What should my baby do in the first month after birth?

As we already know, the human development process is somewhat complex and heterogeneous, evolution being and physical and mental maturation of each of us differently and proceeding at different speeds. However, it has been observed that although there are individual differences, as a general rule there are different skills and abilities that tend to have been achieved around a certain age. This occurs practically from birth, being able to find different evolutionary milestones even from the first month.

Sometimes this can generate certain anxieties, especially for first-time parents, in order to analyze if their baby's development is normative or presents some type of alteration. And in such anxiety, it is often intended to observe behaviors or aspects that actually correspond to much more advanced levels. That is why in this article we intend to make a brief mention of the evolutionary milestones that a baby usually has reached at the end of the first month of life.

• Related article: "The 6 stages of childhood (physical and mental development)"

What should a one-month-old baby be able to do?

The human being, like other animals, is wonderful. From the first moment it is born, we are faced with a being with enormous potential that will end up going far and mastering tremendously complex and demanding skills, despite her ignorance of the myriad of processes that they suppose. But for this she will be necessary a deep and prolonged process of maturation and development, in which little by little he will learn and acquire skills.

Thus, many parents ask themselves: "What should my baby do in his first month of life? In the present case, we are talking about a practically newborn creature. And already in this period the parents, family members and professionals who deal with them will be able to begin to carry out different behaviors and actions.

So that, What can be expected at this time of development after birth? We are going to see it in different sections.

1. Movement

Babies' muscles are still very underdeveloped, and their movement capacity is very limited. During the first month of life the movement is usually minimal, limited to head movements (yes, it will need it to be leaning against something) with which it even follows sounds and can briefly lift it. He can move his hands to his face and usually keep them tight.

It is also common for him to carry out jerky movements with his arms and legs, and it is a stage in which many, many biologically programmed reflexes can be observed. Eye control is not yet complete.

• You may be interested: "The 12 primitive reflexes of babies"

2. Reflexes

Although they would actually be part of the ability to move, reflexes are a very particular element given that they are movements that are performed instinctively and innately. Most of them will be lost over time.

In a one-month-old baby, we can find reflexes such as blinking at the light or contraction of the biceps or knee (also called patellar) in the presence of tapping on the biceps or patella. We can also see the flight reflex, in which the leg flexes somewhat in response to a painful sensation. One of the best known is the grasp reflex, which causes the baby to hold it tightly when touched by something in the palm of the hand.

The Babinski reflex is also given, in which the toes are stretched and turned inwards under the pressure of the outer edge of the foot, or the Moor in which noises strong legs and hands are extended to then shrink the arms forming a small barrier as if trying to protect their Body.

3. Auditory perception

The sense of hearing exists in the human being from before birth, with correct hearing from birth. But this does not imply that she is able to recognize them. It will be towards the end of the first month of life when we will see how our baby begins to recognize sounds such as our voice.

4. Visual perception

Vision is a sense that, unlike hearing, takes a little longer to finish developing. Throughout the first month of life, it is expected that the baby will be able to focus his eyes on elements that are up to a maximum of around 25 cm away. They also seem to be able to recognize the contrast between black and white. It is common for the gaze to focus rather on the outer contours of objects, unless they show movement.

5. Taste

Taste is like hearing a sense of early development. The sweet, the salty, acid and bitter are recognizable a few hours after being born. In the first months and during infancy, there is a preference for sweets (in the case of a one-month-old child, milk).

6. Emotionality

Clearly, a baby experiences different emotions. However, it must be taken into account that many of the emotions that we consider basic as adults contain cognitive and learned aspects that a one-month-old child still lacks.

It is considered that the emotions that first manifest themselves and that are already in this vital stage are surprise, pleasure, discomfort or pain and interest. Other emotions such as joy or sadness do not usually appear clearly until months later.

7. Dream

It is highly known that babies spend most of their time sleeping or eating. In fact, they can generally spend up to twenty hours a day sleeping, of which they come out in cycles of around four hours to feed.

The high number of hours that a baby can get to sleep is not something that should worry us (except that does not present any type of activity or does not eat or cry), but it is something normal and healthy. Of particular note is deep sleep, which occupies most of childhood sleep and is linked to brain development.

8. Communication

The basic form of communication for a baby, as most of you already know, is crying. However, it can also be perceived as some of the children of this age begin to be able to use the a and the o, although we are not yet before a babble.

9. Socialization

The socialization capacity of a one-month-old baby is minimal, and in fact it could not be considered as such because its her actions are not due to an attempt to communicate with her peers and the differentiation does not even exist yet yes self-others. However, it can be seen that children of this age have a preference for displaying human faces, being the thing that most frequently captures their attention. Very precocious children can begin to use the social smile, although it is something more typical of the second month of life.

Bibliographic references:

• American Academy of Pediatrics (2006). Caring for your young child: from birth to five years. Bantam Books.
• Delval, J. (2004). Human development. XXI century: Madrid.