Zippypedia

02/06/2011

Until 4 months

The baby's first months are ones of discovery, whether for parents who want to do everything right and for the baby, who's just starting to discover the world!

During his first month, the baby keeps acting as if he was still inside his mother, he barely opens his eyes and stays in a foetal position. That's how he feels most comfortable. In this stage, there's still a fairly significant need to sleep, even if it varies from baby to baby. Meals are taken between eight and twelve times a day, and they play a notable part in keeping the baby comfortable, without, of course, forgetting the part played by his mother's irreplaceable scent.

After two months it's time to wake up and stretch the little legs...he kicks and even for just a few seconds tries to raise his head. He starts following strong colours with his eyes and pays more attention to familiar sounds and voices. To everyone's delight, at this stage it's not very difficult to get a smile out of him.

Three months have passed, and now the baby's smile grows stronger, more confident. He's just discovered his hands, now he wants to play...if you give him a toy you'll see how strong his grip is. Beware, though, that it should be a soft toy, seeing as his movement control is minimal and it won't take much for him to hit his own face with it. The number of meals is now notably inferior, as are the hours he sleeps.

With four months the baby already controls his head, and holds it up when held upside down. And everything he can grab or get his hands on will end up in his mouth. Feet are his most recent discovery, and he'll begin to make stronger sounds to get your attention. We should, however, mention that children are not all alike, and even at this stage in their development they might show different traits without it meaning there's any kind of problem.