Now that Baby is approaching the one-month mark, it’s a great time to reflect back on the time you’ve spent together, and all the growth and development that’s happened in less time than it takes to ship that indestructible infomercial flashlight. Baby probably still isn’t moving around too much, but they are learning new tricks every day – they'll be laughing, cooing, and banging objects together before you know it!
Of the two of you, Baby is the one doing most of the growing and developing, but that doesn’t mean they isn’t right there with you every step of the way. You help them build up their core and trunk-strength just by setting them on their belly during tummy time. You help them get familiar with language and start getting ready to learn how to speak and understand words themself by talking to them, reading to them, and singing to them. It’s during this time that Baby’s vocal skills really start coming into play. You won’t be hearing fully-formed words for a few months, but pretty soon, the cooing and gurgling should really pick up. You’ve got to walk before you can run, and you’ve got to make strange, throaty sounds before you babble uncontrollably. That’s the phrase, right?
And besides helping them with developmental milestones, you also help Baby grow up healthy and strong, by bringing them in to the doctor’s office for their scheduled vaccines.
The vaccines coming up in Baby’s near future include the Hepatitis B vaccine around the 1-month mark, and then the DTaP, Rotavirus, and Hib vaccines, among others, around 2 months. Doctors and associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC are in universal agreement that immunizations are safe and effective, and there not just to protect Baby, but also even younger babies, and those with compromised immune systems.
Baby isn’t just seeing faces these days, but is getting more and more interested in them, too. Yours, your partner’s and any others that they see on a regular basis are going to start to get very familiar to them as they become more and more able to process the more complicated, inner-structures of faces – like eyes, nose, and mouth – that make one face different than any other in the world.
Milestones
- May turn toward familiar sounds or voices: Whereas earlier, Baby tended to only notice loud, startling noises, by now, they might already be starting to notice some of the more familiar sounds that they hear. Whether your voice, the dog’s bark, or the jingle of your favorite TV show (or not), Baby is already picking up on more and more aspects of life.
- Lifts head briefly: Though not a full sit-up, Baby is probably already able to lift their head up very briefly while lying on their back.
- Brings hands to face: Many newborns do this as part of their routine jerky arm movements, without really making an effort to, but now, Baby is developing better control over their movements, and is probably able to bring their hands to their face.
