Nutrition and diets 

What you need to know about breasts. A young mother often gains excess weight

A happy return from the maternity hospital with a treasured sniffing bundle in your hands: photographs, general tenderness and delight. The first excitement passes, and the time comes when you stay with the baby almost “one on one”. And this is where a lot of questions come in. For a young mother, everything is for the first time and much is incomprehensible: why is he crying, why is he squeezing his hands, how to bathe him properly? We have tried to briefly answer the most common questions regarding the first months of a baby's life. After all, for him, even one month is a whole era. You yourself will be convinced of this by noticing how day by day it changes, develops and grows. Let's find out what a new mother needs to know about the first care of a child.

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Photo gallery: What should a young mother know?

Navel

The navel requires special care by the mother from birth to the first month. It is important to carefully monitor that it remains dry and clean, to do this, blot it 2 times a day with a cotton swab dipped in hydrogen peroxide and then in chlorophyllipt or brilliant green. If suddenly pus and an unpleasant odor appear in the navel, you must definitely pay attention to this doctor or health visitor (who visits the baby every other day). Before the navel heals, the child should be bathed in boiled water and a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Colic

Colic is the "scourge" of the first three months of a child's life. Usually the state of colic begins closer to the night, more often in boys. So that mom can help the baby, put him on his tummy or on his knees before each feeding and 20-30 minutes after eating - this makes it easier for the gas to come out (and trains the neck muscles), a warm diaper or heating pad often brings relief. Also an indispensable thing is a gas outlet tube, which can be made from a rubber enema by cutting off its upper part. But it should be used infrequently and only with the permission of a doctor. Certain tests (such as stool stool, dysbiosis, and carbohydrate tests) can identify the cause of colic, and enzymes and medications prescribed by a doctor will improve digestion.

Obstruction of the lacrimal canal

A sign of obstruction of the tear duct is pus that is released from one or both inner corners of the eye, as well as standing tears in the corner of the eye. Your pediatrician or optometrist will prescribe a flush and show you how to do a special massage to push through the gelatinous tear duct plug. If up to 3 months washing and massage did not help, then probing is prescribed - this is a mini-operation that lasts only 2-3 minutes, the specialist pushes the cork with a thin needle.

Tone

Tone is a common diagnosis in newborns. With an increased tone, the baby is tense, the arms and legs are pressed to the body, while “walking” the fingers are tucked inward. With a reduced tone, the baby is too relaxed, the grasping reflex is poorly expressed, while “walking” it slowly drags its legs or does not rearrange them at all. Both conditions are most often treated with massage courses, special gymnastics and swimming in the bath with the addition of sea salt or pine extract. In addition, medical support may be prescribed.

Bathing

Bathing a baby is an important and serious ritual of the day for mom and baby. The "formula" of bathing is simple: Clean, clear water with a temperature of 36-37 degrees and caring, confident hands of a parent. At the first "swims" you can get by with ordinary baby soap, which is used about twice a week so as not to overdry the baby's delicate skin. On the day when you wash your baby with soap (gel), prepare a jug of clean, warm water in advance, from which you will rinse the baby. It is better to start the first immersion in water from the legs, gently pour some water over the breast and tummy, and only then completely lower the child into a special baby bath. If the baby is afraid of water, you can bathe the baby in a diaper, the baby experiences sensations similar to the mother's womb. If none of the options worked, it is worth taking a short break, wiping the child with a damp cloth for hygiene, until the negative emotions associated with taking a bath are forgotten. It is advisable to bathe a child up to 6 months every day to avoid skin problems: irritation and diaper rash occur due to diapers, as well as milk and sweat residues accumulating in skin folds. Do not be afraid to wet your ears, water that has got inside the ear will definitely flow back, washing the ear. The head should be washed every time you bathe, alternating with plain water and soap/shampoo (from birth).

