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If babies knew how to talk right from birth, it would be a lot easier for new mothers to figure out their needs. Your baby wouldn’t cry if it was hungry, sleepy or needs a diaper change. Woh! If her baby came to her expressing what it needs and once done, the mommy could just tell the newbie, “Hey, I’m gonna get some sleep, you be a good boy!” and doze off. But it doesn’t happen that way. Moreover, it might not make a cute thing to have a baby speak soon after birth than have its first stuttering words. But here are eight signs that save you from worrying over how your little one is doing; beginning at #8:
8. Your baby is a social butterfly
If your child makes eye contact with people, smiles and giggles at them, it is a sure sign that she is quite the happy creature. The first eye contact might happen around the time when your baby is one-month-old. She might start smiling at around the second month. By the third month, she would coo and by the fourth month, she would be laughing. Around the fifth month, your baby will smile back at you if you smile at her. It’s a reflex she will develop at this time.
7. Your baby can support its body weight
Your little one can hold its head steady without any support only after the fifth month. Although you might have brief moments when you don’t have to hold its head between the first and the third months, you might not want to risk. With tummy time on the floor, most babies exercise their growing muscles.
6. Your baby has a regular sleeping pattern, cries less and is less fussy
What would a mother want more than this! It means that your young one’s nervous system is developing. By the fourth month, most babies should have a regular sleeping pattern, with fewer interruptions, that is four or more hours at a stretch between the night time feeds. Some babies develop this pattern much sooner than other babies. But if you have an older child who hasn’t been scheduled into following a rhythm, it’s time he must be initiated into a fixed schedule.
5. Your baby is attentive and quiet for good parts of the day
It just means that your baby is observing and learning about its surroundings. In fact, if she is quiet it might simply mean that she is trying to process the new information from its surroundings. In the initial weeks after birth, your baby will have blurred vision. It’s only gradually that your child starts gaining control over the eye muscles before it can focus on a target.
4. Your baby looks at movements, colours, and patterns
If your child is looking at moving toys, whirring fans, bright and colourful objects, then it’s a sign that its eyesight is sharpening. It is known that babies have an eyesight about 20/100 and can see between eight and 12 inches away which is just about the distance between you and your child when you are feeding her. Your baby can see 18 inches away by the time its one-month-old. By the second month, most babies can look at bright colours, patterns, spinning objects, etc. Usually, contrasting colours catch their attention before their perception of color deepens.
3. Your baby makes a good listener
If your baby turns around at every sound that is new to him, it means his hearing is developing, and he is trying to identify and distinguish the various sounds. It’s true that babies can hear right from birth, but it takes time for them to discern the sounds that make the noise of everyday bustle outside its mother’s womb. Some sounds might be unimportant to your baby, or they may simply not be exciting. It might be interesting for him to hear the uproar as your older children play as opposed to the fan that whirrs nearby. Your baby might be looking for the source from where a new sound emanates, and that is a healthy sign.
2. Your baby gains weight and needs frequent diaper change
The routine check-up with your pediatrician will have weight checks too. You are elated every time your young one has put on a few grams. This is especially true of breastfeeding women because several women have no indicator of whether their babies are receiving adequate milk. One sign is that of weight gain at subsequent doc visits. The other is that your baby should have wet diapers at least eight to ten times a day. There will be growth spurts when your baby asks for feed more frequently. It doesn’t mean that your supply is on a decline. It’s rather about growing faster and your baby’s need to be fed frequently.
1. Your baby calms down by your voice and your touch
Your baby had learned to recognize your voice right from its time spent in your womb. The heat of your body when you carry your child makes it calm down as well. Simply seeing you in the vicinity is not as soothing as being cuddled, wrapped and held closely in the warmth of your body. It’s quite a sign of bonding between the two of you.
If your baby is showing these signs, it’s time you should stop fussing over the health of her!
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