Your Baby and You: Week Thirteen
YOUR BABY
Physical Development: Trying to grab?
You may notice this week that your baby is reaching out or 'batting' at objects as though to grab them. It is likely that their accuracy at this stage is variable but this is an important step in their development as they learn to successfully reach for, and take hold of objects that they are interested in. Unfortunately for you this is just as likely to be your hair or your necklace as it is one of their toys!
Speech & Communication: Exchanging cries for coos
You will hopefully notice a decrease in the amount of time spent crying from around now. In its place you should hear more cooing and gurgling noises, possibly 2 syllables together such as 'ahh khaa'. Your baby may make these noises experimentally when alone or in response to familiar faces and interaction with other people.
Feeding: Feeding to sleep
Do you feed your baby to sleep? It can be easy (even more so with breastfeeding) to allow your baby to settle to sleep whilst feeding. Many mums don't mind doing this because they find it an easy way to settle their child and they enjoy the quiet time soothing their baby to sleep this way. However, it is worth keeping in mind that this can lead to problematic sleep habits. If your baby learns to fall asleep whist feeding then they will need to be fed to sleep every time that they wake - even if they aren't actually hungry. If you are able to teach your baby to settle themselves to sleep then it can make life a lot easier for you as a parent.
Care Advice: Early rolling
If your baby is demonstrating an ability to push themselves up a little when on their tummy then they may learn to roll from their front to their back quite quickly. Early 'rolling' is usually more of an 'unintentional flip' that can surprise a baby, or even scare them. So reward them with lots of positive praise and encouragement when it happens and make sure that they are lying on a soft mat or rug that they won't hurt their head on when they land on their backs.
Safety Advice
Safety Tip: Wriggling and rolling
Be constantly aware that your baby is able to wriggle and roll (even if they haven't rolled yet, you never know when it will first happen). It's great to give them plenty of opportunity for tummy time or to play on their backs but never leave your baby on a raised surface, they can kick wriggle and roll their way into trouble quicker than you might expect.
Common illnesses and ailments: Bronchiolitis & RSV
Bronchiolitis is an infection of the lower respiratory tract and is often caused by a very common virus called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Nearly all children are infected by RSV before the age of 2 and in most cases it causes a bad cough or cold but it can also cause bronchiolitis, especially in very young babies.
Symptoms of bronchiolitis:
- a rasping and persistent dry cough
- rapid or noisy breathing
- feeding less and having fewer wet nappies
- short gaps in their breathing
- vomiting after feeding
- being irritable
If your baby has any of these symptoms then you should contact your GP. If the condition gets more serious your baby may experience difficulty in breathing or begin wheezing when they breathe, they could develop rapid breathing or a high temperature.
If your baby experiences any of the following severe symptoms then you should call for an ambulance immediately:
- severe breathing difficulties or exhaustion from trying to breathe
- a rapid breathing rate of more than 60 breaths a minute
- they can't be woken or they can't be kept awake for long
- breathing that stops for more than 10 seconds at a time (recurrent apnoea)
- skin colour changes to very pale or blue, particularly around the lips or fingernails (cyanosis)
THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR BABY THIS WEEK
Entertainment: get singing!
It doesn't matter how bad your voice is, how poorly you hold a tune or how terrible you are at remembering the words to songs. Babies love their parents to sing to them. They love the sounds of familiar voices singing recognisable ditties and rhymes - particularly if you repeat them over and over!
Activities: do babies need to do exercise classes?
From baby yoga to baby swimming, baby massage and baby gyms - there is a plethora of classes out there that seem to be calling for you to exercise your baby more. Such classes can be great for a number of reasons:
- encouraging your baby's coordination and motor skills
- increasing the time and ways in which you interact with your baby
- helping you to meet other parents
These classes can be expensive, so if you can't justify the expense don't feel pressured into subscribing. You can get just as successful results by devoting time to playing with your baby at home - see our section on games and activities for babies. There are also plenty of parent and baby groups that meet for social reasons that are either free or relatively cheap, providing alternative means of meeting other parents.
ALL ABOUT YOU THIS WEEK
Things to do: Girls' night out
Take it upon yourself to organise a girls' night out. It doesn't matter whether it's with one friend or several, but get a date in the diary to look forward to and organise your babysitter now. It's important that you spend some time away from your baby occasionally, whether it's having a pizza at your friend's house, a night on the town or a trip to the cinema. You might be surprised at how refreshed you feel afterwards.
YOUR WEEKLY CHECKLIST
(Helping to keep you organised!)
Admin: Finances
Keep on top of your finances if you are on maternity leave. If your decision of when to return to work is based solely on how far you can stretch your money then make time to sit down each month and take a look at your spending. There are lots of ways in which you can help to save yourself money, read our tips here.