washing

Washing is best done on the changing table. Each eye is washed with a separate swab dipped in boiled water, moving from the outer corner to the inner. To care for the nose, special wicks are used, which are spun from ordinary cotton wool and are affectionately called "turundas" dipped in sterile oil. The ears are wiped with a damp cotton swab only from the outside, you should not climb inside even with "turundas" so as not to damage the ear canal. The mouth before the appearance of teeth does not require special care. An exception is oral thrush, which is caused by candida fungi. One of the signs is a non-passing white coating on the tongue. Consult a doctor who will prescribe adequate treatment, often this is washing with soda solution and borax in glycerin.

intimate question

Mom needs to wash the baby after each diaper change. Girls are washed strictly from front to back, boys can be washed in any direction. Outside the home, you can use baby wipes, which contain a special cleansing lotion that cares for delicate baby skin.

Walk

Walking on the street is fresh air, sunlight (vitamin D, which is needed for the absorption of calcium by the body, serves as a prevention of rickets) and hardening. Dress your baby for one more layer of clothing than you dress yourself. If the child does not show anxiety, sleeps, then he is comfortable. To check whether the baby is cold or overheated, gently touch the back of his neck. The first walk lasts only 10-20 minutes, you can spend it on the balcony, dressing the baby according to the season, or go out without a stroller to the entrance. Gradually, the walking time increases to 1.5-2 hours. Direct sunlight on the baby is undesirable, an ideal place to sleep in the fresh air: quiet, in the openwork shade of trees, away from roads. Polyclinic: the end of the first month will be marked by a round of the main specialist doctors (neurologist, oculist, ENT, orthopedic surgeon, pediatrician). Vaccination according to the plan: revaccination against hepatitis.

"Bloom"

The "flowering" of babies, which can begin from about the second week of life and continue until the end of the second month, is a rash of various types (from small red dots to completely "adult" acne), caused by a riot of hormones and adaptation of the skin to new external conditions, - does not require special treatment (do not comb blisters, wash with a decoction of antiseptic herbs such as string, chamomile, etc.) and passes on its own.

transient lactose intolerance

Currently, such a diagnosis occurs in every second child and may be the main cause of ongoing colic. An analysis of feces for carbohydrates will help to identify it. When making a diagnosis, the doctor prescribes a special enzyme that helps to absorb lactose (milk sugar).

walks

Walks increase to 3-4 hours a day. Usually, babies sleep well on the street, but if the baby woke up in a good mood and did not have time to get hungry yet, do not rush home. Lift the child out of the stroller, tell what he sees, move his fingers over different surfaces (tree bark, twigs, leaves). All this greatly develops the baby and increases interest in the world around him.

Marigold

The nails most often break on their own, but if the child injures himself with the handles, then you can carefully cut the nails to the level of the finger with nail scissors or special children's tweezers.

Causeless tantrums

They usually happen during this period. When the body temperature is checked a hundred times, medicines for colic are given, the baby is fed and “leaked” and seems to have just woken up, and the tears and screaming do not stop. Scientists have not fully figured out the cause of these tantrums, but one theory is that a baby at this age already perceives a sufficiently large number of stimuli and the brain does not have time to process information.

First massage

Usually appointed in the third month of life. Preventive (or therapeutic) relieves or improves tone (depending on the purpose), physically develops the baby, fights such ailments as joint immaturity, paresis and much more. The specialist will show a set of exercises for the child by age. Polyclinic: visiting specialists such as a neurologist, an orthopedic surgeon and a pediatrician. Vaccination according to the plan: revaccination against hepatitis and vaccination with DTP. By the end of the third month, the baby makes attempts to roll over or crawl, from this age the probability of falling is especially high, therefore, starting from birth, never leave the baby alone on an open surface. When turning to pick up the right thing, keep your hand on the child. There are no strict rules regarding diapers. However, it should be remembered that a diaper is a means of personal hygiene for a child. Therefore, it should be changed as often as possible, without waiting for it to be filled. So, newborns will need up to 10 diapers per day, for older children - about 4-6 shifts. The generally accepted recommendation is to change the diaper every three to four hours during the day and use one diaper change frequency per night.

