Newborns are surprisingly wide-eyed at birth, a sign of the great attention they pay to their surroundings from the first minute of life. Despite having blurred vision, they are able to observe what is less than 20 centimeters away from their eyes.
The first days of a newborn
In the early stages of your baby’s development, he discovers what life outside the womb is like: he will begin to control his breathing, learn to suck, develop a sense of smell and touch. He will spend between 16 and 18 hours sleeping but without an established pattern, so it is normal if you feel that the first few days are a bit chaotic.
Breathing pattern is often a common concern of new parents, especially after the popularization of sudden infant death syndrome. In fact, irregular breathing is normal for newborns.
Breathing rate can vary greatly: from 60 breaths per minute when they are nervous or after crying, to stopping breathing for 5 to 10 seconds and resuming breathing on their own. This is called periodic breathing, and is common during sleep.
If the baby stops breathing for a longer period of time and turns blue, it is an emergency and you should go immediately to the nearest health center.
During your newborn’s first few weeks you will find that he or she spends much of the time with fists clenched, shoulders curled and arms and legs close to the body. As if still in the belly, it will retain the fetal position for a while.
The first weeks of a newborn
From birth, they react instinctively to stimuli in what are known as primitive reflexes.
The best known primitive reflexes are:
- Sucking reflex, in which your baby sucks on any object you put in his mouth.
- Pressure reflex, which is the one that will make your child close his hand tightly when you touch the palm of his hand.
- Moro reflex or startle, the reaction of your baby moving his arms sideways when there is a noise, light, sound or some other stimulus that surprises him.
As their nervous system is still developing, their legs, arms and chin may tremble in moments of nervousness or crying. He is still some time away from being able to speak and form words, but he will make a variety of sounds and grunts to communicate, as well as cry. We can start interacting and playing with them.
Your baby’s second month
At two months old, he will not yet have enough strength to lift his head, so you should avoid putting him face down while he sleeps. You can put him in this position to gain strength in the spine, as long as it is under supervision.
By the end of the second month your baby will begin to smile, and crying for no reason will become less common with each passing day. It is important for the emotional and social development of the baby that you respond to the smile with another one, you will transmit confidence.
From your baby’s second month of age
From the age of two months, your child will be able to do more things with his hands: he will hold your hair or give you a little pinch. He will gradually train his hand-eye coordination. At first you will see that when he wants to pick up an object his hand will go to the opposite side, but it is something that will improve little by little.
At this stage, everything he picks up he will put in his mouth: after a few months of breastfeeding he starts to recognize flavors and even if he does not know that toys are not to be eaten, he will learn to recognize the taste of each one of them.
This first trimester of your newborn will be a stage that will fly by, full of learning and new surprises every day.
