must touch the baby correctly. Contact can be comfortable for both the baby and the parents, so no cold hands or drafts.
To develop a baby’s hearing and speech, often tell him fairy tales, nursery rhymes, simple rhymes, and hum beautiful melodies. In this case, the baby will enter into a “dialogue”, begin to smile and actively pronounce various sounds. When talking to your child, try to always be in a good mood.

5-7 days after the birth of the baby, mother and baby are discharged from the maternity hospital. A nurse and pediatrician will visit you at home in the first few days after discharge. They will examine the newborn and tell you what to do and how to do it. in the first month of a child's life. But if you have any questions, be sure to ask!

Vaccinations

In the first 12 hours of life in the maternity hospital, the baby is vaccinated against viral hepatitis, and after 3-7 days - against tuberculosis (BCG).

Weight

During the first month of life, a child grows by an average of 3 cm, and weight increases by 600 grams. It's already after the baby has lost weight after birth.

Weight loss after childbirth occurs due to the fact that the circulatory system is reconstructed, the kidneys, digestive system, and so on begin to work. It takes approximately 10 days for the child’s body to become accustomed to it, and only then does the baby begin to gain weight.

Many mothers carefully monitor the baby’s weight, weighing him before and after feeding, and strictly monitor weight gain and chart indicators. But really Excessive scrupulousness is sometimes harmful.

All tables are average data, and there is no need to chase them at all. A hungry child will definitely let you know about his desire to eat.

Feeding

Breast milk is the best nutrition for a newborn, especially in the first month of life. It serves not only as food, but also as drink. Therefore, there is no need for additional feeding until at least 6 months, if the mother has enough breast milk.

Newborn usually saturates within 15 minutes vigorous sucking. During this time, he manages to eat 60-70 grams of milk (this is almost a fifth of the baby’s weight!). It is not recommended to hold the baby at the breast for more than 25-30 minutes.

If your baby sleeps through a feeding, don't wake him up. And do not disturb the baby if he falls asleep during feeding. Remember that overfeeding a newborn is even worse than underfeeding, since a small stomach has difficulty coping with large volumes of food.

Try to teach your child to take a night feeding break for 5-6 hours. This will not only allow you to rest at night, but will also help you form the correct sleep and wakefulness pattern for your baby.

Dream

The first week of my new life outside my mother's tummy the child usually sleeps almost all the time(up to 20 hours a day). A newborn sleeps on his back in a frog position, with his legs bent at the knees and arms at the elbows. In his sleep, the baby may shudder and twitch his arms and legs - this is completely normal!

Usually a newborn wakes up every 2-3 hours, to eat, but some sleepyheads can doze even while eating. If the newborn is fed and feels comfortable, then while he is awake he dangles his arms and legs.

Touch

The baby reacts to heat and cold in the same way: begins to move actively. If a child freezes, then his activity begins to decrease. When taking air baths, focus on the baby’s movements: while the child is active, he is pleased, as soon as he slows down, the baby freezes.

You need to pick up a newborn correctly: so that the baby’s body rests on your arm, your elbow is under the baby’s head, and with your other hand hold the baby’s legs. You should not take the baby by the hands or in such a way that the baby’s head does not have support.

Your baby needs your touch to become aware of his body. so pet your baby more often. By talking to your child and stroking him, you develop in him a desire to communicate.

Smell

Already in the first month of life, a child can distinguish odors. If the smells are very obvious, then most likely the baby will close his eyes or even sneeze, despite the fact that the smell may be quite pleasant.

If you drop something sweet on your baby’s tongue (for example, you were prescribed a sweet medicine), he will smack his lips, and if it’s bitter, the baby will grimace.

Hearing

First week of life the baby does not hear very well, therefore, it is not at all necessary to tiptoe around the apartment. A newborn's auditory nerve is still developing.

But from a sharp and loud sound, of course, the newborn gets scared, shudders, winces, tries to turn towards the source of the sound and may even cry.

Vision

The baby perfectly distinguishes between light and dark. The bright light makes the baby squint, even if his eyelids are closed. A newborn’s vision does not yet know how to adjust to near and distant objects in the first month of life.

The ideal distance is 25-30 cm. Based on these recommendations, hang toys on the crib, thereby developing the child’s curiosity.

At the end of the first month of life, the baby will begin to consciously look at an adult who approaches him, and perhaps even reward you with his charming toothless smile.

CARE

After eating you need to raise the child and hold it in an upright position for some time so that the air swallowed during sucking comes out.
To prevent or relieve bloating(all newborns suffer from this, as the baby’s digestive system adjusts to work in new conditions), stroke the baby’s tummy clockwise or, laying it on the tummy, stroke the back. If this is not enough, give your baby dill water or special medicines. If the belly button protrudes when the baby cries, consult your pediatrician; it may be an umbilical hernia.
Treat the umbilical cord with brilliant green, it should not become red or swollen. The crust from the umbilical wound should fall off two weeks after birth.
The skin of a newborn is very delicate and requires careful care. Wash your baby after bowel movements, treat the skin with baby cream and powder.
Bathe your baby every day before going to bed in an infusion of chamomile, St. John's wort or a light pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Constantly change your newborn's sleeping position. It is impossible for him to sleep on one side or only on his back all the time, since due to the still soft skull, the child’s head may become deformed.
Take a walk in the fresh air.
Try to do all procedures at the same time to form a baby’s daily routine.

If the child is crying, do not panic, but find out reason for crying. These could be:

dirty diapers
hunger or thirst
bloating
baby may be hot
baby needs your attention

Most of the newborn's activities are reflexes. The child does not yet know how to consciously react to stimuli or control his actions, but nature took care of this for him with the help of innate reflexes.

The baby can (newborn reflexes):

Search reflex (Kassmaul). If you stroke the cheek, the baby will turn his head to the touch.
Proboscis reflex. If you quickly touch the baby's lips, he will immediately curl them into a tube and pull them forward.
Sucking reflex. If you give your baby a pacifier or breast, the baby will suck rhythmically.
Grasping reflex. If you give a newborn your finger in a tiny hand, the baby will squeeze it.
Support and automatic gait reflex. If you hold the child upright with his feet on a hard surface, he will even take a few steps.
Protective reflex. If you put the baby on his tummy, he will turn his head so that he can breathe.
Moro reflex. If there is a loud unexpected sound, the child will spread his arms in different directions and then return them back.
Galant reflex. If you run your finger along the spine of a newborn, the baby will bend in an arc, while straightening the leg at the hip joint.
Crawling reflex (Bauer). Lying on his tummy, the baby imitates crawling if you press on the feet.
Palm-oral reflex (Babkina). If you press on the little one's palm, he will open his mouth and turn his head.

Many of these reflexes fade away by 3-4 months. But the presence of these reflexes in the first month of a child’s life indicates the correct development of the newborn’s central nervous system.

However, do not panic if suddenly the baby does not want to demonstrate all the reflexes. Perhaps the child just wants to sleep and, instead of the expected reaction, responds by crying.

By the end of the first month of life, the child will get used to the new conditions: he will clearly focus his gaze on you, react to your voice and even make some sounds in response. And the most pleasant bonus is that the four-week-old baby already knows how to smile!

Tell us how your baby behaved in the first month of life? How often did you feed him or bathe him?

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