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4 days old baby - poor eyesight, but great sniffles
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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When a baby turns 4 days old, he is still in the process of adapting to the world around him. For example, his skin may not be the beautiful pink color as in the pictures, but an incomprehensible yellow. This is postpartum jaundice, which will definitely pass, but after a few weeks. What else is typical for a 4-day-old baby?
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4 days old baby – sense of touch
Touch is one of the strongest senses of a child at 4 days of age. More than 80% of information about what surrounds him, the child receives through these sensations. That is why the baby should not be wrapped in hard swaddling clothes or placed on a hard surface. He feels the change of heat and cold well, so the temperature in the room should not be abrupt, but uniform, approximately up to 22 degrees C.
A newborn baby does not tolerate cold, because it was warm in its mother's womb. Therefore, when it is born, the so-called thermal dominant is very strong - the baby prefers warmth to cold.
Tactile sensations of a child at 4 days
It is very important to stroke the child more, touch him, massage him. Pediatricians believe that those children who are stroked, hugged and communicated with a lot grow much better than their peers. Massages and all kinds of stroking the child are also useful for the mother. Psychologists believe that in this way she relieves postpartum depression.
Maternal love in first-borns also awakens faster from the fact that they carry, rock and hug the baby. If you rock the baby in your arms a lot and hold it close to the mother, the baby and mother establish a close emotional connection for life. Do not be afraid to hold the baby in your arms for too long - this way, he will grow up with trust in the world around him, and will think that the world will always support him.
Baby's sense of smell at 4 days
It is very acute, it is the leading sense in the baby's impressions of the world around him. Just think: a 4-day-old baby's sense of smell is so acute that he can even turn his head away from an unpleasant smell. And, conversely, turn it towards his mother's scent. The baby's mother's scent, like that of a small animal, creates a sense of security. A little later, in just a couple of weeks, the baby develops the habit of distinguishing other smells of relatives - dad, grandma, grandpa. He recognizes them the way you recognize people through sight.
Parents should avoid smoking in the house or even basic household chemicals with a strong smell. It is not advisable for mom to use strong perfumes, and for dad to use cologne. This irritates the baby and makes him nervous. For him, this is about the same as an open bucket of paint or acetone in the house for you.
This ability of the baby can be used. As soon as the mother leaves the house, you can leave your housecoat in the stroller. Inhaling the smell of the mother, the baby will endure separation much calmer. So that parents know, this ability to distinguish the smell of the mother and calm down does not disappear in the child until he goes to school.
Baby's hearing at 4 days
A child's hearing at 4 days is very sharp, because the child's hearing as such begins to work very well already in the seventh month of the mother's pregnancy. The baby already then begins to distinguish the voice of the mother and father, despite the fact that the amniotic fluid significantly distorts it.
A 4-day-old child is afraid of unfamiliar sounds. Especially if they are sharp or at low frequencies. Therefore, it is advisable not to turn on heavy rock in the house, not to frighten the child with sharp, loud sounds - this has a negative effect on his psyche.
To please a child with his favorite sounds, it is best to sing him a lullaby. Mom will do it with pleasure. And her quiet calm voice will rock the child, this is very good for his nervous system and development.
4 days for a child – vision
An adult's vision serves him well. But a baby's vision, especially one that has just been born, is still very unstable. An adult's visual perception is the leading one. A 4-day-old baby's visual perception is an additional source of sensations and knowledge of the world, far from being the leading one.
A 4-day-old baby experiences a lot of emotions, so nature has protected its nervous system from a large number of impressions, slightly reducing the ability to see. The baby sees the world only at a distance of 20-25 cm - this is the distance at which the mother's face leans towards him during feeding or swaddling. The baby does not see further and does not distinguish faces. This happens because the visual mores of a 4-day-old baby are still very undeveloped, they will develop throughout the first year of life.
The first improvements and correction of vision will begin only after 1.5 months of the child's development. On the 6th week of life, the baby will begin to see 60 cm ahead. This is quite far, 3 times further than at birth.
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How a child feels at 4 days
A baby feels completely different in the mother's womb, as it develops in amniotic fluid. When a baby is born, it feels like we do when we've been swimming and finally come ashore. The body feels heavy, the baby can't yet use its arms and legs - it feels like foreign objects. The ability to feel the arms will appear only after about 40 days.
The body itself feels much heavier than when the baby was in the mother's belly. Of course: gravity on earth is twice as strong as gravity in water.
In addition, the need to empty the bowels, which was not there before, greatly affects the baby's psyche. It can be difficult for him, and small children often cry from pain in the tummy.
At this time, their belly button is also healing, and this can also cause some unpleasant sensations.
The taste of a child at 4 days
The taste of mother's milk is the most pleasant for a 4-day-old baby. Milk has a sweet taste, which is good. But the baby cannot perceive bitter and salty, as well as sour. If something like that gets into his mouth, he will cry and grimace.
The baby's stomach does not accept (and will not accept for a long time) anything other than mother's milk during the first 4 days. It is sweet, as already mentioned, and therefore a person will have a craving for sweets for life as a way to relieve stress.
The capacity for empathy of a child at 4 days
Empathy is the ability to sympathize, the talent to feel the same as another person. A baby instantly senses the mood of mom and dad. And if mom is upset or tired, if she is not in the best mood, then the baby can cry and be capricious, sensing her mood.
Even if someone in a bad mood or someone who is grieving comes into the room, the child immediately picks up on it and may even get sick. The strongest ability for empathy in a child is manifested at 2-3 months and 5, 6, 7 months of his life. Therefore, in order for her baby to feel calm and relaxed, the mother needs to calm down herself, especially at night, before putting the child to bed.
A 4-day-old child, as we see, is talented and unique. It is very good if parents perceive him as he is and treat all manifestations of a small fragile life with understanding.