Your Baby: The Third Month

Your Baby: The Third Month

March 7th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

In the third month, you will start to see your baby’s personality emerging. Along with this new insight into who this little person is, you will also watch her strength and interaction with the world around her grow by leaps and bounds. As routines become established, the early sense of chaos a new baby brings will subside, and life with baby will become a little smoother.

Growth and Feeding

Rapid growth continues into the third month of life, but you may find that your baby isn’t waking as often at night wanting to eat. As your baby gains weight, she is able to sustain herself for longer periods of time without needing food. Night feedings will continue however, as she isn’t ready to go all night without eating yet.

Sleep Patterns

Your little one should have her days and nights straight by this point, and is starting to understand that night is for sleeping. Daytime sleep will settle into a routine in the third month as well, and you will be able to predict more accurately when your baby will need to take a nap, and when it’s safe to head out of the house. Encourage the sleep routine by sticking to the schedule as much as possible. You might find that disruptions to the routine will result in a very cranky baby.

Physical and Cognitive Development

In the third month your baby will gain muscle strength swiftly. He may be able to support his weight on his feet with your assistance, and will also be able to sit up with support. Neck control becomes much better; although when upright you will probably notice his head wobbling and when tired he may lose control and drop his head down on your chest or shoulder.

Your baby will discover a new favorite plaything sometime this month: his hands! You may see him waving them around before his eyes and putting them in his mouth. He will also use his newfound tools to hold objects and move them about. In the third month your baby will really start to enjoy brightly colored toys, especially if they make noises. Different textures will also fascinate him, and he may hold items and squeeze them, exploring the way they feel. Mirrors are another great toy at this age, as baby will be utterly fascinated by his own reflection.

Because your baby is able to stay more upright, he may show more interest in books at this age. Choose sturdy board or cloth books with contrasting patterns and large, colorful images. As you turn the pages, he may reach for the book or even vocalize in response to certain images. A familiar book will begin to elicit even more response. While the instinct might be to keep the book out of baby’s reach while you read, go ahead and let him touch and explore. You may never reach the end of the book, but he will be learning nonetheless.

Vocalizations will increase this month as baby adds new sounds to his repertoire. He may even try to imitate sounds that you make. At this point you may also be able to differentiate between different types of crying that indicate different needs. Your baby is beginning to understand better how to use his voice to communicate with you.

By the end of the third month, you may feel you don’t even recognize your baby anymore! The tiny newborn has been replaced with an active and interactive infant who is ready and willing to take on the world.

Your Baby: The Second Month

Your Baby: The Second Month

March 6th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

In the second month of your baby’s life, great things will begin to happen. Your baby will begin to interact more with you, move around more, and you will likely even see that first smile.

Growth and Feeding

Throughout the second month, your baby will continue to require around the clock feedings to keep growing. And growth is still going strong this month, as your baby may gain another 1-2 pounds. You will also notice he is getting longer. Although babies gain in length in the first month as well, this will become more evident as the second month passes and he starts to stretch his legs more, allowing you to see him at his full length.

Sleep Patterns

While sleep will likely still be erratic, you can expect some longer stretches of sleep at night in the second month. Developing a bedtime routine and sticking to it will be greatly helpful at this stage, as he starts to learn the difference between day and night. Your baby still needs 15-16 hours of sleep a day, but towards the end of the second month he will start to get more of that sleep during the night hours and be awake more during the day. A simple bedtime routine consisting of a bath, feeding, and a song or story will help him to understand when it’s time to go to sleep.

Physical and Cognitive Development

Your baby is making great strides in the second month! She will be able to hold her head up at a 45 degree angle when placed on her stomach. Regular ‘tummy time” throughout the day will help her to develop the neck strength necessary to do this, as well as for future endeavors such as pulling up and crawling. She will start to wiggle around a lot, kicking her arms and legs. If you hold a toy out to her, she might reach for it or bat at it, and may even hold it and shake it around a bit.

As eyesight improves, your baby is starting to take in the world around her. She will follow an object with her eyes, and will also start to respond to your facial expressions. When something tickles her just the right way, you will be rewarded with a smile. While you may have seen baby smile in her sleep previously, you will now be seeing responsive smiles. Your baby is truly starting to interact with you!

This interaction will also start to extend to baby’s vocalizations. During the second month, you will hear her make some new sounds to get your attention. While crying is still the main way of telling you she needs something, she will now start offering coos and vowel sounds as well. Responding to these sounds will encourage your baby to continue vocalizing and develop these early language skills.

While all this new interaction is very exciting, remember that your baby is still very young and can become over-stimulated easily. Watch for signs that baby is tiring, such as breaking eye contact, becoming fussy or crying, and pulling away. When you see any of these signs, it’s time to switch to a quieter activity.

Now that your baby is stronger and more alert, you will probably want to start taking her out to explore the world. At this age baby will enjoy riding in a stroller or front carrier and being able to take in the sights and sounds of the outdoors. Be sure to dress her for the weather to keep her warm but not overheated.