Pregnant women are not only in a special physical condition, but also experience completely unusual emotions. It's not just about hormones. The expectant mother worries about the health of the baby and its development, is nervous before childbirth and often experiences psychological discomfort. But for those who are going to give birth to their first child, the problems are exacerbated by the fact that they will have to master a completely new activity. You can find out all the details of how to care for a child only after you have done it yourself. Even caring for a little brother or sister in childhood is not considered, since the mother is still the main caregiver.

A young mother should know that the room in which her baby will live needs to be taken care of in advance. Then you will know for sure that after being discharged from the hospital, you will immediately return to a cozy nest.


The nursery should be not only bright and interesting for the baby, but also comfortable for the mother. After all, the first year the baby will actually not care where the wardrobe and chest of drawers are and under which wall the toys are laid out. But the mother needs everything necessary to always be at hand and could not accidentally injure the baby.

Prepare a room for the baby with his father. The choice of wallpaper and furniture color is only a small part of the preparation. The expectant mother should know that there is no need to put a lot of furniture in the room or hang heavy curtains. Everything needs to be arranged so that it is possible to quickly clean up and not collect excess dust. Therefore, avoid carpets with long pile and flowering plants.

  1. Umbilical wound. While mother and baby are in the hospital, a nurse takes care of the navel. Be sure to watch what and how she does, because at home you will have to carry out all the procedures yourself.
    Traditionally, the navel is treated with peroxide and brilliant green twice a day. In the meantime, the wound has not healed, use special diapers. But if the navel does not heal for a long time, has changed color or has discharge from it, be sure to consult a doctor.
  2. Diaper change. The process itself is not difficult. But the expectant mother needs to know that after each diaper change, the baby needs to be washed and wiped with a soft towel.
  3. We wash the baby boiled water at room temperature. To do this, take cotton pads and wipe the face. Wash your eyes especially carefully, and use a new cotton pad for each.
  4. Cleaning a newborn's nose need to be very careful. It is better to twist a piece of cotton wool into a tourniquet or use special cotton swabs, but by no means ordinary ones. If the crusts in the nose are dry, drip 1 drop of saline or saline into each nostril.
  5. baby ears you need to clean not only inside, but also outside. Be especially careful to treat behind the ears, as irritation often begins there. Never push the cotton too far into the ear. Firstly, you can damage the ear canal or push the wax only deeper. It is better to rinse the ears with a cotton pad, but be careful not to get water into the ear canal.
  6. bathe the baby you need in a warm room (about 25 degrees) without drafts. The average water temperature is 37 degrees. While bathing, place the back of your baby's head in your palm and lightly wash it from top to bottom. After bathing, you can not intensively wipe the baby, it is better to slightly blot it with a soft towel.
  7. Children can trim their nails as early as three weeks. On the hands they are cut in a semicircle, and on the legs - in a straight line with special scissors.

In addition to hygiene, buying soft baby clothes and carefully planned meals, mom should not forget about herself. The general rules for the care and feeding of the baby will be told to you in the maternity hospital. But there no one will warn you what you personally will feel.

  • Constant fatigue. The most important thing was added to the usual household chores - caring for the baby. Do not try to do everything and become an ideal. It will be much more pleasant for the baby to see a cheerful mother, and not a shaggy, evil aunt with bruises under her eyes. Do not neglect the achievements of civilization (napkins, diapers, ready-made baby food) and make your work in the kitchen easier with small household appliances.
  • postpartum depression. The constant cycle of worries and their monotony lead to emotional breakdowns. Talk heart to heart with your husband and ask him to help you more, or consult a specialist.
  • Relations with her husband begin to deteriorate. All your attention will be given to the baby. But do not forget that even though you became parents, you did not cease to be husband and wife. In this case, the husband should help you at the first opportunity and make life easier.


 Clothing for the newborn also needs to be taken care of in advance. It is unacceptable to use clothes made of coarse fabrics with many fasteners, studs and zippers. In addition, you should pay attention to the seams in the clothes - they should not be rough, and ideally they should be on the outside. Currently, there are no problems with the selection of clothes for babies.

