Development of gross motor skills
At birth, the newborn passes quite suddenly from one liquid environment in his mother’s belly, in the open air where he discovers gravity. “Gravity tends to crush it in its cradle, a bit like us adults, when we wake up, when we experience an intense feeling of heaviness”, describes Aude Buil.
He is not yet able to support his head, which is imposing and heavy, on his own, and he has a lack of tone in his chest, called axial hypotonia.
At one month, baby still has involuntary motor skills, which he does not really control and which is expressed by small jerky jerks : “he moves with his whole body”, describes the psychomotrician. He also kept some archaic reflexes of the baby, like that of the automatic walking when supported upright on a flat surface.
What about his fine motor skills?
At one month, baby is still often in fetal position, in his arms or in his cradle: his fists are often closed, close to his face. He tends to put them in his mouth with a clenched fist and sometimes manages to stick his thumb out and adjust his lips around it to suck it. “These are behaviors ofself-regulation which soothe the baby and make him feel that he is able to find that comfort in himself“, describes Aude Buil.
Baby still owns the grasping reflex Where grippingwhich causes him to clench his fingers when the palm of his hand is stimulated.
Sight, smells, tastes, sounds: what about the sensoriality of the 1 month old baby?
The 4-week-old infant reacts a lot to smells: the smells of milk and maternal skin are just as many familiar smells that reassure him. He seeks physical contact through touch and likes to be caressed.
Its sensitivity to taste, which appeared during intrauterine life, continues to develop through the different flavors that breast milk takes on. Viewing side:
Aude Buil, researcher and psychomotor therapist: Babies can see perfectly at 30 cm and recognize their parents’ close faces. Beyond that, his vision is blurry.
He is attracted to bright colors and by the contrasts.
Side hearing : baby hears the voices and begins to recognize those of his relatives.
His social development
Baby is interested in people who are familiar to him, and he can follow with eyes and head his parent’s face which moves slowly around him.
“He chirps when awake, cries to express a need such as hunger, fatigue, pain. A smile “to the angels” appears on his face when he relaxes and is comfortable, but it is not yet intentionally addressed to the adult”, describes Aude Buil.
He appreciates being contacted and speaks softly to him, and he reacts to voices and sounds.
The first of the five senses that develops in utero is the touchso it is the one that we can privilege to interact with him. “Baby understands very well what we say to him according to our way of touching him: more or less quickly, hard, gently, with or without pressure”, details the psychomotrician. We therefore do not hesitate to caress it, cuddle it and to massage him by speaking to him softly and pronouncing his first name: he is very fond of these moments of tenderness.
One month old baby particularly appreciates being worn and cradled while curled up with arms and legs folded against him. “It creates a continuitya landmark with what he experienced towards the end of the pregnancy in his mother’s womb in the fetal position” explains the psychomotrician. He particularly needs it at this time of his life to safely discover his new environment and adapt to it, but also to find a rhythm in the day: eating, sleeping, awake…
Contrary to what we sometimes hear, taking your child against you will not make him capricious or dependent on his parent.
Aude Buil: Research in neuroscience shows that carrying a baby in her arms allows her to develop her confidence by constituting, in a way, reserves of emotional security!
You can make him discover the prone position by installing him against you always in comfort.
Baby also needs to discover his body freely: for this, it is important that his head – which he is not yet holding – does not remain turned to the same side or always leaning on the back. We therefore do not hesitate to change position regularlyalways making sure that it is very comfortable.
“We remember that at night, baby sleeps on his back in a sleeping bag, without blanket, bumper or headrestin order to reduce the risk of unexpected death of the infant” recalls the psychomotor therapist.
Weight and height of the baby at 1 month: what is his growth rate
The height and weight of a 1 month old baby can vary widely depending on his birth weight. “A baby takes an average of 30 g per day the first month, he has therefore already gained an average of 600 g since his birth“says Dr. Dailland.
size side, it grows 3 to 3.5 cm during the first month of life.
“To monitor its good growth, it is necessary control your weight, height and head circumference curvewhich are from very good reflections of his health. The baby must therefore stay in the same corridor of the curve” summarizes the pediatrician.
A break in one of these three curves can be indicative of a pathology. “A drop in the weight curve can in particular be the witness of a cow’s milk protein allergy“, explains Dr. Dailland by way of example.
Baby food at 1 month: how many ml of milk should he drink?
The 1-month-old baby feeds exclusively on milk. About half of them are breast-fed, and the other with infant formula.
If the baby’s appetite begins to regulate itself slightly, it takes on average between 6 and 8 bottles per day, from 90 to 120 ml of first age milk. “For know the right dose, we rely first on the weight of the baby. But if he doesn’t seem satisfied, we feed on our appetiteas long as his weight follows his curve” explains the pediatrician.
Breastfed babies are fed on demand : “the child drinks when he is hungry and it is impossible to control the quantities he has absorbed, so we rely on the weight curve” indicates the pediatrician. He takes usually between 8 and 12 feedings per 24 hoursbut it can sometimes be much more!
Colic is common at 1 month, so baby doesn’t cry a lot after meals. Nevertheless, if this is the case, it is better to consult the pediatrician to rule out other possible causes.
What vitamins?
Babies need daily vitamin D supplementation until they are two years old, at the rate of 2 drops per day. Moreover, only the breastfed babies need extra vitamin Kwhich breast milk lacks.
What is the sleep pattern of a 1 month old baby?
One-month-old infants still spend most of their time sleep ! “On average, they are awake between 6 and 7 hours a day only,” adds Dr. Dailland.
Paradoxically, despite all those hours of sleep, most one-month-old babies don’t make their night yet ! It is only from 4 months that the baby is ready to chain 5 to 6 hours of sleep between 11 p.m.
They are not yet able to distinguish day from night and need time to do so. It is therefore important to expose them to natural light by not closing the curtains during daytime naps, for example.
Activity, games, occupations, outings: what to do with a one-month-old baby?
The infant of a few weeks has needs the presence of his parents, tenderness and love ! “The paternity leave has been extended, because the establishment of attachment with the parents is essential during these first weeks of life” insists the pediatrician. Parents can thus be attentive to the good motor and sensory development of their toddler, and spend time with him to reassure him, interact and awaken him.
We can start to going out with baby, in a baby carrier or in a cribensuring that it is well covered depending on the season.
The public transport will preferably be avoided, except imperative medical appointments for example. “Infants are very vulnerable because their immune system is still immature, and public transport is more conducive to the proliferation of viruses and bacteria” explains Dr Dailland.