The first month of life: how the baby develops in four weeks

The birth of a child is the beginning of an exciting journey. So, in the first month of a baby’s life, significant changes occur in his body, which at first glance are not entirely noticeable. Reactions, skills, weight and height change. In this article we take a closer look at how a child develops during the first month of life.

How does a child’s weight and height change in the first month of life?

Surprisingly, in the first three days of life, a child can lose up to 10% of his birth weight - this is considered normal. Then, by about two weeks, the baby should gain weight.

Children grow differently, but there are averages. So, after the first two weeks after birth, children gain about 30 grams of weight per day. In the first month of life, girls and boys can grow from 2 to 4 centimeters in length.

The physical parameters of a child are influenced not only by heredity, but also by the health of the mother during pregnancy. So, babies are usually born miniature if the pregnancy was multiple. Sometimes firstborns are born smaller than children born later.

How long does a newborn sleep?

In a baby’s sleep, neural connections are formed, he rests and gains strength for new discoveries. Therefore, a child needs a lot of sleep - up to 18-19 hours a day. But due to the fact that circadian patterns have not yet been formed, sleep is divided into short periods of 2-3 hours, regardless of the time of day.

Most often the reason for waking up is hunger, because babies have a very small stomach. By the way, breastfed children eat more often - every 2-3 hours, and bottle-fed newborns eat less often - 3-4 hours.

Such interval sleep will eventually turn into a full night's sleep. To do this, parents should be patient and take care of the lighting and temperature in the room where the baby sleeps. Darkness and cooler temperatures can help produce melatonin and trigger circadian rhythms.

What can a child do in the first month of life?

Children spend most of their time sleeping in the first month after birth. However, your waking hours can be quite active. Most of the movements are reflexes that the child does not perform purposefully.

• Root reflex

Helps baby find breast or bottle. So, when stroking or touching the corner of the mouth, the baby turns his head to the side and opens his mouth.

• Sucking reflex

This reflex appears in the baby while still in the mother’s tummy - at about 32 weeks of pregnancy.

• Moro reflex

This is the so-called startle reflex. In response to a loud sound or sudden movement, the baby throws back his head, stretches out his arms, and then begins to cry. This reflex usually disappears by 6 months after birth.

• Tonic neck reflex

Thanks to him, the baby takes the “fencer” pose. When the child's head is turned to one side, the handle on this side is extended, and on the other it is bent.

• Grasp reflex

Causes the child to squeeze objects or the parent's hands with his fingers. The reflex is more pronounced in premature babies and lasts for about two months.

These other reflexes will eventually give way to purposeful, conscious movement, due to the maturation of the nervous system.

In addition to reflex actions, newborns, even in the first 30 days of life, learn to understand the world. Their vision and hearing are working, they are trying to give signals to their parents.

• Vision. Babies at this age can distinguish between darkness and light, bright colors. They can examine objects at a distance of approximately 18-25 centimeters from their eyes. Babies also begin to recognize people's faces.
• Hearing. Babies hear everything perfectly, react to loud sounds by turning their heads towards them. They begin to distinguish different voices.
• Sounds. A child at this age communicates mainly through crying; over time, parents even begin to distinguish between its different types. Sometimes crying indicates discomfort or hunger, and sometimes it simply indicates a need for parental attention.

By the end of the first month of life, children begin to smile, most often in their sleep. In addition, the baby will give many more small and big surprises to his parents. The main thing at this stage of development is to provide a sense of security. Talk to your baby, hug and respond to crying, then he will feel loved.