A Baby 0-3 Months

Growth and Development
The rate of growth is not the same for all babies. Some will be small, others bigger, but provided children are contented and progressing, differences in weight gains between them are inevitable and unimportant.

All babies develop skills in the same order, but all are unique and progress at their own pace. It is amazing how broad this spectrum of normal development may be.

Babies’ early movements are uncontrolled, random responses. They don’t know yet that they have hands, legs, etc. or how to control them. By comparison, reflex movements - sucking, breathing, sneezing, swallowing and so on - are not random responses. They have survival value. In response to loud noises or to suddenly feeling unsafe, babies may throw their arms out, stiffen and cry. This reflex movement disappears within a few weeks.

All babies are able to learn from birth. They can hear, see, feel, taste and smell and by using their senses will begin to learn about their world and the people in it.

By one-month baby can already turn head and eyes towards light and will watch faces while being fed or talked to. They may smile to indicate pleasure. Babies focus best on faces that are quite close to them, about 20 cm away. This is often called the‚ cradling distance’ and is the best of learning situations - close enough to hear, see and feel.

Gradually they become stronger and when placed on their tummy can lift, not only their head, but also their upper chest, using their forearms for support. Floor time without a nappy will help. Interest in people also increases. This is shown by visual awareness of a person moving about the room. Social response to nearby friendly faces is quick and they show their pleasure by smiling and cooing. Joyful movements in anticipation of a bath or similar caring routine suggest that they are beginning to know what will follow.

Smoking and Your Baby
Because babies have very delicate airways that are sensitive to smoke and the chemicals it contains, care should be taken to protect them from tobacco smoke. Smokers should be discouraged from smoking in a house - certainly in the same room - where there is a baby. Infants exposed to passive smoking are more likely to suffer from asthma, bronchitis, allergies, chest infections and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), than babies who breathe clean air.

If you are breastfeeding remember that some chemicals from cigarettes are transmitted through breast milk. However, this is not a reason to stop breastfeeding as breast milk has many excellent health benefits, including protecting against infection.

The Crying Baby
Crying is the only means of communication for babies and they come well equipped to use it. Babies never cry for nothing, always for a reason: they need something. Usually the need is simple.

The crying may be due to:

• Discomfort caused by hunger, pain, being wet, hot or cold
• The need for physical closeness
• Loneliness or fear
• A need to suck - sucking is comforting (longer sucking at feed times may help or, in some cases, offering a dummy)
• Parents’ anxieties that they are quick to sense

Attention to obvious needs may settle them, but if crying continues try:

• Extra cuddling or use of a baby sling
• A change of position
• A warm bath or shower and gentle massage
• Secure wrapping
• Background noise, music.

Some babies tend to cry when they are put down, but if left for a few minutes they will very often settle. From parents’ consistent response to their cries, babies will learn quickly that they are loved and wanted, that someone can be relied upon to respond to their needs. This in time will lead to the development of a secure attachment to these special people and a sense of trust.

The development of this sense of trust is said to be one of the most important tasks of infant development. The more time parents spend with their baby, the sooner they will get to know each other. Babies will attach to whoever looks after them most, as well as to other family members. The degree of attachment is related directly to the amount of time the baby spends with a person.

Playing and Learning
Babies will get some play value out of every single, ordinary, pleasant thing you do with them, from changing a nappy, bathing, feeding or just being close. During the first three months babies will earn to smile, chuckle and coo, and turn towards sounds. They also make a major discovery - that they have hands that can be used to reach out and touch things.

Favourite playthings:

• Parents - to feel, look at, listen to, taste and smell
• Colourful mobiles, leaves or curtains blowing in the breeze
• A variety of sounds to listen to
• Pram rattles or objects dangled on strings to encourage coordination of hands and eyes.

Use your imagination to expand your baby’s world.

‘Play is more than ‚just fun’ to babies. Play is learning and practising what they have learned. It is finding things out and exploring what they find. It is anything that stimulates them to use their bodies and their senses and develop their thinking and their intelligence.'
(Penelope Leach 1977)

Vaccination
Immunity to certain diseases can be developed by giving babies small doses of specifically treated and therefore safe bacteria, viruses or their products (vaccine). This results in the right antibodies being produced. Once this is done, 'booster’ doses at appropriate ages maintain protection for many years.

This means that we can become immune to many serious diseases without ever suffering from them and their likely side effects, through this process of vaccination.