It is important to pay attention to how the child is dressed. Parents should always follow the rule - put on a child one more layer of clothing than yourself. You can check whether a child is hot or cold with a simple test - check the back of his head. If it is cold, the baby is cold, if it is hot or sweaty, it is necessary to undress the baby.

Umbilical wound care

In the maternity hospital, the navel is cared for by medical staff, but after discharge, in most cases, the umbilical wound does not have time to heal. Doctors advise using brilliant green, hydrogen peroxide and sterile cotton swabs when caring for the navel. If you follow this advice, then there will be no problems in processing. Hydrogen peroxide is great for removing crusts, after which it is necessary to constantly treat with brilliant green until the umbilical wound is completely dry. It is necessary to carry out this procedure 2 times a day.

Until the umbilical wound has healed, it is necessary to use special diapers with a notch under the navel. This condition must be observed - this will help to avoid unnecessary trauma to the umbilical wound. In the event that the navel does not heal within 2 weeks, or if redness or discharge appears at any time, you should immediately contact a specialist for help.

Hygiene procedures

Wash your baby after every diaper change. It would seem a simple procedure, but even here there are difficulties and nuances. It is worth remembering that boys and girls are washed away in different ways. When washing, it is better not to use soap, and if you decide to use it, it is better to choose a neutral one. It is most convenient to wash the baby in the sink, and for your convenience, you need to put a special container for dirty diapers and a towel within reach.

When washing girls, the baby must be held up with her tummy. When washing, you should be extremely delicate. When washing boys, everything is easier - the child can be held as convenient, but you can not touch the foreskin of the child.

How to wash a newborn?

For washing use boiled water at room temperature and cotton pads. With moistened cotton balls, it is necessary to gently wipe each eye, while a separate cotton pad must be used for each eye. It is necessary to wipe the eyes from the outer edge to the inner. After washing, it is necessary to dry the face of the crumbs with a clean handkerchief.

How to clean the nose?

Before proceeding with the direct cleaning of the nose, it is necessary to soften the crusts. To do this, use saline or saline solution, 1 drop in each nostril. After you have dripped the solution, you must wait for a while. Just during this time, the baby can sneeze, and the crusts can come out on their own. In order to remove the remaining crusts, it is necessary to twist the cotton turundas. Cotton swabs are strictly prohibited!
Cotton turundas must be slowly screwed into the nasal passage and then also carefully removed. You can not clean both nostrils at once or let go of the cotton flagellum - the baby can inhale it.

How to clean ears?

The ears of the little one are also treated with cotton swabs and discs. Do not allow water to enter the child's ear canal. When processing, it is necessary to process not only the auricle, but also behind it. Desquamated epithelium often accumulates behind the ear, which contributes to the development of irritation.

In case of excess sulfur in the ear canal, it is also removed with cotton turundas. At the same time, they should not be pushed too deep, so as not to push the sulfur deeper, or not to damage the delicate shell of the ear canal.

bathing baby

Before you start bathing the baby, you need to create some conditions, so there should be no drafts in the room where the baby will bathe. The air temperature should be around 25º, but not lower than 21º. For bathing, you need to choose a time that is convenient not only for parents, but also for the child. The best time to bathe your baby is in the evening when the baby is less active. Subsequently, bathing is best done at the same time - this will help the baby adapt more easily.

Items and means of hygiene

Even if during pregnancy you read all the books about children that you could reach, anyway, upon returning from the hospital, you will probably feel as if an alien has suddenly settled in the apartment. Today, few people have experience with infants before having their own children. The main thing is to remember that soon you will learn to understand the child a little better. Rest when you can, watch your diet and allow yourself to treat this strange creature like a normal, strong and healthy person with very little life experience. Do not be nervous over trifles!

Having thoroughly wrinkled in the birth canal, children are swollen, with bruises, with red eyes; skinny, with thin and long arms and legs; with scaly red skin, a scattering of pimples, or with black silky hair on the ears. Do not worry, after a couple of months the baby will smooth out, eat fat, and excess hair will fall out. By the age of three months, most babies finally look like model baby photographs. However, some are beautiful right away, but be prepared for anything.

