Are you expecting your newborn happily and yet anxiously at the same time?
We certainly understand you. Being a mother for the first time can put us into tremendous stress as we are always concerned whether our newborns are on a par with others of similar age in terms of growth and development.
Instead of feeling in distress, here’s what you can expect during your newborn’s first few weeks.
Newborn Development Milestones: Week by Week
Week 1
Key Milestones
- lose around 5% to 10 % of their birth weight during their first week.
- weigh between 2.5 kilograms to 4.3 kilograms and measure 8.1 cm to 10 cm long.
- lift his head briefly on his tummy
1-Week Old: Feeding
You can feed your one-week-old baby with formula or breast milk at least every two to three hours. If you wonder how much should a 1-week-old eat, you can feed him about two to three ounces of formula once every three to four hours.
As for breastfeeding, it’s common to have the feeding around 20 to 40 minutes. However, your baby would naturally stop once he’s full. If you pump your breast milk in advance, you can feed your one-week-old baby about two to three ounces per feeding.
1-Week Old: Sleep
Your newborn is also tired during the labour process! So, it is common that he sleeps most of the day, around 16 to 20 hours.
Though our one-week-old usually sleeps around two to four hours at a time, they will wake up anytime around the clock. This happens as he has not learnt to differentiate day and night. You can try to get the baby to play during the day and to relax during night time to ease the process.
Week 2
Key Milestones
- use his sweet little eyes to watch his surroundings
- suck his thumb for calming purpose
- umbilical cord will fall off and he’s ready for the first bath
Additionally, don’t be surprised if you see your baby’s umbilical cord stump turns black. This is a natural process where the stump would dry up and fall off.
2-Week Old: Feeding
You can continue your feeding routine similarly to the first week. Or, you can always feed your baby when he cries. He knows when he is hungry.
For your reference, you should breastfeed your baby eight to twelve times during a 24-hour period.
2-Week Old: Sleep
Your two-week-old baby will continue his sleeping routine around 16 hours a day. They might still wake up anytime around the clock, so do get some help if you need more time to rest while the baby is awake.
Bathing Your Newborn
Looking into bathing your newborn, you should give your baby a sponge bath until:
- the circumcision heals (around 1 to 2 weeks)
- the umbilical cord falls off and the navel heals completely (around 1 to 4 weeks)
How many times should you bathe your newborn then? Around two to three times a week in the first year will do, as your newborn’s skin will become dry due to frequent bathing.
Mind that you should never leave your newborn alone throughout the bath. If you need to leave the bathroom, make sure you wrap your baby in a towel and take him or her with you.
Week 3
Key Milestones
- can communicate his needs through different types of baby cries
- can lift their heads up to 45 degrees.
3-Week Old: Feeding
Coming into the third week, your baby will notify you when to feed him through crying, lip smacking or even turning his head to search for a nipple.
As for the formula servings, you can increase it to three to four ounces for every three to four hours. Try your best to feed your baby at least once before every five hours. Even, it means to wake him up to feed him.
For breastfed baby, you can sustain your feeding routine at about eight to twelve times for a 24-hour period.
3-Week Old: Sleep and Daily Schedule
Similarly in his second week, your three-week-old baby will sleep for 16 hours per day. Mind that some may get up earlier. Continue your effort to make the day time more playful and the night time more boring. With this, your baby will be able to build a better sleeping routine throughout the night.
On the side note, you can get your baby to enjoy more tummy time.
Handling Your Newborn
As new parents, we wish to shower our newborn with abundance of love, yet we are intimidated by their fragility.
Worry not, here are some takeaway points when you are handling your newborn.
Always remember to be gentle and avoid shaking or jiggling your newborn on the knee. With this, you will be able to handle your newborn well.
Week 4
Key Milestones
- experience growth spurts.
- can look at a soft toy and a person in front of him due to improved vision.
4-Week Old: Feeding
If you are feeding your four-week-old with formula, you can further increase the servings into four ounces for every hour hours. On the other hand, you can breastfeed your baby every two to three hours until he’s full.
Or you can feed your baby with 25 ounces of breast milk per day.
4-Week Old: Sleep And Daily Schedule
Generally, your four-week-old baby will continue to sleep for around 15 to 16 hours per day. With around three daytime naps, he would enjoy an eight and a half hours of sleep during night time. [Mind that he would still wake up in the midnight.]
Playing With Your Newborn
Since we can’t be rough with our newborns, does it mean we can just look at our newborns without having any interactive activities?
Absolutely not! Here are 6 ideas that you can try out with your newborn where you can bring him along to experience the world around him.
Basically, playing with your newborn is all about the interactions between you and your newborn. Enjoy yourselves as it’s only play when it’s fun!
Your Newborn Needs Your Parental Confidence
While feeling exhausted over taking care of your newborn, don’t forget to savour every cuddle, feeding and skin-to-skin attachment. Simply watch and witness how he achieves the newborn development milestones as time passes.
As the process of caring and bonding would take some time to grow and improve, believe in yourself that you are capable of providing your newborn the consistent care he needs.
You are the best for your newborn!
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