HOW DO NEWBORNS GROW?

Infants or newborn’s we call the babies who have just been delivered. The first few weeks after their birth we will see the babies only sleeping. An infant will sleep up to 16 –18 hours a day, getting up only for a feed or a diaper change. Many a times a mother has to literally nudge the baby to feed him. It’s an old saying many of us may also have heard it from our granny’s, do not disturb the baby while sleeping as the baby is growing. The more the baby will sleep the stronger they will be.

It is definitely not a myth, it’s a fact newborns while sleeping are growing in every way their physical body, their motor skills, their psychological and communal skills, their mental cognition, each and every aspect of their body is grasping from their environment and helping them grow.

Physical Growth –

Every day in the 1^st month you can see a change in your baby. Especially the 1^st and 2^nd week there is a rapid weight gain in the baby. Most babies are said to gain around 4 oz to 8 oz per week and about 1-1.5 inches in height in a month.

Therefore the first year of the baby is known as the swift growth period. By the time the baby is 6 months old their body weight will be twofold their birth weight, and the baby will be threefold grown by the time they turn a year old.

Not only does their body weight increase but there is a significant growth in their height and body size. Their head their chest their hands and feet all of it will be bigger and stronger. Newborns have a soft skull at birth by the 3^rd-4^th moth that too gets filled up and gets hard.

Their necks are more stable and they can hold their heads without your support.

The development of the baby also depends a lot on the mother’s health and the house environment. A happy and healthy mother will generate the same genes to the baby and a happy home will always enhance the baby’s growth. Especially mother who are breast feeding their babies please eat well nutritious food and try to stay as calm as happy as you can as your emotions will reflect a lot on your baby’s growth.

Motor Skills

Motor skills development is mostly the same in all infants. The beginning 0-3 months will only see small activities like head lifting, some kicking and hand movements. The major development of the motor skills can be seen in the 2^nd term of 3-6 months and onwards. From the 2^nd term there will be a rapid development of motor skills, it’s a great time watching your kid becoming more and more active by the day.

Psychological and Communal skills

Newborns will not showcase an immediate growth in their communal skills. The beginning trimester the only communication is high pitched crying and occasional smiles and gurgles. Newborns are said to gurgle a lot in their sleep especially after a good feed.

Smiling is a prize reserved mainly for the mother, during the awake hours playing and singing to your baby helps their psychologically growth. Development in their communal and social skills is more after the 6^th month, when their sense of recognition has grown and they start responding using their emotions.

Mental Cognition Skill-

In the early stage the babies cognition skill are quiet defined, they cry when they are hungry or uncomfortable, they smile when everything is going as per their comfort.

Their mental abilities are in the growing process and they become significant only in the later months. An infant will showcase her cognitive skills only to the mother. Their occasional smiles when held in their mother embrace or their high pitched crying suddenly stopping as soon as they are in their mothers arm .Their sense of belonging towards their mother or attachment towards their parent is the very clear in the 1^st term. After the 6^th month and onwards you will see a considerable growth in their cognitive skills.

The earlier months after your baby is born can be termed as 1^st time months. Everything is so new, their 1^st cry to their 1^st feed their 1^st gurgle their 1^st smile their 1^st yawn etc.

Every day you will see some new growth in them. These moths are much cherished periods and their memories last with you for a lifetime. Making a baby book and keeping a record of their 1^st skill is a great way to save the memory for a life time.

A beautiful phase of your life has begun dear mom enjoy every moment of it for you truly deserve it!!