Your Baby's 1 Month Developmental Milestone

In their first month, your baby will want to sleep when they are tired and feed when they are hungry. Every baby’s sleep needs are different, but most will want to feed every 2 to 3 hours and sleep in between each feed.

Though waking often during the night to feed your baby can make your brain foggy during the daylight hours it is also protective against things like SUDI (sudden unexplained death in infancy).

Sleeping on demand

Like feeding on demand, sleeping on demand does not need a set routine instead follow their natural tiredness patterns and allow them to sleep when tired. As long as they stay awake for full feeds during the day and night, are held, rocked and kept close, their needs are relatively simple.

Sleep cues

Learning your baby's sleep cues can be very helpful, especially once you can pinpoint when they’re growing tired and act quickly to get them to sleep.

Common tired signs include:

·       Fussiness.

·       Yawning.

·       Red around the eyes.

·       Rubbing their eyes.

·       Difficult to please.

·       Impossible to entertain which usually signals nap time.

Settling your baby

An unsettled baby is typically an emotional one, so an excellent way to quieten them down is by connecting with them. Enhance the emotional bond between you and your baby by engaging in gentle physical activities; cuddles, massages, or holding them as they nap are perfect for heightening your connection.

If you’re still having trouble settling your little one, try a change of scenery – a bath or going for a walk. These are great ways to calm your bub down and reduce your anxiety.

At times, it may be challenging to decipher the reason behind your baby's tears, and that's perfectly normal. It's helpful to extend kindness to yourself and your baby during these moments. You can’t spoil a baby by picking them up, cuddling them, or talking to them in a soothing voice.

Settling challenges

Babies can often be quite unsettled in the early evening, a habit that often starts in the first 2 to 3 nights after birth. This is called cluster feeding, a form of frequent feeding, where your baby may fuss a lot and resist sleep unless held or fed.

While cluster feeding is a normal newborn behaviour, it can be stressful and exhausting for parents. Be sure to get enough rest where possible, such as taking naps during the day. Don’t hesitate to rely on your support network when needed to ensure you are getting enough rest.

If you ca, aim to sleep when your baby sleeps to improve your energy reserves, for day feeding and night waking. Call on your  support network  during these difficult times to top up that water bottle, cook a nutritious meal, or do some laundry. 

The first four weeks of your little one’s life can bring you unimaginable joy! You may start to notice some amazing new skills you can add to their “first milestones” list!  Though every baby develops at a different rate there are some fairly predictable patterns.

Growth

A good indicator of your baby’s overall health and nutrition is their growth. Keeping in mind that every baby develops at their own pace. On average, they will typically gain around 0.7 to 0.9 kg and grow by 2.5 to 4 cm in length during the first month. Their head circumference tends to increase by about 1.25 cm each month.

It's completely normal for babies to lose 5% to 7% of their birth weight in the first week after birth. Most healthy babies typically recover this weight within 10 to 14 days.

Your healthcare professional, whether it's your maternal child health nurse or doctor, will regularly track your baby's growth by plotting it on a growth chart. Remember, babies come in various shapes and sizes, and your little one might be larger or smaller than others.

Physical 

By one month, most babies improve their mouth and grasp reflexes, gain better head control, and strengthen their back and neck muscles.

At 1 month, babie operate mainly on reflexes mainly sucking, swallowing, and searching for milk. They can grasp objects in their palms, however often their little fists are tightly clenched. Short, supervised sessions on their tummy can encourage the development of their fine motor skills. Two to three, 3-minute tummy time sessions daily can help increase head control.

How to tummy time

Start by placing your baby in a safe, clean, and comfortable area on the floor or keep them on your chest as you lay back. As their back and neck muscles strengthen, they’ll start to hold up their head and then turn their head to one side.

Cognitive

Newborns often respond to loud sounds by startling or crying with back arching, kicking legs and flailing arms. With this improvement in hearing, your baby's head may turn towards you when they recognise a familiar voice or want to be comforted.

 Emotional

Babies often turn their heads or respond when they recognise familiar faces, you may even notice them start to follow you with their eyes as you move around. And welcome to that adorable cooing noises they make.

