Today is exactly a month since you gave birth. As you get your baby ready for the routine doctor’s visit, you can’t help but smile, “You survived a month, and it wasn’t even bad. Your baby appears healthy. It was an uneventful one-month.
Baby”s Eyes
My baby was ignoring the colorful mobile by the crib. I thought it wasn’t attractive enough. Then my cousin, who is a nurse explained that a newborn baby focus best on objects that are between 8 to 14 inches away from his eyes, somewhat the distance when the infant sees his mother’s face while nursing. Objects closer or farther away will be nothing but a blur. They also prefer black-and-white pattern to bright colors. Babies also love looking at light for a brief period. By the end of the first month, some babies will follow the slow movement of the light toward the center of their field of vision. Vision screening will be part of your baby”s regular check ups.
If you feel that you baby doesn’t seem to be focusing on objects or faces or doesn’t turn toward the light, mention this to his doctor.
Baby’s Hearing
Before the baby goes home with parents, Hearing test is done in the hospital as per recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
And you noted that your baby doesn’t seem to react much to noises. Your baby is familiar with the usual sounds in your house while still inside your womb.
To ease your worries away, you can ask your doctor if the test was performed and what the result of the test were.
Baby Has Acne?
Few days to about two-weeks, you noticed a skin break out. You thought the baby’s skin is supposed to be smooth. But my baby had skin break outs. Those were caused by the hormones from their mother that is still circulating on the baby”s system. Also, the pores of the newborns are not fully developed, so it reacts to the environment and the baby’s clothing, blanket.
Baby’s Spitting Up
Some babies spits up at least occasionally, some spits up with every feeding. This process in newborns is due to the muscular valve (sphincter) between the esophagus and the stomach that is not yet fully developed. Minimize bouncing, stimulation after feeding. Avoid overfeeding your baby. And remember to burp in between feedings. The doctor may recommend a child with severe spitting up (gastro-esophageal reflux disease or GERD), to elevate the head of the baby’s bed/mattress.
If the spitting up is associated with poor weight gain or prolonged gagging and coughing, it may signal possible problem.
Crossed Eyes
The baby’s eyes may not work in unison all the time. The muscles around the eyes may not be fully developed. If there is a possibility of strabismus (crossed eyes), consult a pediatric ophthalmologist.
Teary Eyes
Newborns have tearless crying. It is not until the end of the first month of life that the newborns begin to produce tears. Some babies have blocked tear duct, tear doesn’t drain properly. Clogged ducts will clear up by themselves by the end of the first year without treatment.
Mottled Skin
Baby’s circulatory system is not fully develop and may cause mottling of the skin. Or sometimes, the baby just needed an additional clothing. Touch the nape of the neck or his midsection to see if the baby is cold. Then increase the layer of clothing or just throw a blanket to keep the baby warmer.
Baby’s Breathing
Strangely as it may seem, once you become parent, you adapt to a new kind of behavior. A neurotic behavior of constantly checking on your baby – the way the breathing is, the quiet stillness for one second turns into snorting or grunting. Then you watched closer, and you noted rapid eye movement as he sleeps soundly. His face color is pink, and breathing easy. This is your good indicator that your baby is fine.
Colic
What causes colic has been a mystery. One thing its manifestation could not be ignored. The baby screams inconsolably, and the nightmare would last for hours. Parents feel helpless that they couldn’t offer comfort to their screaming child.
So many theories come out to explain its occurrence. One would say, it is a manifestation of the child’s immature nervous system, and the child would eventually learn how to inhibit unwanted behavior. Then others would say, it could account for the child’s immature digestive tract that makes it uncomfortable with the presence of gas.
One thing, babies cry for a reason. Try to eliminate the reason for crying. If mom is breastfeeding, be aware of your diet. It is usually, what makes the mother gassy does the same for the baby. Vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauli flower, asparagus and beans are known to cause gas.
If the baby is bottle feeding, try to change the formula.
If the change reduces the colic significantly, then it is possible that allergy may be the cause.
Make sure to describe to your doctor the crying, its pattern, the intensity and its variation to your baby’s norm.
Baby’s Elimination
If the baby is breastfeeding, more often, a pea and a poop is present with every diaper change. Breastmilk is very easily digested by your baby. Thus, you will find that they need to be fed more frequently. And the more you feed them, the more they go.
It is a concern, if the baby has been fed a lot, and whenever you check the diaper, it is dry. This calls for a medical consult.
Motor Development
By the end of the first month, your baby is able to lift head briefly when on stomach (about 45 to 90 degrees) or hold the head steady when in an upright position.
You can sometimes hear your baby cooing, or squeal delightfully, or may even laugh out loud, or elicit a spontaneous cry.
As you converse to your child, you would notice your baby focusing on your face. Your baby will even follow an object about 6 inches from your baby’s face, and follow it from one side to the other.
So there you go, you are well on your way to meet your doctor or nurse practitioner and get graded on how well you have taken cared of your little one.
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I want you to feel that you can reach out to me if ever you have questions or want to share ideas that you have related to the care of babies, growing premature babies and the overall health issues pertaining to the care of babies OR just drop me a comment to just say “Hello” or “what’s up”.
All The Best, Maria Teresa BabiesBuddies.com
