From the moment your baby enters this world, your baby is adapting to the environment and is learning. There are physical findings that may alarm you about your child . . . Rest assure they are normal in all newborn babies:
- You may notice the head to seem large for the baby’s body and to have bumps, dents, even bruises.
- You may notice swollen eyelids, and crossed bloodshot eyes
- The baby’s skin may be dry and flaky; you may even see diffuse rashes
- Your may notice breast tissue (in both boys and girls) and even vaginal discharge which is due to fluctuations in maternal hormones.
Your baby’s neck muscles aren’t yet well developed and so the head needs to be supported at all times. Your baby will startle easily and often exaggerated. It will respond warmly to comfort and negatively to pain. Its hands may be fisted or slightly opened. When a rattle is placed in its hand, it will most likely drop it quickly.
Eyesight -Eyesight is not fully developed at birth. You may notice staring early on, but newborns rarely interact with seen objects. Objects that are within 8 to 15 inches a newborn’s face can be made out. Eye contact tends to be poor early on but increases during the early weeks after birth. Focusing on large objects is seen early on and as time goes on tracking can be expected. In the first few weeks of life, babies prefer looking at simple black-and-white shapes. They are drawn to the contrast between light and dark. Newborns look at the outer edges of patterns, while several month later, babies will tend to look at the inside of a design. You may notice your baby especially likes looking at faces, but as time goes on the toys with the bells and whistles become the favorites.
Hearing - Hearing is present at birth, but following the sounds happens much later. Loud noises may cause a startle reflex which may be accompanied by crying. They are drawn to voices and music so talking to your baby often is of the essence. Despite the urge to speak baby language to the, keep in mind that they tend to react more to normal, rhythmic speech better than to nonsense vowel sounds.
Reflexes - Rooting or finding the nipple and sucking are innate reflexes babies are born with. Other reflex that you may notice include withdrawal from pain, sneezing, yawning There are some other reflexes you may see in your newborn.
