Baby’s First Month Of Life: Everything You Need To Know
Since its arrival in the world and during the first month of your baby’s life, you will notice that it will spend a lot of time asleep, will wake up several times to eat, will have hiccups and will sneeze very often. We review these and other characteristics of this stage of the baby’s growth.
How to feed him, when to bathe him, how to take care of his umbilical cord … Questions when raising such a small baby can reach a hundred, and even more so if it is a new mother.
But you should not despair: there are many actions that can alarm us but are actually very common in this phase of our child’s life. The important thing is to be aware of it, provide the necessary care and consult a specialist in the event of any anomaly.
The characteristics of the baby’s first month of life
During the first thirty days of life, the baby will exhibit the following behaviors :
- You will sleep from 14 to 16 hours a day. You will wake up for short periods, 7 to 12 times a day, usually to feed.
- At first you will not be able to see. As time passes, your gaze will focus little by little.
- You can lose weight, even if you breastfeed every time you ask. This is normal in newborns.
- You will hiccup and sneeze often, without causing digestive or respiratory problems.
- You can have a bowel movement four or five times a day and urinate two or three times. Stools at this age are yellow or greenish and runny.
- Your breathing can become noisy and irregular, especially while you sleep. It is not strange at all.
Changes in the baby during the first month of life
As it is the dawn of his life, we will notice that the functions of the baby will be “activated” little by little. Over time you will be able to make out familiar faces and even smile at the appearance of one of them. In addition, the colors, lights and sounds will catch your attention.
As for the affective, it is essential that the baby feels protected and loved. Contrary to what many beliefs indicate, there is absolutely nothing wrong with holding your baby. Constant companionship and being restrained will calm you down and give you security.
Building the affective bond in the baby’s first month of life is essential. The newborn even recognizes his mother through smell. Also, instinctively appeals to crying to get their attention and express their needs.
Attention: this bond is not exclusive to the mother. The father can also actively participate in the upbringing of the baby from the beginning of his life. After all, your only limitation is when it comes to breastfeeding. For the rest, it is very important that you assume a central role in the care of the child.
What should you keep in mind?
We must always bear in mind that such a small baby is an extremely delicate being. He has just arrived in the world and, like everything else, this entails a process of adaptation.
Be careful of germs that can get in from the outside. The baby’s room should be bright, warm and free from any type of contamination. Also, it is important that you try to limit visits during this period. If there are, make sure that they do not last more than 20 minutes and that they are not invasive for the baby, since when they are small they are easily scared.
When it comes to hygiene, there are two fundamental things you should know:
- It is good to bathe him daily, with lukewarm water, in a warm room and be extremely careful not to get water in his eyes and ears.
- The umbilical cord falls off between day six and day 15 of life. Daily bathroom hygiene is enough to keep it sanitized, although some doctors recommend using alcohol.
- His nails will start to grow and the baby could harm himself with them. Cut them when necessary.
With regard to feeding during the first life of the baby, there is nothing like breast milk for nutrition. Unless there is some impossibility, it is recommended that this be the exclusive way of feeding until the first six months of life.