The second month is filled with exciting milestones and a new type of connection with your baby, and you will start to see the world in a new way as you see it through your baby’s eyes.

Your Baby: The First Month

Your Baby: The First Month

March 5th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The first month of your baby’s life is a special time of bonding, cuddling, and adjustment to the major changes that have come into your home along with this new little person. While mom and dad learn to function on a lot less sleep, baby is doing more than it might appear.

Growth and Feeding

Shortly after birth, your newborn will lose up to 10% of her body weight. This is perfectly normal, and soon after she will get started on a newborn’s main task: gaining weight and growing. It’s not unusual for a baby to gain up to two pounds in the first month of life. In order to accomplish this task, your baby will eat frequently, and need to feed around the clock. Her small body requires regular nourishment, and that includes feedings in the middle of the night!

Sleep Patterns

In the first month of life, your newborn has not yet developed circadian rhythms. Simply put, she just doesn’t know day from night. Your baby will sleep and wake at what might seem to you to be strange and in some cases downright unpleasant hours. Some babies are often fast asleep much of the day and wide awake come nightfall. Most newborns sleep a total average of 15-16 hours per day, but this is usually broken up into 2-3 hour stretches of sleep, with wakeful periods in between. As your baby grows, her stretches of sleep will become longer.

Physical and Cognitive Development

Some babies are able to briefly lift their heads from birth, but most will slowly develop the necessary strength. Over the first month of life you will notice your baby’s increase in strength as he starts to lift his head for longer periods, especially when placed on his stomach. Newborns have limited eyesight, and see best from a distance of about 8-10 inches. Hearing is well developed and your baby will respond readily to the sound of voices, especially those that are the most familiar to him. He is already able to tell the difference between voices, and knows the sounds of mom and dad. He will start to respond to the sound of your voice by turning his head towards you and seeking for your face.

Much of your baby’s behavior at this point is instinctive. Hands will generally stay in a clenched fist, but he will grasp at a finger or object placed in his palm. The fetal position remains the most comfortable to a newborn, used to the confinement of the womb. This is why newborns often find swaddling to be comforting. Newborns startle easily, and your baby may jump at sudden noises or even in his sleep. This is called the Moro reflex, and he will grow out of it in time.

Newborns cry reflexively to communicate their needs, and your baby will probably cry fairly frequently in the first month. Soon, he will come to understand that crying elicits a response from mom and dad, and will begin to do it with more awareness. Towards the end of the first month, your baby will begin to understand that you will be there to fill his every need, and he has only to cry to get your attention. This is the beginning of trust and security.

The first month is a time to settle into life with your newborn, and to begin the bonding process. Enjoy this special time of cuddling and getting to know your little miracle, who wants nothing more than to be in your arms.

How Reading Aloud Benefits Your Child

How Reading Aloud Benefits Your Child

February 27th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Reading is one of the most important things you can do with your child, and the list of benefits is long. By reading to your baby from early on, you will give him a head start on literacy and language skills as well as expose him to whole new worlds of knowledge. And on top of all this important learning, reading is also a wonderful chance to enjoy quality time together.

A Time for Bonding

Holding your child in your lap to read a book is important bonding time for both of you, and it will help to encourage a love of books and reading. Your baby will learn to connect reading with love and comfort, and he will look forward to the quiet time spent cuddled with you while enjoying a good story. Reading offers a one on one experience with your child that he will come to treasure, and develops a deep connection that will last a lifetime.

Developing Language Skills and Vocabulary

Reading aloud to your child introduces him to all the basics he needs in order to learn how to talk. Your child will hear new sounds, which will help him figure out how to pronounce these sounds and form them into words. While it might be a long time before you hear complete sentences from him, your baby is already picking up the concepts of sentence structure and grammar both from your speech and from the books you read aloud to him. Children who are read to are more likely to begin reading at a younger age, as they have developed a familiarity with and love for the written word, and have more advanced language skills.

Expanding Knowledge

You may not be able to take your child to visit a farm, to another country, on a cross-country journey by train, or sailing on the ocean. But with books, she can experience and learn all about these things right at home. Reading about a variety of topics gives her a wider knowledge base, which will serve her well later in life. Choosing the right books will also offer you the opportunity to teach your child about different cultures and places; this in turn sets the stage for teaching opportunities about diversity. This is one of the many ways in which books can help you to instill values and ethics in your child.

Preparing for School

Learning to read is a basic and necessary skill in school, and the better prepared your child is the stronger her chances of success. Reading to your child helps her to learn the most basic concepts of literacy, like being able to tell words from images on the page and knowing that the words go from left to right. Not only will she already have a good foundation for learning to read on her own, but she will also have learned to listen, as well as to sit still and pay attention. These abilities are all vital to your child’s academic success. Research has shown that children who are read to early do better not just in reading, but in all their studies.

Reading to your child is so important to her intellectual development that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends you read to your child daily from 6 months of age. However, there is no reason to wait until 6 months; you can start reading to your newborn right away. Even if your baby falls asleep, or is more interested in playing with the book or chewing on it than in reading it, making books a part of her day will set her up for a lifetime of literacy.

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