While a newborn baby may not be able to speak in words, there are plenty of clever ways they can communicate with you. It is important to pay attention to their wordless cues to understand their physical and emotional needs, and to know exactly what you can give them as their caregiver. You can expect:

·       Cute cooing sounds.

·       Cries to communicate everything.

·       Smacks lips and turns head to the side to find a breast when hungry.

·       Yawns and arches back when overstimulated.

Social

Your baby may start to experiment with their facial expressions, such as raising their eyebrows or widening their eyes. Take lots of photos and videos so you can remember these cute faces!

Sees the world

At birth, your baby perceives the world in black and white, with shades of grey as the nerve cells that control colour vision are still developing. But their eyesight develops quickly. At one week after birth, they can see red, orange, yellow and green.

During this time, babies can roughly see objects like your face and will get to recognise you from the shape and hairline. They will start to gaze at objects that slowly moving towards and away from their faces. One eye may occasionally drift inward or outward from proper alignment this is normal unless the misalignment is persistent.

Babies can’t see colour as vividly as they can when they get older, but they love looking at high contrast patterns. Check in with your local library about borrowing high contrast books or you can purchase online or in most bookstores. 

Every baby is a small miracle on their own journey. In the first 1000 days of life your baby’s brain develops faster than any other time in their life. All these early moments you spend playing, cuddling, feeding, and interacting with your baby help them learn, grow, and reach their developmental milestones.

Milestones to monitor

While it's completely natural for parents to eagerly anticipate each developmental milestone, it's crucial to approach this journey with empathy and understanding. Trust your instincts as a parent, and remember that love, care, and attention are vital elements in nurturing your baby's overall well-being.

Premature Babies

For parents of premature babies, it's important to acknowledge that these little warriors may require some additional time to reach developmental milestones. Healthcare professionals often use the due date rather than their birth date to track the baby's development until they are 2 or 3 years old. This adjusted timeline ensures a more accurate assessment.

Every baby is unique

Babies typically reach developmental milestones around expected ages, and if not, they catch up soon. It's important to remember that each little one is on their unique timeline. Some babies might reach milestones a bit earlier or later, and that's perfectly okay.

If you notice your child hasn't reached certain milestones within a few weeks of the average, don't hesitate to share your observations with your registered midwife, child health nurse in Australia, Well Child nurse in NZ or your doctor for advice. Your concerns matter and open and honest communication with the right people is key.

If your newborn returns to its birth weight in the first 2 weeks, can hear loud sounds, and your baby's eyes can track you, it's a good start. However, if you think your baby's crying is excessive or not sure if they are getting enough milk, it can be beneficial to check in with your registered midwife, child health nurse or GP to ensure your baby's emotional development and physical development are on track.

Each healthcare practitioner will have slightly different requirements so speak to them about when they would like to see you and your baby.

Typically, a practitioner will:

·       Weigh and measure your baby

·       Check newborn reflexes 

●      Check your feeding and provide support and suggestions 

●      Check how you are healing after the birth 

●      Check in with your mental wellbeing

●      Keep an eye on those developmental milestones

●      Discuss the relevant immunisations available and the timing each one is due   

Excessive crying

If your baby is crying more than usual and you cannot find a reason, this may be a sign of colic. Colic is defined as excessive crying in an otherwise healthy baby for more than 3 hours on at least 3 days of the week. This excessive crying is often worse in the late afternoon or early evening. Colic occurs in 1 in 5 young babies and may start at around the 1 month age.

Holding your baby skin to skin, using a sling or front pack, may help to keep your baby settled and still give you ease of movement.  See our tips on how to settle a colicky baby  here.If your baby is persistently crying for more than 3 hours a day, reach out to your healthcare professional for advice and support.

This period can be overwhelming. If you and/or your partner are struggling and need someone to talk to, there are support services available such as:

·       Your registered midwife

·       Child health nurse or Well Child nurse

·       General practitioner (GP)

·       PANDA helpline: 1300 726 306 (AUS)

·       Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (NZ).