Thursday, July 12, 2012

Baby from Birth to One Month

This week I used my free reading time to research teh developmental stages of an infant from birth to one month old because my baby had his two week appointment, and the doctor gave me a hand out that laid out the developmental milestones for infants at this age.  I read approxiamately 2 hours between my web searches and the typed hand-out given at the doctor visit.
The sites I searched were:  http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/baby-development-1-month?page=3
http://www.babycenter.com/0_your-4-week-olds-development_1477174.bc
Pamphlet:  Infant Growth and Development from Two Weeks to One Month.  Author Mark Springer (pediatrician)
I learned from my research this week that infants from birth to one month still will spend from 12-20 hours of their day sleeping.  I learned that the slep they receive will be non REM sleep, so they will be easily startled or awakened.  I also learned they will still have their days and nights confused, but if parents make day light hours playful and active and night very quiet and dark they will get the hint a little sooner.
I also discovered that tummy time can be introduced at this age although they are not yet able to hold their heads up very well.  I way told they are developing their eye sight, so objects must be 8-12 inches from their face for them to focus in.  They also show favor in looking at human faces rather than toys or other objects.  Infants also favor higher pitched tones, so baby talk is helpful at this stage. 
Some infants can coo, grunt, smile and even try to laugh at this stage.  They are just finding out that their legs and arms are attached to their bodies, so playing with their legs and holding their hands in front of their faces is good to help them become familiar with their extremities. 
Babies should be back to their normal birth weight by now; after birth infants lose 10% or more of their body weight, but should be gaining an ounce per day by now.  Breastfed babies should be eating every 2-3 hours and bottle fed infants 6-8 times per day.  Breast fed infants should make a wet or poopy diaper after each feeding, and bottle fed infants should have at least 6 diaper changes per day. 
I learned a lot, and I plan to make sure my son is developmentally appropriate at every stage; if not, I will stay in close contact with his pediatrician.

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