During the first three months of life outside the womb, your baby will grow and change in amazing ways. In fact, baby development happens so quickly, you tend to fly through milestones without even realizing them. The little things she does like getting quiet when you pick her up and listening to your voice are the building blocks of her personality. She’s already learning how to communicate with the world around her. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
What else is happening during those first three months of your baby’s development? Let’s take a look:
Newborn weight gain
For the first three months of her life, you’ll be obsessed with her weight. Why? Because weight is one of the things pediatricians use to monitor her general health. Don’t be concerned if she loses a few pounds during the first week of life. About 10-14 days after delivery, babies tend to start packing on the pounds.
Head circumference
Another thing you’ll hear about a lot as a new mom is “head circumference.” Yep, you will know the exact size of your peanut’s noggin. This is another way your pediatrician can monitor her growth and development. Head size is typically genetic, so there isn’t a magic number. It’s one of the things that will be measured during every newborn doctor’s visit.
Gross motor skills & fine motor skills
As your baby grows, her muscles, nerves and reflexes become stronger and more coordinated. Those cute newborn dance moves she entertains you with will soon become fluid movements. Her rooting and baby fists will evolve into deliberate head turns and a pincer grip. But for now, she’s figuring out how to control her limbs.
The large muscle groups in her body are getting stronger so she can hold her head up. That’s an example of gross motor skill development. Fine motor skills are precise movements made with small muscles in the hands. If she’s sucking on her hand or fingers, that’s an example of gross motor skill development.
Cognitive & communication
Your baby is quickly developing her senses – sight, smell, hearing, vision and touch. Even though she can’t talk yet, she hears voices and sounds that will help her develop language skills. She communicates with you with her facial expressions, body language and, of course, her cries.
Her brain is hard at work thinking and understanding (cognitive development.) She can anticipate events like sucking at the sight of a bottle and she can focus on and follow objects and faces. She’ll start to love doing the same thing again and again.
How you're helping her grow
Bonding with your baby is doing tremendous things to help her reach all of these important baby development milestones. When you sing to her, cuddle with her and talk to her, she’s learning that people care for her. When she cries and you comfort her, you’re building her confidence and making her feel secure. When she smiles and you smile back, she’s learning how to communicate.
Do you remember when your baby flashed that first gummy smile? Tell us about it or share a pic in the comments section on our Facebook page.
