Congratulations! You have finally got the angle after 9 months of a long wait. Your little munchkin will show you some really quick developments within the very first month. So, keep an eye on these 1-month-old baby milestones.
While you are busy dealing with the rampant feeding and sleeping cycle of the newborn, do not miss to check on the 1-month-old baby’s milestones. Help your baby to progress right from the beginning. Know how you can assist them in attaining important milestones.
Important Milestones You Can Expect From a 1-Month-Old Baby
During the first month after birth, your baby will mostly do survival basics: crying, eating, sleeping, and wetting the diaper. Here are the developments of important milestones that you can expect from your newborn.
1. Hearing Development
Among all the key milestones, hearing ability is one of the primary ones you will notice in your one-month-old. You can expect to see them startle or cry to loud noise and to move their head towards the source of a familiar voice or sound.
2. Vision Development
Babies can focus 20 to 30 cm or 8 to 12 inches (1). They occasionally cross their eyes and see high-contrast patterns like black and white.
3. Development of Small
Babies can smell the sweet smell of the mommies, especially the scent of the breastmilk. You can even expect them to avoid the acidic or bitter smell of their pee or poop.
4. Development of Taste
Your baby is on a strict milk-only diet. So, not much development in this area. However, you can notice that they like sweeter formula milk more than breast milk if you use any.
5. Development of Touch
Your baby’s little palms are mostly clenched, so they do not touch and feel much.
6. Fine Motor Skill Development
Not any significant development in fine motor skills; may occasionally open and close their palms
7. Gross Motor Skill Development
They can move their hands towards their mouths and suck their fingers when hungry. They can even move and stretch their legs.
8. Social-Emotional Development
Social-emotional development is yet to develop in your one-month-old.
9. Physical Development
The initial weight loss after birth will recover in the first 2 weeks (2). Your baby can gain up to 2 pounds and reach 47 to 57 centimeters at the end of the first month.
10. Movement Milestone
Only occasional hand and leg movement you can expect from a newborn.
11. Language Development
Your baby will soothe by listening to your calming lullaby but cannot respond verbally.
12. Cognitive Skill Development
Your baby can recognize your voice and touch when you hold them.
How Can You Help a Baby Reach Their 1-Month Baby Milestones?
Here is what you can do to help them develop on various fronts:
- Sing and smile while you breastfeed your baby. This will help their vision, hearing, and language development
- Move toys of vibrant, contrasting colors in front of their eyes to develop their eyesight
- Open up the swaddle when the baby is awake to let them attain gross motor skills by stretching their hands and legs
Milestones You Can Expect at the End of 1st Month
By the time your baby completes one month, your baby will be able to
- Move their heads a bit towards a source of sound
- Successfully finding and latching on to your breasts for breastfeeding
- Grabbing your finger when you put it on their palms
When Should You Consider Seeing the Doctor?
You can consider seeing the doctor if
- Poor latching and difficulty in sucking breast milk
- If the baby gets frequently exhausted while sucking breastmilk
- The baby is not sleeping for at least 12 hours per day
- The baby is not getting startled heart strong or sudden noises
Your baby is just a month old now. So, do not panic if some of the developmental milestones are delayed. Try to help your baby attain them with your little assistance. And most importantly, enjoy this beautiful journey of motherhood.
FAQs
1. What Should 1-Month-Old Babies Be Doing?
One-month-olds should typically sleep, cry, feed, and wet their diapers frequently. They should recognize the voice and smell of the mother, cross their eyes to see bright-colored objects, and cry when hearing loud sounds.
2. What Can My Baby See At 1 Month Old?
Your one-month-old baby can see highly contrasted colors like black and white. They can focus on objects close to them, up to 8 to 12 inches.
References
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- American Optometric Association, Infant Vision: Birth to 24 Months of Age – https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-health-for-life/infant-vision?sso
- Australian Breastfeeding Association, Weight Gains: https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/weight-gains
