Baby 1 month: development and care

A 1-month-old baby is a long-awaited little miracle that brings joy, but also a lot of trouble and anxiety to new parents. The mother is worried about literally everything - whether she is feeding the baby correctly, whether he is developing normally, whether the baby is getting enough milk and sleep, what the regime should be, and so on. In fact, a 1-month-old baby, compared to a six-month-old, is a baby who eats and sleeps.

Many mothers of grown children recall with humor those days when the child could be fed on time, and the rest of the time he indulged in sleep. Several months will fly by unnoticed, and the mother will have something to do besides feeding and swaddling: the older the baby, the more active and curious he is, constant supervision and minute-by-minute control are necessary. A child of 1 month is, of course, no less a responsible period, but it fits into the observance of relatively simple rules:

• Regular, complete feeding.
• Long sleep.
• Hygiene procedures – bathing, treating the crust on the umbilical cord and parietal crust, reasonable ventilation of the room.

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Baby 1 month - sleep, wakefulness and feeding schedule

In order to adapt to an unfamiliar world, completely different from the cozy and familiar intrauterine one, the baby needs to sleep a lot. The entire first week after the birthday, the child sleeps almost without waking up. The mother should not be afraid of this phenomenon, such a long sleep is considered normal. The second week is marked by regular awakenings of the baby, but the sleep remains long - from 18 to 20 hours a day. Modern pediatrics is becoming more democratic towards babies in terms of swaddling, unlike the rules of fifty years ago, when the child was pulled into a tight bundle with swaddling clothes, today the baby is allowed to lie and sleep in a position in which he is comfortable, convenient. As a rule, a 1-month-old child lies on his back, his arms and legs are bent and spread out, his pose resembles a small frog. The baby's sleep can be of different depths: if the baby falls into a deep sleep, his breathing evens out, if the baby is 1 month old and in a shallow sleep, he can twitch his arms, move his eyes under closed eyelids, sneeze and yawn. There is no need to worry, this is a completely normal physiological adaptation. When the baby wakes up, he usually needs to be fed. Often, right during a meal, the baby falls into a sleepy state again. Usually, at this age, a healthy and well-fed baby of 1 month is silent, if he starts crying or twitching his arms and legs during wakefulness, then something is bothering him. The mother needs to check the diaper, the condition of the baby's skin, perhaps he is worried about irritation, diaper rash. Also, in the first month, it is advisable to independently establish a feeding regimen to which the little person should get used. To date, pediatricians have not come to a consensus on the feeding regimen. Some support the method of feeding on demand, that is, without a specific time frame. Others, on the contrary, insist on following a strict time regime, explaining it by the properties of the digestive tract. Perhaps the mother will choose something in between feeding without a regime and following strict time frames. Nevertheless, it is worth observing at least the norm in the amount of food. It is one fifth of the initial weight of the baby, that is, a 1-month-old child weighing 4 kilograms should drink about 750 ml of breast milk per day. The norm for one intake is also calculated simply: 750 ml is divided by the number of feedings. The baby can swallow air during feeding, since the sucking reflex has existed since birth, and the skill of proper swallowing has not yet been developed. That is why after each meal, the baby should be given the opportunity to remove excess air from the esophagus, that is, burp. This is done simply: the baby is held vertically after feeding, "in a column". A typical sign of the formation of the baby's digestive system is colic, flatulence. This is how the gastrointestinal system begins the process of forming its functions.To neutralize digestive discomfort, the baby is given special dill water to drink, prepared independently or purchased at a pharmacy. A delicate massage of the tummy will not be superfluous, it should be gently stroked clockwise. Also, the mother should have a special tube for gas removal in the medicine cabinet. The parameters by which the nutritional development of a month-old child is determined are stool, that is, feces. By their quantity and consistency, you can determine how healthy a 1-month-old child is, how his gastrointestinal system is developing. The first infant feces - meconium is characterized by a greenish tint, literally from the second day, feces of a different color consistency begin to appear - transitional stool. The baby should defecate about 5 times a day, any constipation or diarrhea is a reason to call a doctor and find out the reasons for the bowel movement disorder. It is quite possible that the matter is in the mother's nutrition, diet, which should be changed, since everything that the mother eats passes with breast milk to the child.

An approximate feeding schedule that should be adjusted to take into account the individual characteristics of a one-month-old baby.

Morning, 6.00	120 ml breast milk or formula
Morning, 6.30 – 9.30	Short periods of wakefulness and sleep
Morning, 9.30	120 ml breast milk or formula
Morning, 10.00-13.00	Short periods of wakefulness and sleep
Day, 13.00	120 ml breast milk or formula
Day, 13.30-16.30	Short periods of wakefulness and sleep
Day, 16.30	120 ml breast milk or formula
Day, evening, 17.00-20.00	Short periods of wakefulness and sleep
Evening, 20.00	120 ml breast milk or formula
Evening, 20.30 – 23.30	Short periods of wakefulness and sleep
Night, 23.30	120 ml breast milk or formula

A 1-month-old baby is a baby that requires constant hygienic care. Regular gentle cleaning of the ear canals, washing the face and washing the fingers and toes, mandatory bathing in the evenings - these are procedures that should be done daily, without interruptions. It is also important to provide comfortable conditions for the baby's sleep. A 1-month-old baby should sleep in a separate crib, which is more convenient to place next to the place where the mother sleeps. There should be no pillow in the baby's crib, the baby does not need one yet. It is important to ventilate the room in order to provide an influx of fresh air, of course, provided that there are no drafts and street noise.

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Baby 1 month - physiological development

The first time the baby is weighed is at the moment of birth, then regular measurements of the child's anthropometric data allow us to judge the positive dynamics in his development. The mother does not need to worry if she finds that the baby has lost weight after being discharged from the maternity hospital. A decrease in body weight that does not exceed 10% of the initial weight is considered physiologically justified. The child reacts this way to a sharp change in the environment, because previously he spent nine months in a completely different world. Starting from the second week of life, a child of 1 month will gradually increase his body weight, by the second month the increase can be 550-600 grams. Growth indicators also increase, in a month the baby can grow by as much as three centimeters. All indicators accepted as norms are not universal, each baby develops according to his own personal plan. Standards are needed as guidelines that help to identify deviations in the development of a newborn in time and allow them to be corrected.

A 1-month-old baby is a silly little one who only begins to fix his gaze on bright objects a little by the third week. The first month is a period of visual adaptation of the baby who learns to see the world around him. Despite all his sleepiness, the baby makes small movements with his arms and legs, makes characteristic sounds. But the pinnacle, one might say the triumph of the first month of the baby's life is his first smile. This is an unforgettable moment that overshadows all worries, fears and sleepless nights. The first smile of a baby, even if unconscious, is a real reward for happy parents.

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