Newborns sleep a lot

The first 2-3 weeks of his life, the child spends 16-20 hours in a dream, interrupted by food, soiling diapers and trying to understand what is happening around. Getting ready for with a baby, you might be surprised. Use this opportunity to recover after childbirth, sleep yourself! By the third week, many begin to have colic, with which everyone struggles with varying degrees of success, and that's when all the fun begins.

Babies make sounds all the time

They sneeze, sniff, creak, scurry. Most often, the cause of sneezing is too dry air in the apartment, causing the mucus in the nose to dry out and the appearance of familiar boogers. A child with boogers can become a real tyrant, because the nasal passages of a newborn are narrow and tortuous, and without nasal breathing it becomes difficult to eat and sleep, which the child honestly reports with the only means available during this period - screaming. The way out is air humidifiers and instillation into the nose of saline or its analogues “with the water of some sea”, of which there is darkness in any pharmacy.

Hiccups are rarely caused by hypothermia.

The most obvious cause of hiccups in a newborn is air entering the stomach during feeding or. A full stomach presses on the diaphragm, the nerve endings of which are irritated, send an impulse to the brain and immediately receive a response back - the diaphragm begins to contract often, often, while the lungs grab air, producing a specific sound. You can hold the baby in a “column” so that he burps. The child himself does not suffer from hiccups, although sometimes it lasts a very long time and prevents him from falling asleep.

It is not necessary to bathe a newborn

Of course, bathing a baby is a pleasant process for everyone, but it is during the neonatal period that it is complicated by an umbilical wound, which is not recommended to be wetted. Here you can get out: bathe in a small baby bath, in boiled water, or you can simply wash it after defecation under the tap or wipe it with a damp baby wipe until the umbilical wound overgrows. Then - complete freedom, bathe as much as you like.

newborns can swim

The sight of a baby floating in a bathtub can completely change your ideas about a child's adaptability to the outside world. It's really impressive. Unfortunately, the umbilical wound greatly complicates the child's acquaintance with water. However, after 3-5 weeks, he will still be able to swim, later the ability will be lost without training. If you take the trouble to accustom the child to an inflatable circle or free swimming, it will be possible to let him into a large bath, and sit next to him and be touched. It is categorically impossible to leave a child in the bathroom unattended, either with a circle, or even in an inflatable spacesuit as a whole.

Breast milk will be as it should be

The child will receive all the trace elements needed at the moment, even if you eat poorly and irregularly. Your body's resources will be enough to compensate for the shortcomings of your diet for the first 2-3 months. The child will definitely receive calcium, you must choose from where: from your teeth or from the cottage cheese you ate.

Sterile cleanliness around the newborn is not needed

Of course, you should wash your hands with soap and, if possible, limit your child's contact with snotty relatives. But daily boiling, sterilizing and washing everything around with bleach is superfluous. With elementary household bacteria, the child's body must learn to cope on its own.

Don't lick a baby's pacifier

You can just rinse it, wipe it with a damp cloth, pour boiling water over it if you are very afraid of germs, but does it really occur to someone that your saliva can neutralize something other than visible debris? If you are absolutely confident in the health of your and your partner's teeth, don't smoke, drink enough fluids - okay, lick (I'm still against it!).

Don't try to make your breast milk fatter

No need to eat sour cream instead of kefir while breastfeeding. Most of the calories will likely end up on your sides, and full-fat milk will be harder for your baby to suck out and much harder to digest. In the first month, the child should gain only 600 grams. Despite the fact that it is traditionally customary for us to brag about well-fed babies, it will be difficult for you to carry it yourself, and all physical activity is given to a chubby child with great difficulty.

