Your Baby’s Senses and Development at 1 Month Old

Ever wonder how your newborn feel the things around them? Babies perceive things differently from adults and their development of the senses require some sort of stimulation. Some of their senses already mature at birth, while the others take time to be fully developed. Let’s take a look at how your baby feels the world at 1 month old and how you can help with the development of her senses! 

Vision

In the first week, your baby still has a blurry view and she sees her world only in black, white and grey. She can only see things in front of her face, with a short distance of 8-12 inches and her attention span won’t be more than 10 seconds. In the second and third week, she will start recognising your face and that is where you need to get up close and interact with your baby. By the end of the first month, you can expect her to see things around her by turning the head.

In this first month, primary colours like red, yellow, and blue will be able to stimulate baby’s vision so the toys and nursery room can go with those colours, but not pastels. Stimulation can also be done by keeping talking and making faces at her. To keep her with strong vision development for both eyes equally, you can alternate the sides during the feeding time. 

Hearing

Baby’s hearing skill is developed before birth, while still in the womb. After birth, she can hear things clearly and she would especially love hearing your voice! She will respond to sounds and turn her heads to the source of the sound, especially the high-pitched voice. They are sensitive towards the sounds and can be easily distracted by noises. They might respond differently to different types of music and that is an indication of their early music taste!

Not only promoting the bonding, singing and talking to your newborn also helps with her language development. Sounds of people talking, laughing, toys and baby rattles are all good to stimulate her hearing. Reading to your baby also helps to build her personality. MumChecked offers a wide variety of toys and books that are suitable for newborn baby’s development. Since they are more sensitive to high-pitched, you can raise your pitch of voice when interacting with the baby.

You May Also Read this : Newborn Baby Tips: Dos & Don’ts as Parents

Taste & Smell

Like we know, a baby generally loves sweet taste over a sour or bitter one. This is why babies love breast milk and they tend to show disgust when they detect unpreferable taste. Your baby can recognize your smell and your breast milk smell as well. This smell gives her a sense of security by knowing you are by her side. This also means if you wear fragranced products, they will interfere with her sense of smell. 

Since breastfeeding is her first and the main source of taste. your diet will affect and shape her taste preference later on. Hence, to not make her confused with your smell, avoid perfumes or scented detergent while breastfeeding. To stimulate the sense of smell and make your baby feel relaxed, you can make more time to hug or cuddle her, or place her in a familiar smelling crib.

Touch

Through the sense of touch, your baby will be exposed to different texture, shape, and temperature. In the first month, she won’t be able to reach out and explore the items on her own but depends on you to bring her to feel the things around her. At this stage, the sense of touch makes them feel loved through your hugs and kisses. 

You can introduce different texture and temperature to your baby by helping them to reach out to things surrounding you. For example, touching a hard wooden table and holding a soft fluffy toy. Cuddling and holding your baby, and keeping close to her will create a strong bond and provide stimulation for baby development. 

The first month is essential for baby development but is important for your postpartum recovery as well. Don’t put stress on yourself and don’t hesitate to seek help if you need any. If you hope to get an extra helping hand or need tips in daily baby care, you can enquire about the best confinement nanny agency singapore to get trusted help. If you are worried about your baby’s sensory development, you can always reach out to the paediatrician!