When a baby is born, it has no conception of night and day. Babies sleep, on average, about seventeen hours per day, but in a series of short naps. These naps usually last from two to four hours. They can't sleep for long stretches of time, like adults do, because they often need to be fed and have a diaper change in the middle of the night. To help your baby become accustomed to sleeping more at night, keep the room where baby sleeps brightly lit during the day, but not in direct sunlight and dark at night. You can also establish a bedtime routine, such as bathing and feeding right before bedtime and play soothing music to help baby fall asleep.
Babies are born with reflexes that help protect them after birth. For example, touch baby's cheek with the tip of your finger or breast, the baby will turn towards the source and open its mouth. Place your finger in the palm of its hand and baby will grasp it. These reflexes only last a few months and are then replaced with voluntary movements. Breastfeeding is the best form of feeding a newborn. There are different nutrients found in breast milk that aid in the development of the child and antibodies that help fight off infection. Breastfeeding makes baby's immune system stronger. Engorgement is a common problem associated with breastfeeding. It causes the breasts to become hard and heavy. Expressing a bit of milk before each feeding helps resolve this problem. Sore nipples are an indicator that baby isn't latching on correctly. Make sure the baby takes the areola into its mouth along with the nipple itself, or milk won't express properly, causing the baby to want to suck harder. This causes pain for the mother and frustration for the baby.
The development of a baby is very rapid. Babies double their birth weight in the first six months of life and triple their birth weight in the first year. After the first year, a child's growth pattern begins to slow a bit. The average child at one year is about thirty inches and twenty-one pounds. The average height and weight for a two year old child is about thirty-three inches and twenty-six pounds. By just three months of age, baby should be able to hold his/her head up when placed on his/her stomach for a few seconds. Baby may try to swipe at or catch toys hanging overhead and will love to study faces. He/she will turn his/her head when spoken to, listen to voices and become startled at loud noises. When baby is six months old, he/she is developing control over their body. Baby will be able to sit with assistance and maybe even alone for short periods of time. He/she will begin to reach out when he/she desires to be held. Baby will be able to roll over. Baby will be able to hold his/her own toys and bottle and babble happily or scream with annoyance.
At nine months of age, baby should be able to sit alone, without assistance and may be able to pull his/herself up on furniture. Baby will be able to use his/her fingers to point and grasp small objects and feed his/herself small finger foods. You will notice a pattern in his/her babble, as if it were a foreign language.
At one year, baby may be able to walk and stand unassisted. He/she may be able to crawl up stairs and out of his/her crib or playpen. The baby will prefer using one hand over the other. Baby will become afraid or wary of strangers and will be able to express emotion, affection and will be able to solve simple problems.
Unlike us who struggle to keep up with our work duties during the day and can sit back, watch TV and really relax only during the night you little baby is not governed by the fascist rules of night and day. They will sleep whenever they feel like it, wherever they feel like it, and however long they want to. On an average, babies sleep close to 17 hours a day. A whopping nine hours more than what we can just about manage. However, unlike us they don't nap for long stretches of time, most of their sleeping spells extend only up to 2-3 hours. When they do wake up they expect to be fed or changed and in case you forget to meet those expectations they'll create a ruckus just to remind you.
To help your baby's routine get more conventional, in terms of it's sleeping/feeding time etc. you can take a number of steps. To make sure he/she learns that nighttime is the time to sleep and daytime the time to stay up and throw tantrums, put your baby in a room that is too bright during the day to fall asleep in. However be careful to not put your baby in direct sunlight. At night either shift your baby to a room that is cold and dark, or use the same room but just curtain it up and switch on the ac to make it cozy enough for your him/her to fall asleep. You can also put your baby in a sort of routine just to condition him/her to what comes before getting to sleep. Give him/her a warm bath or feed her or play soothing music right before putting him/her to bed everyday.
Every child is born with certain reflexes. If you touch his cheek with the tip of your hand or your breast he will turn towards the tip and open his mouth, if you put your finger in his palm he will grasp it etc. These reflexes disappear after the few initial months after his/her birth and are duly replaced by more voluntary actions.
Although a large variety of baby food is available in the market today nothing is as high in nutrients as the mothers milk. The antidotes found in a mother's milk protects the child against infections and makes his/her immune system stronger.
After birth the babies weight undergoes rapid change. Within a matter of six months it becomes twice it's birth weight. In the next six months it's weight shoots up to around triple the weight at its birth. Once it crosses the one-year mark it's growth pattern settles down and continues at a comparatively lower speed. At one years of age any average child is about 30 inches in length and 20 pounds in weight. At two these figures become about 33 and 26 respectively.
At three months of age, your child will love to study faces and try and grasp toys and moving objects of interest hanging over its head. He/she will also respond to voices and sounds and volume. By six months most babies will be able to stand and sit with some assistance. At nine months of age, your baby will be sitting alone and will also be able to pull herself/himself on furniture (provided their strength matches their weight). Their babble will now start taking a concrete shape and fingers will come handy in pointing and of course eating little pieces of food.
By the time your baby is 1 she will probably learn to walk on her own and also crawl up over more difficult terrain, like the stairs or over the crib or play pen. She will also show greater preference for one hand over the other, and will tend to do most of her movements with the preferred hand. They will also learn to recognize faces and thereby be afraid of strangers and will express love and affection.
Both Michael Russell & Kelly Larose are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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