Babies are born with a specific set of reflexes

There are about 75 of them in total, it is absolutely not necessary to know everything, but the following look pretty funny:

  • Sucking reflex - the child begins to rhythmically suck on any object that is in his mouth: your nose, chin, collarbone, knee. Hungry babies are furious and picky.
  • The hug reflex - with a sudden noise, for example, a loud clap next to the child, he first takes the arms to the sides, while opening his fists, and then, as it were, covers himself with his arms.
  • Reflex of support, straightening and automatic walking - if the child supported under the arms is placed on a support, he straightens the body and stands on half-bent legs on a full foot; if it is slightly tilted forward, then it makes stepping movements on the surface.
  • Babinski's reflex - if you run your fingertip along the outer edge of the sole of the baby in the direction from the heel to the fingers, then they fan out.
  • Grasping reflex (monkey) - when pressed on the palm of a newborn, he grabs and firmly holds the fingers put into his palm. The child can even be raised in this way above the support.

Healthy skin does not need to be smeared with anything

If your baby is not irritated, the multi-step diaper change routines (remove, wash buttocks, dry, sprinkle with powder, cream, put on a new diaper) can and should be simplified. You really only need to rinse your ass or wipe it with a damp cloth and dry it. If there is irritation, there can be a great many reasons: too many clothes under which the child sweats corny, too much baby cream that clogs the pores of the diaper and prevents the rapid absorption of secretions, poor-quality diapers, errors in the mother's diet. The easiest way to soothe a little irritation is to leave the child to ventilate more often with a bare, clean booty. If the skin of the armpits and under the diaper is noticeably redder than the rest of the body, the problem is overheating. No need to stop using diapers, it is better to reduce the temperature in the apartment or wear less clothes.

Baby poop is very different from adult poop.

This fact must simply be accepted. While the baby is eating, growing and sleeping (that is, doing everything that a newborn is supposed to do), the contents of his diaper can be anything. Any color and consistency. If you are breastfeeding, there may be no stool for 2-4 days at all, and this is also the norm: milk is absorbed completely. The motherly “I don’t like our poop” is perhaps the bread and butter of probiotic makers. Don't like it, don't eat it.

There are no identical children

Comparing your child to someone else's is not the best thing to do. Compare it with the norms of development at the current age, this is quite enough. A child is born with character, usually the character of the next of kin. Perhaps you will finally have the opportunity to look at yourself from the outside in some way. Relax and receive.

The minds of young children are in one of six states: silent sleep, active sleep, drowsiness, quiet wakefulness, active wakefulness, and crying.

Silent wakefulness initially accounts for about 10% of a child's day, but you will look forward to those moments of quiet attention during which you begin to really connect with him. Enjoy them, keep them in your memory, and if you have time, write down your impressions in a diary. Week after week, you will notice that the child is more awake and that he has amazing achievements in many different areas.

Vision

During the first few weeks, the child focuses better on objects that are 20-40 centimeters from his face. You may find that he is holding out his hand, carefully examining his fist. He will give preference to studying simple, contrasting, black-and-white) objects, such as stripes, checks or spirals, or a face bent over him. He can stare intently at the small unbreakable mirror attached to his crib. But his favorite subjects for detailed study will be faces that are thirty centimeters from his eyes. For several weeks he will not return smiles, but he simply needs to see them, and the more the better.

At first, the baby will be able to follow an object with his eyes for a very short time. Practice it by bringing your face or some bright object close to it and slowly moving it from side to side. In about two months, he will already be able to stop looking at objects that are attractive to him. He will be interested in more complex shapes, and he will be able to hold his head well enough to focus on simple, contrasting objects hung in front of him in the crib. By three months, he will begin to distinguish objects that are further away, and recognize you from a distance of several meters.

When the first weeks pass, the baby will begin to distinguish colors. At first, he will prefer bright, very contrasting colors. Ironically, but the soft colors that are usually used in the design of children's rooms, at first, the baby is completely uninteresting. Several months must pass before his color vision is so developed that he begins to distinguish the whole palette of colors and all the variety of shades.

From time to time, all children, learning to follow moving objects with their eyes, mow slightly. But if it turns out that the child often mows when he reaches six months, you need to show him to the pediatrician and ophthalmologist. If a baby's eyes are constantly sending two images to the brain instead of one, and the brain doesn't match them, the result is amblyopia, or "lazy eye" (lack of binocular vision).