Your child health nurse can give you details on the vaccination service available in your district. The Health Department of Western Australia provides local authorities and general practitioners with the vaccines at no cost. If preferred your general practitioner will perform vaccinations, and an administration charge may be made.

Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is nature’s way of providing not only food, but also warmth, comfort, pleasure and security – all those things essential for the development of the child’s self-esteem. Sucking is pleasurable, comforting and reduces tension, while the skin-to-skin contact of mother and child provides a feeling of security, the feeling that one is not separate, not alone.

Feeding done at leisure provides an opportunity for the mother to relax and enjoy her baby, as well as to give nourishment. New mothers sometimes find they have ‚so much to do’ that they experience some anxiety and feelings of stress. When they sit down to feed, it is a time to forget about other tasks and to devote themselves completely to being with the baby. Babies will react to any feelings of unrest, worry or preoccupation in their mother. If a baby is uneasy at the breast, it is usually because the mother is not relaxed.

Primarily breastfeeding can be a pleasurable and valuable experience for both mother and child and is best done in a calm environment. Concern about supply or worry of any kind can be counter- productive. Help is available from child health centres and the Nursing Mothers’ Association. Older children need not be excluded from this activity. Allowing them to be there, playing nearby perhaps, or curious, interested and involved, will mean less likelihood of jealousy and resentment of the new baby. They will need extra attention and the reassurance that they are special too.

Set up playthings nearby before feeding starts. If older children are included, their interest in the proceedings is likely to lessen and they will probably go back to their play.

Artificial Feeding
If bottle-feeding is chosen instead of breastfeeding, the baby can still experience the same close and loving holding. ‚Prop’ feeding is dangerous not only because of the risk of choking, but also because it means that the baby is missing that important early contact with the parents. Never prop feed, but always hold the baby, first on one side and then the other, just as the breastfed baby is moved from breast to breast. This will stimulate both sides of the baby’s body as in breastfeeding. Contact your child health nurse for advice on formula feeding.

Parents’ Needs
The role of parents is to fulfil the needs of their children (physical, emotional, intellectual and social). They provide and they protect and, in the beginning at least, this is a 24-hour-a-day job. How the child’s needs are fulfilled and by who doesn’t really matter, as long as it is in a way that is acceptable to both parents - they have the right to choose.

When parents share the nurturing role, there is an opportunity for both to have some time to them- selves - to relax, see friends, perhaps go to a film or continue with hobbies or sports. In this way there is less burden and so less cause for resentment, complaint or dissatisfaction within the relationship. Parents can each have time with their child and the child can really get to know both parents. So everybody benefits!

Parents need to remember that they are important people too, and need to spend time together as a couple. Occasional outings without the baby are recommended.

It is always important to choose a reliable baby-sitter - preferably someone you know personally, or at least who has been recommended to you.

From birth onwards the foundations are being laid for personality growth. It is important that early experiences provide the best possible basis for a child’s future development as a lively, stable, and responsible person, capable of giving and receiving affection.

Safety
Every year in Australia more than 700 children die from injuries. Thousands more are permanently scarred or disabled. Preventable injuries account for more admissions to children’s hospitals than any illness or disease. It is our responsibility as adults to maintain a safe environment for our children, to teach them safe attitudes and behaviour, and to protect them from harm.

To Keep Your Child Safe

• Babies’ early-uncontrolled movements can propel them in unexpected directions. Never leave them unattended on tables, beds, etc.
• Never‚ prop’ the bottle, whether you are there or not. It is possible that milk may be regurgitated and/or inhaled
• Always place your child in an approved child restraint in the car
• Remove bibs at sleep time to prevent suffocation
• Use thick, heavy gauge plastic sheeting in bassinets, cots and prams, and dispose of plastic with care
• A baby should be placed to sleep on his or her back
• A baby’s feet should touch, or almost touch, one end of the cot with the cot cover shortened so that a baby cannot slide under it
• Remove any loose ribbons or trimmings on clothing and blankets
• Use flat, firm mattresses and no pillows
• Protect baby from the sun and heat
• Make sure that no one smokes around your baby as passive smoking can damage sensitive airways causing asthma, bronchitis, chest infections and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Take special care with baby’s dummy.
Check that:

• It has no ribbons or chains
• It is in good condition - no loose parts
• There are holes in the flange that fits around the baby’s mouth (if it does slip into the mouth, baby will be able to breath)
• There is a ring attached for quick, easy removal from baby’s mouth in an emergency.