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Home › Articles › Guiding Baby's Development › Feeding Your Baby's Developmental Cravings

Feeding Your Baby's Developmental Cravings

Recognizing Baby's Cues

By iParenting

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At about 5 or 6 weeks comes the moment that makes it all worthwhile. Your baby, instead of just looking at you, bursts into a spontaneous, wiggly smile that lights up her face – and your life. Called a social smile, it is Baby's first conscious interaction beyond eye contact. Right now, she may smile at anyone, but soon enough she'll begin to prefer Mom and Dad over everyone else. About the same time, your baby will begin cooing, gurgling and making crowing sounds. Coo back – she loves the sound of your voice and this interaction is an important part of building language skills.

These early months are a great time to really study your baby's emerging personality. "Newborns seem so similar that it's easy to assume you already know them," says Dr. Harris. "Be open to the fact that you don't know each other and, whether this is your first child or your sixth, this child is very different from any other."

Ricki Wieselthier of Orlando, Fla., knows this well. Her triplets, Zachary, Lindsey and Hannah, have always had distinctly different personalities. She says she noticed it even during the first few weeks of their lives when they were still in the neonatal intensive care unit. "The nurses called Zachary the flirt, Lindsey was the tiger and Hannah was the patient one that never cried," Wieselthier recalls. "Zachary is still a charmer, Lindsey is still very independent and Hannah is still such a sweet, quiet child."

Motor Development
The biggest physical change for the baby at this stage, according to Harris, is the transition from being what she calls a "reflex machine" to learning some measure of control over her movements. At first, the baby's limbs appear curled and short, and move in a jerky, uncoordinated manner. Her head needs constant support.

By the end of the first month, those movements will be more controlled, her arms and legs will begin to straighten and she should be able to lift her head briefly while lying on her tummy. Soon, she'll be moving her head from side to side, and by the end of the third month, she should be able to hold her head steady – and even raise her head and chest from the floor. Some babies may even roll over by this time.

You can encourage this motor development by providing interesting objects to look at and plenty of "tummy time." You'll notice that some reflexes startle or frighten your baby. If she begins crying after a jerky body movement, it's her signal to you that she can't control her body and needs help with regulation that at the moment. A snuggle in the sling or a being wrapped in a blanket shows Baby you understand.

Eating and Sleeping

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