Hearing

Different newborns are sensitive to sounds to varying degrees. Some are able to sleep peacefully through a heavy thunderstorm, while others are frightened when a cat crosses the road a block from your house. If it is very noisy around, the child can noticeably reduce activity: a protective mechanism is triggered that protects the baby's brain from overload. And although there is no need to maintain complete silence in the house, you still need to monitor the noise level: it should not, for example, exceed the volume level of a calm conversation of two or three people. If you want to go to a stadium or a concert that is full of people and very noisy, leave your child at home.

After a few weeks, the baby will begin to show attention to certain sounds, especially the voices of people who constantly surround him.

By two months, he may, having heard your voice, begin to look for you with his eyes. He can also make it clear - with the help of some movements and facial expressions - that he recognizes sounds that are familiar and pleasant to him. When your baby hits three months, you will notice that he turns his head to new interesting sounds, say, to the jingle of a bell. However, if the sounds are repeated all the time, he will get used to them and stop paying attention to them.

Smell

A very young child reacts to many odors and by the end of the first week of life distinguishes the smell of the mother's breast from the smell of the breast of another woman.

Touch

We all react strongly to all kinds of touches, but young children are especially sensitive to them. They are frightened by bumping into rough, rough surfaces, they react sharply to changes in temperature - especially if their skin comes into contact with something cold. Carrying, stroking, light slapping can calm crying, but do not resort to them just to calm tears. Touch is an important evidence of love, it will nourish the feelings of the child until he learns to understand words. They should become for him the same integral part of the day as feeding.

The early achievements of the child precede his true socialization. And it will most likely begin precisely when you begin to wonder if all this breastfeeding, endless changing of diapers and constant care have any meaning for the baby. One day, just after feeding, you suddenly notice a faint resemblance to a smile on a small face. Did the baby really smile or was he just tormented by gases? Maybe both, or maybe neither, but you still get the feeling that on a hot day you breathed in a breath of cool air. Suddenly, at the age of four to six weeks, all doubts will disappear: you will bend over the baby, and his face will light up with a big smile. "And when the baby smiles a second time, you will be equally delighted, because now you will know for sure that he has reached an important developmental milestone. .

In the next month, you will begin to catch the smiles of the baby in response to your own, to the cooing, to the words addressed to him. You will notice his special, joyful movements with which he will respond to the sound of familiar voices: he will turn his head and begin to look for loved ones with his eyes. Your first "conversations" will be even more enjoyable. In about two months, hearing your quiet, soothing words, the baby will begin to coo. At this age, he cannot understand the content of your speeches, but the very sound of your voice will tell him a lot.

Even at such a young age, a child may show some selectivity. He will not honor everyone with a wide smile and joy in his voice. Most likely, this is how he will react to the most familiar faces and voices. The child is already beginning to distinguish people who play an important role in his life, and if someone wants to fall into this category, then he will have to tinker with the crumbs for some time. This is especially important for dads, who usually find it much more difficult to communicate with a writhing two-month-old creature than with an older baby who loves to “wrestle” on the carpet, throw a ball or play tag. Mothers weighing the pros and cons of returning to work must consider how much time the child will have to spend with other people in her absence.

Height, weight and movement

Children in the first ten days of their lives lose (and then gain) several tens of grams - about one-tenth of their birth weight. Further, you can expect that the child will add 20-30 grams daily, or 0.5-1 kilogram per month. In a month, it will grow a little less than one and a half centimeters. Here, of course, options are possible - it all depends on how he eats, and on heredity, which will ultimately determine who your offspring will look like - a ballerina or a football defender. During each medical examination, the baby will be weighed, his height and head circumference will be measured, and all these data will be entered into the medical record - they are very important in order to draw conclusions about whether the baby is developing correctly.

