The first month is always tough, especially to new parents as you don’t know what to expect… And as dad’s, we start asking ourselves… Why me? Are all baby’s like little screaming jukeboxes? What else do you want from me? Those type of questions were always going through my head… As I said it was really tough! But apart from all those obstacles, there are also joyful and important milestones as you see your new-born transforming into a toddler. In today’s blog, I will be writing what I went through in my first month with Sophia.
Once a baby is born, they will always take a while to settle down to their new home, why? As imagine yourself living in a cosy womb for a whole 9 months and all of a sudden…boom you’re out in a world where it’s cold and noisy, so the first 48 hours might be a bit stressful for both the newborn and yourself.
After the 48 hours are over you will see miracles going on with your baby such as growth, skills, senses start kicking in and recognition. These are amazing times, so as a suggestion to all of you out there, create memories buy a baby album, take pictures and watch your baby grow day by day!
At first, your newborn will lose 10% of their birth weight that she gained during birth and will then gain them back again in a few weeks, but if you see your child is not gaining the weight back consult your paediatrician. Roughly babies can gain around 4.5 kg in the first month, but it all varies upon the genetics of the child and also grow 1 1/2 to 2 inches so that’s a lot, my wife and I had already started wearing Sophia 2 month baby grows in her second week. Several other things will start to change such as her skull if your baby was born vaginally her head was in an elongated shape and after a week you will see it coming back to normal. Further to this some babies lose their hair (which is normal) and will start growing again in a few weeks (I wish that could also happen to me as I am losing my hair and it never grew back) Another thing you will notice is after your child’s first bath that her skin starts to shed and it looks like dry skin, this is also normal as your child will be shedding her birth skin to a new skin layer. Last but not least the umbilical cord will also fall off after 10 days, please don’t remove it as you’ll get a scolding from your wife/partner. that’s what happened to me 😂
Sophia at 1 month
Whilst your child is growing you will start seeing her developing new skills every week such as sucking on the breast which she learned as soon as she was born. The gripping, we as dads (lets say me) will always say my child is so strong, she gripped my thumb and couldn’t let go, shes from my side of the family 💪 But apart from all the jokes the grip is part of our instinct given to us through our prehistoric ancestors so the newborn will grip onto their mothers clothing whilst travelling from one place to another.
Another skill which makes me laugh every time Sophia does it is the alertness and when shes startled she flares back both her arms and feet out, this is called the Moro reflex (Yes I do my research 😂) One time Sophia was lost in another dimension and I went next to her and said “stick em up” and she put her hands up like she was being arrested, it was so funny, but don’t do it haha!
Newborns basically just eat, poop, cry and sleep mostly 15-16 hours a day, but not at one go obviously. So some dad advise is to do activities during the day and keep quiet and be boring in the evening so she will get into a habit that night time is sleepy time and not playtime.
Some interesting facts are that a newborn’s sight develops every week and in the beginning, she only sees outlines and only when you’re 8-12 inches away, but as she grows older the eyesight will become better and will develop in around 6 months.
So, in a nutshell, these are the developments for the majority of the babies:
- Slightly moving their heads from left to right
- They stare and focus at your face and any facial reactions
- Hands-on their face
- Ability to had mastered the skill of sucking when eating
- React to loud noise
A small percentage of babies may:
- Smile in response to a smile
- Mimic your facial reactions
- Vocalize in other ways to communicate
My wisdom for the week is:
- Make sure to have a lot of skin to skin to contact with your child, as your child may get used to your body smell and will feel more at ease as her sight is still poor at this stage. For example put your child on your bare chest, with her tummy towards you, she will likely feel at ease and sleep.
- Use the bicycle motion with her feet to strengthen the muscles and also may relieve gas from your child’s tummy
Dads the first months are crucial and also a bit overwhelming the important things in the first month are to keep calm, help your partner/wife and be more understanding that your child is fully dependent on you. So make sure you are around to witness the miracles of her growth and development
