Modern mothers begin to engage in the development of the baby almost immediately after his discharge from the hospital. Of course, all parents want their child to at least comply with the standards on the development calendar, and even better, be ahead of them. The list of what a child should be able to do at 1 month is not large. However, it is worth studying it and carefully looking at the newborn to prevent possible pathologies.
Physiological characteristics of the newborn
Having been born, the child begins to urgently adapt to life outside the mother’s womb. This is due to some innate reflexes and knowledge of the world in short intervals between sleep and eating.
In physical terms, the circulatory system of the newborn is radically changing. At birth, placental blood flow ceases, while its own blood begins to flow from the right ventricle of the heart to enrich it with oxygen. After which she goes in a small circle of blood flow.
In addition, the newborn loses basic fetal communications - the arterial and venous ducts are closed, and the large and small circles of blood circulation begin to function fully. In addition, the child’s immunity begins to get acquainted with new bacteria and microorganisms, the digestive system adapts and the endocrine system improves.
Growth and development of the child in 1 month
About what a child should be able to in 1 month, we can speak purely tentatively. Some children develop and grow faster, some slower. According to the norms, a newborn should gain at least 600 grams of weight and 2 cm of growth by the end of the first month of life. In addition, the coverage of the head and chest increases. However, the movements of the newborn by the end of the first month remain chaotic. Coordination comes only in the third month of life, which is why children are recommended to swaddle up to this age.
During wakefulness, the child gradually studies the world around him. Under the influence of a huge amount of information that the newborn has yet to learn, the nervous system and brain functions develop. Since training is not so fast, you should not expect special skills from the child.
What should a child be able to do in 1 month?
When doctors talk about the skills of newborns, they imply the presence of congenital reflexes that are common to all children in their first month of life. They are checked during a routine examination and do not require any mental or psychological stress from the child. All that a child should be able to do at 1 month is unconditioned reflexes given to him by nature.
The list of unconditioned reflexes of a newborn includes the following skills:
- sucking;
- prehensile;
- search engine;
- protective;
- crawl;
- walking;
- Babinsky's reflex.
Sucking and Searching Reflexes
The first reflex necessary for survival outside the mother’s womb is the sucking. It is needed so that the baby can receive nutrients not through the umbilical cord, but through breast milk, which still needs to be obtained. This reflex develops even during the period of gestation. Therefore, an ultrasound scan can clearly see how a child, while in the mother’s stomach, sucks a finger. To check for the presence of this reflex, it is necessary to draw a fingertip around the child's mouth.
Another reflex aimed at obtaining food is the search reflex. If you lightly touch the cheek or corner of the child’s mouth, he should turn his head towards the stimulus. But only on condition that this touch will be gentle and careful. Recognize rudeness and discomfort allows the development of the child in 1 month. What a newborn should be able to do is to reach for the good and keep away from the dangerous. Therefore, with a careless touch, the child can turn his head in the opposite direction.
Grasping and protective
Most of the time, the palms of the newborn are in a compressed state. And if you put a finger or other object in an open pen, the child will grab it tightly. Moreover, the compression force will be surprising for such a fragile creation. A similar reaction can be seen with foot irritation - the child should unclench his fingers like a fan. This reflex also belongs to the grasping one, however, it bears the name of the French neuropathologist Joseph Babinsky.
Many parents are afraid to put their baby to sleep on their stomach. But in vain. Thanks to the protective reflex, the child, if lying on his stomach, always turns his head to the side. Therefore, a healthy baby has no risk of suffocation during sleep.
Reflex of spontaneous crawl and automatic walking
Upon examination, the pediatrician should check for several more reflexes, such as spontaneous crawling. Of course, crawling is not included in the list of what a child should be able to do in 1-2 months. However, a reflex that resembles such attempts must be present. To check it, you need to lay the child on his stomach and place an open hand under his feet as an emphasis, from which he should push off a little.
The automatic support reflex is noticeable if you try to put the child on his feet. When the baby is taken upright and allowed to rest on a hard surface, one can observe the first attempts at walking the newborn.
Other reflexes
Reflex Babkin, or palmar-oral. That he refers to what a child should be able to in 1 month of life. To check for the presence of this reflex, you need to lightly press on the palm under the thumb. If the child opened his mouth and turned his head to the side, you can be sure of the presence of this reflex.
In fact, the list of natural skills possessed by newborns is quite wide. Some reflexes that a child should be able to do are quenched by 1-3 months, others can persist for up to six months. However, for the verdict on the baby's health, the standard checks listed above are enough.
What else should children be able to do in 1 month?
If you carefully monitor the baby during the first 4 weeks of life, you will notice how quickly it develops. Yes, the difference with what a child should be able to do in 1-5 months is enormous, but still you should not take his achievements for granted.
By the end of the 1st month of life, the child may:
- Focus on a specific subject. As a rule, on a large and bright (rattle, picture, toy).
- Lift your head up from the “lying on your stomach” position.
- Actively respond to familiar voices (moms and dads).
- Shudder at a sharp loud sound.
- Make sounds or “aguk”.
- Saw off moving objects.
- Repeat facial expressions of adults (smile, frown, show tongue).
In some cases, children can safely hold the head upright. However, this skill refers to what a child should be able to do in 1-4 months. So if he is absent, do not panic.
Parent Tips
Despite the fact that today there is literature that is intended for the development of children aged 0+, do not get carried away with it. You can introduce a newborn to a new world without teaching materials. And with the desire for speedy mental development is worth the wait. At this age, the main thing for parents is to create the most comfortable atmosphere in the house for the baby.
Advice:
- If possible, you need to provide your child with a space in which extraneous sounds will not penetrate. It can be either a parent's bedroom or a separate children's room, isolated from sharp loud noises. They cause severe stress in the newborn. But quiet monotonous sounds (white noise), on the contrary, act like sleeping pills on a baby.
- In order not to cause the child discomfort, he should only experience gentle tactile sensations. Clothes, diapers, bed linen should be sewn from soft, soft-touch fabric. It is also very important to touch the child correctly. The adult's hands should be warm, and movements cautious.
- For visual perception of information, you can show the newborn different pictures and objects. It is noticed that if you hang a plain color picture in a crib at eye level, the newborn will be looking at it with interest for a long time. When a picture gets tired, it can be changed to a similar one, only in a different color. And then the child’s interest in her will resume.
- You can develop hearing and speech from birth. To do this, you can sing songs, tell poems and nursery rhymes, read fairy tales. If the child responds to speech, you need to enter into dialogue with him.
In the first months of life, the baby is very closely associated with his mother at the level of psychoemotional state. A newborn intuitively feels when a mother is angry, annoyed or sad. Therefore, when interacting with him, the main thing is a good mood.