Week 1: Your Baby’s First Year, Week By Week

Your 9-month course is finally over and your bundle of joy is home with you. Though what to expect in terms of your emotions, baby’s demands, milestones, and so on, may vary, here’s a week by week guide on how your baby’s first year will likely play out, with tips to ensure you both have an amazing year.

Week 1

Your Emotions

Regardless of how your labour and delivery panned out, the first week of bringing baby home is usually a mix of a variety of conflicting emotions for a majority of mums, especially new mums. The usual euphoria may come with anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, despaired or frustrated. You may also feel uncertain about your ability to care for your newborn. This lack of confidence however wears out with time and practice.

Here are a few tips you’d find helpful as you settle in with baby…

*Eat a healthy diet, consume small portions at regular intervals throughout the day, drink lots of water to stay well hydrated and rest as much as you can.

*Try to avoid obsessing about unexpected outcomes during your labour and curb excessive checking of what’s normal or not on the internet. It’s best to have one or two reliable sources to avoid unnecessary worries or anxiety fuelled by misinformation.

*Acknowledge your emotions, purge by talking to your spouse, family and friends about them, try to set limits for visits, concentrate on yourself and baby, and accept all the help you can get. These will help you manage stress and exhaustion.

*Encourage your spouse to care for and bond with baby as well to take some pressure off you.

*Don’t expect baby to settle into a feeding and sleep routine just yet – this may take up to 6 weeks or more. Note that the next day may be different from the previous one, so, just follow your baby’s cues in the meantime and keep your expectations open to avoid disappointments or feeling more overwhelmed.

*Wash your hands regularly to protect your fragile baby from infections.

*Prioritize house chores and strike out whatever can wait. Don’t hesitate to ask for help with sorting them out when your close friends and family visit. Convince them to help you with some cooking too.

*Create lots of time alone with baby to bond and fall in love over again. This will help you embrace your new roles.

Your Baby’s Development

Baby is still only a few days old, so, he is still trying to adjust to living outside your cosy womb.

He already recognizes your voice and face, and prefers it to that of other caregivers.

He also already knows he can rely on you, and gets more comfortable in his strange new environment as you and others constantly care for him, hold, touch, cuddle and play with him as well as sing and talk to him.

Regular interaction with baby is very important as it reassures him that he is loved and not alone, even though he can’t understand what you say or react yet.

In addition, newborns typically lose some weight shortly after birth. They however usually regain it within 10 to 12 days. Most newborns gain about 4 oz (113 g) to 8 oz (227 g) per week.

Baby’s arms and legs may not fully extend yet. It will take a while for baby to stretch out.

Baby’s Sleep

During this period, baby will sleep so much you might find yourself periodically listening to his heartbeat or waking him up to make sure everything’s okay. The fact however is, a lot of babies are only awake 10% of the time. So, take advantage of this to get some needed rest as well and sort out a few to-dos on your list.

Baby’s Stool

Baby’s first few stools are usually dark in colour. This is called meconium. Subsequently, the colour and consistency will change, depending on whether baby is breastfed or formula fed. If baby is breastfed, stools will likely be yellowish and very loose. Babies fed formula, on the other hand, are likely to have stools ranging from yellowish to brownish colour, with much firmer consistency.

If baby is getting lots of milk, you’ll be changing diapers quite often. He may have six or more wet diapers and two or more dirty diapers every 24 hours. Some babies however have bowel movements only few times per week.

Yellowing of Skin

Take your baby to his paediatrician immediately if you notice any yellowing of skin. This condition is called jaundice and more common in babies who are breastfed than those who are formula fed.

Feeding/Spit ups

Baby will feed a lot, especially if he is breastfed. Eight or more breastfeeds, lasting 10-15 minutes on each breast, per day (24 hours) is normal. If baby is formula fed, drinking two to three ounces of formula per feed is expected.

Your newborn may also spit up a whole lot within this period. Burping your baby may help. However, if your baby forcefully expels spit-up type fluid frequently (projectile vomiting) or spits up at times other than when you burp him, it might be a sign of acid reflux. Ask his paediatrician for help.

Baby’s umbilical cord              

It’s advised that you give your baby sponge baths from the first week until his umbilical cord falls off. If your baby was circumcised, it’s important to continue giving sponge baths until he has healed completely. Remember to always test bath water temperature on your wrist to prevent scalding baby’s fragile skin.

Pat baby’s umbilical cord dry, using a clean washcloth or use alcohol swabs. The latter will keep it dry and germ-free. In addition, try to keep the cord stump away from baby’s diaper, and talk to his paediatrician if it becomes red or smelly.

…To be continued.