Babies begin to perceive colors more and more between 2 and 4 months old. To start, they're able to tell the difference between shades of greens and reds. The exact timing for when your baby will see these colors is individual, so there's no set week or month when it happens for all babies universally.
Just after birth, a baby sees only in black and white, with shades of gray. As the months go by, they will slowly start to develop their color vision at around 4 months.
At about 1 month, your little one can detect the brightness and intensity of colors, and over the next few months may start to see several basic colors, including red. Your baby's color vision is fully developed by about 4 months, when they'll be able to see lots of colors and even shades of colors.
Newborns can see contrast between black and white shapes. The first primary color they are able to distinguish is red. This happens in the first few weeks of life. Babies can start to notice differences in shades of colors, particularly between red and green, between 3 and 4 months old.
Typically, babies start smiling between 6 and 12 weeks, but you may notice a smile or smirk soon after baby's born.
When your baby is between 1 and 3 months old, she'll be gradually gaining the strength needed to hold her head up. By around 2 months, while she's lying on her stomach, you might notice she can raise her head for just a few seconds at a time. These brief moments help strengthen the muscles in the back of her neck.
Some experts believe baby hiccups can be the result of food and acid rising up from the stomach when baby is full. Baby hiccups can also be related to overeating or eating too quickly. To that end, you may be able prevent hiccups by feeding baby slowly and taking breaks for burping.
According to most pediatric health experts, infants can be taken out in public or outside right away as long as parents follow some basic safety precautions. There's no need to wait until 6 weeks or 2 months of age. Getting out, and in particular, getting outside in nature, is good for parents and babies.
Your newborn has been hearing sounds since way back in the womb. Mother's heartbeat, the gurgles of her digestive system, and even the sounds of her voice and the voices of other family members are part of a baby's world before birth. Once your baby is born, the sounds of the outside world come in loud and clear.
Babies may enter the world with brains that appear unsophisticated, but they absorb and understand more than we realize. Babies notice, process, and file everything adults and children around them say and do. Most of their learning occurs through their senses.
The myth stops here
And while we have the least amount when we enter the world for the first time, remember that babies may be born with eyes of blue, brown, hazel, green, or some other color. It's simply a myth that all of us — or most of us, for that matter — are blue-eyed at birth.
Your baby should do it often each day. Start tummy time soon after birth. In the first few weeks, try tummy time for 1-2 minutes, 2-3 times a day. Your baby can build up to 10-15 minutes, several times a day.
Months 2 to 4: Your baby will start to recognize her primary caregivers' faces, and by the 4-month mark, she'll recognize familiar faces and objects from a distance.
Pediatricians generally recommend keeping children under 18 months from viewing screens. Even after that age, parents should always accompany children with TV watching and ensure they don't get too much screen time, inadvertently impacting their behavioral health.
A baby's vision develops slowly over their first six to eight months, notes Gritchen, which is one of the reasons why high contrast objects and moving objects like ceiling fans are more likely to attract the baby's attention.
While six weeks has long been the traditional timeline for rest and recuperation after a birth, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends ongoing postpartum care from birth to 12 weeks. Six weeks is also the standard recovery time allotted for childbirth-related short-term disability leave.
The idea that babies have to stay inside the house for several weeks after they're born is FALSE. In fact, as long as your baby is healthy, getting some fresh air can be great for mom and baby if you take a few precautions. First, be careful not to overdress or underdress your baby when you leave the house.
How often does my newborn need a bath? There's no need to give your newborn baby a bath every day. Three times a week might be enough until your baby becomes more mobile. Bathing your baby too much can dry out your baby's skin.
Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks. After that, it's OK to let your baby sleep for longer periods of time at night.
Primarily, newborns sneeze a lot because they have to. Newborns have smaller nasal passages than adults and may have to literally clear their noses more often than adults do, since they can get clogged more easily. They sneeze to get rid of anything from breast milk to mucus, smoke, and even dust bunnies in the air.
Support your baby's head and neck, make sure their tummy and back is nice and straight (not curled up), and rub or pat their back gently. You don't need to spend ages burping your baby, a couple of minutes should be enough.
Don't lift your newborn by or under their arms
Your baby's head and neck muscles are very weak for the first few months. If you pick them up by or under their arms, you risk injuring their arms or shoulders. Worse, their head will dangle and could flop around, potentially causing a brain injury.
Head bobbing is caused by the use of neck muscles to assist in breathing. The child lifts the chin and extends the neck during inspiration and allows the chin to fall forward during expiration. Head bopping is most frequently seen in infants and can be a sign of respiratory failure.
Your baby may be able to sit up as early as six months old with a little help getting into the position. Sitting independently is a skill that many babies master between 7 to 9 months of age.