It’s a whole new world for Baby – even if they can only see things that are about 8 to 12 inches (about 20-30 cm) in front of their face so far. This limited sight range is the perfect distance for helping them get started on their first big job in life, though – bonding with you, your partner, and any other important caregivers in their life. Feeding and snuggle-time are perfect opportunities for you and Baby to lock eyes as you get the chance to breathe in that newborn smell.
Other than staring deeply into your eyes, Baby’s hobbies for the next few weeks are probably going to be mostly limited to eating, pooping, and – if you’re lucky – sleeping, but this limited schedule should give you the chance to get used to having a newborn in the house. Getting used to having a new baby around can be an adjustment, whether Baby is your first or your twenty-first.
As you get to know Baby and they get to know you, their reflexes, like the startle reflex, rooting reflex, and plantar reflex, are helping them navigate the bigger, wider world outside of the womb.
Some parents spend every waking hour during pregnancy planning and preparing and baby-proofing for their babies’ arrivals, while others take a more “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there” approach. Your baby is probably only exploring with their eyes and ears so far, but as they get older, they will grow more and more active and curious. It never hurts to get a head-start on baby-proofing. For now, though, the biggest danger will probably come from how much Baby isn’t moving: make sure there isn’t anything (including fabric) that could fall into the crib with Baby, and always supervise time with pets.
Milestone – Moves head from side to side
One of the first things anyone learns about newborns is that it’s important to support their heads, since they don’t have the neck strength to do it for themselves. You’ll still need to support Baby’s head for them for a while, but moving their head from side to side is a sign that they are already building up their neck strength.