In the first three months, you will notice how much the baby's movements have changed. Immediately after birth, he thrashed and flailed his arms and legs, his chin could twitch and his hands tremble. Many of his movements are still reflexive - for example, sucking and grabbing. In addition, you can observe a tonic neck reflex: if the child's head is turned to one side, then the arm on this side will become tense, and the other, on the contrary, will relax, as if the baby is going to fencing. If you carefully hold the baby upright, supporting the head, and then lower it down so that his feet touch a hard surface, he will take several steps. This "walking" has nothing to do with how soon the baby actually walks, and the so-called walking reflex disappears by two months. But still, when he is awake and active, he will work his legs quite vigorously, lying on his back or on his stomach.

The movements of the arms and legs will gradually become less jerky and seem almost conscious to you. Between two and three months, most of the time, the baby's fists will already be open, and he will begin to bring his hands to the court or to his face, so that it looks like he is carefully studying them. He will not yet have good enough coordination to accurately reach the object of interest to him, although he will not fail to firmly hold in his fist the thing that can fit there. And you have to help the baby to let her go.

At two months, he will learn to control his neck muscles so well that, lying on his back, he will keep his head in one position. He will be able to briefly lift it and turn it from side to side. But he will learn to hold his head correctly only by three to four months, so you must definitely hold it when you pick him up and wear him.

Other people in a child's life

Since it is very important that you handle the newborn carefully and correctly, it is necessary to supervise older children when they interact with him. They need to be warned in advance - in the language they understand - that they will soon have a new brother or sister. It probably makes sense to give them the opportunity to greet the newborn when the mother is still in the maternity hospital. In very young children, amazement at the new tiny swarming little man is mixed with fear - will there be enough love in the house for everyone.

Looking at how everyone oohs and aahs at a toddler, a preschool child may decide that the best way to get attention is to act like a baby. You may find him climbing into a crib, or he may suddenly forget how to use the potty. Instead of wasting energy on correcting an older child's behavior, take the time to focus on his abilities and point out some of the advantages of his age. (“You are such a big boy now - you can go to the park and swing on a swing! And your sister is too small for that.”) He needs confirmation that he is special and unique, and he definitely needs to be alone with mom and dad. If mom is very tired or recovering from a difficult birth, then dad and grandparents should be ready to take on this task.

In the same way (if not more) it is important to protect the baby from children who are not very experienced in the art of caring for newborns. Preschoolers who really want to touch and stroke their little brother or sister should be shown how to do this without touching his eyes, nose and mouth. It is necessary to make them firmly understand that they can touch the baby only in the presence of the parents. They should not be allowed to take the child in their arms, play their "adult" games with him or touch him with unwashed hands. If children have a runny nose or cough, then in no case should they approach the newborn - for this, you first need to recover.

If you notice an older sibling's behavior toward a new baby, call them in immediately, find out what's wrong, and make sure the problem (usually jealousy) has been resolved before you allow further communication. Small children, especially if they are upset about something (no matter for what reason), are quite capable of harming the baby, both understanding what they are doing and not having the slightest idea about it. Children who have already begun to walk, especially two-year-olds, are not able to understand the moral and physical reasons why they should not behave aggressively towards a newborn, although certain prohibitions need to be established unequally for them. Parents and other caregivers must be constantly on the lookout to protect the baby from older siblings who were themselves newborns not too long ago.

The same rules about colds and other acute illnesses apply to relatives and friends who may want to babysit. Since his immune system is not yet as strong as it will be in a few months, it is necessary to protect him as carefully as possible from infections. This means that, at the risk of upsetting a well-intentioned relative or friend, one must firmly insist that, since they are sick, sneezing and coughing, they need to stay as far away from the newborn as possible (because they spread the infection around them). Let it be better for adults and older children to experience temporary disappointment than for your child to catch an infection - in this case, he will have much worse. In the first two or three months of a newborn's life, you must constantly remember to avoid crowded places in general and nurseries or any infant care groups in particular, unless absolutely necessary.

If you are completely absorbed in your new duties, do not hesitate to ask well-wishers to drop by sometime later. Especially if the child is restless, you sleep little and are exhausted, keep all visits to a minimum. Hang a courteous do not disturb sign on your door and let the answering machine do the talking for you while you get some rest.

You will still have plenty of time and opportunity to show the world your overflowing joy.