As a new parent, it is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed with a thousand and one questions. Here are 6 questions that new parents have about their newborn baby.
The parenting journey is a day at a time and here are some answers to questions that might be plaguing you today.
1. At Two or Three weeks of age, What is happening to my Baby?
Your newborn baby is developing memory from as young as two or three weeks of age. A baby as young as two or three weeks will remember your smell and is learning so much. They are making new connections every day.
2. Why does my Baby Sleep so much?
Babies don’t know that the norm is to sleep at night-time and be awake during the day. So they sleep in bursts of three or four hours usually, wake up to have a feed and then go back to sleep.
As their brain develops, they are curious about everything. They are engaging with their world and learning from their parents talking to them and reading to them.
Read more on your Newborns Sleeping Habits
3. Does Music make my Baby Smarter?
There’s no real evidence that babies listening to classical music make them more intelligent.
On the other hand, it certainly doesn’t hurt. So if parents want to introduce music into the household, it is a great idea because as parents calm as they enjoy the music, that feeling is passed onto their infant and they’ll be calm as well.
4. How does Nutrition affect Brain Development?
Newborn babies get all their nutritional needs from breastmilk and it is really important for mothers to try to breastfeed.
After that, there is a danger period for some children who do not get balanced and nutritious meals. In extreme situations, this can result in both cognitive stunting – that is, the child is delayed from a developmental point of view – but also from the physical point of view.
5. Why is Human Touch such a big deal for Babies?
There is pretty good research evidence now about the importance of touch in newborn babies.
We talk sometimes about kangaroo care, about placing a newborn baby on the mother from a very early stage and that’s comforting for the child, it’s [also] calming for the mother. So for lots and lots of reasons touch is extraordinarily important.”
6. How should I approach and encourage Learning?
In those early years of life, what a newborn baby need is responsive caring. They need a nurturing environment. They need parents that are tuned in as babies’ first teachers.
As the parents are talking to the child, singing to the child, reading to the child, they are creating stimulating experiences which lead to an explosion of learning. All these networks are being developed in the brain. These foundations of learning in those very early years are critical because they set the foundations for lifetime learning.
For more questions as a new parent, watch the video here.
