Baby development : 1 month old
1 month old baby developments:
In first month of his\her life, your baby will go through a lot of developments, Not only to their appearance but also their senses and motor skills. Here we will discuss about their development and things you can do to help them grow their skills.
Baby’s language abilities start developing right from day one. Your baby is becoming more expressive and may start to coo and gurgle when she sees you. Your one month old is becoming more lively and sociable and she is using these sounds to let you know how she’s feeling. Respond to her to encourage those blossoming communication skills.
Hearing is one of the first senses that become fully developed (a lot of development in the womb). They will begin to turn their head towards the source of a sound. If there is a loud sound like if you clap your hand they may blink or jump slightly. That’s shows how sensitive their hearing is.
Playing some music to your baby would be very useful as long as it’s not too loud.
At birth, babies can’t see as well as adults. Their eyes and visual system aren’t fully developed. But significant improvement occurs during the first few months of life. They will have better focusing by the end of first month but not further than 12 inches. They are also beginning to track a moving object by moving their head and eyes. Don’t worry if they look slightly cross-eyed occasionally – it takes a lot of effort to focus.
Many toys for this age are black and white: it’s not that they can’t see color but they find the high contrast easier to pick out.
This first stage of life is marked by mostly uncontrollable movements and reflexes. As the child ages, these involuntary movements make way for more deliberate movements. At one month old they may discover their legs and arms. Their neck muscles are still weak, although you may notice your baby is able to hold their head up briefly when they are lying on their tummy or being held by you. They may also be able to turn it side to side.
Of all of the senses, touch is more interconnected with emotional growth and well-being. It is one of your baby’s key senses, especially in the early weeks. It helps your baby communicate his needs and wants and learn to explore his environment. If you gently touch his palm, he grasps his whole hand around your finger and holding on tight; Beginning to use his tiny hand and fingers this way which will evolve into understanding of how to hold objects as he gets older.
How to help your child develop at this age
- Language skills: Keep Talking or singing to your child, even you are in another room they still can hear you : the sound of your voice will soothe them and let them develop their language skills through listening. Respond to them when they are cooing to encourage these communication skills. Reading books to your baby is also another way she can enjoy your voice. Choose picture books with bright colors and contrasting patterns which is also helps their visual system to develop.
- Sight (tracking skills) : Choose a bright and noisy toy like a rattle (make it a lightweight one) and move it across their line of vision so they can follow it with their eyes. It’s not a smooth pursuit eye movement but it’s more like a saccadic movement (like when you scan a room). Another way is by using a mobile hanging above your baby’s cot. Not only this can help them to develop their tracking skill but also focusing.
- Muscles and motor skill : Touching Your Baby will build your connection with your child and stimulates her to move those parts of her body that are touched. A great way to improve her muscles is to Lay her down on the floor on her tummy and hold bright, colorful, and sound-making objects in front of her so she will be motivated to lift her head to see them and try to reach and grab them. Since they love to look at your face it is even better to put her on your chest for this “Tummy time” so she try to hold her head to see you (the experience is beyond imagination)
- Touch : Your baby depends on you to provide them with something to touch. Introduce different textures and temperatures (not too harsh): the softness of a feather, the hardness of a wooden block, the cool feel of a window in winter. When babies feel the world around them, they learn about life.
We hope you find this review informative and helpful. Now it’s easier to find appropriate toys and gears for kids. Please let us know if you have any question. We will try to answer it as soon as possible. We also prepared a List of appropriate toy for this group age :
List of Toys for 0-3 month old babies
You can also check our other posts about 2-month-old baby developments.
Great article and advice. I am sure this will be very helpful to parents, especially new parents. Are you going to add anything eventually about colic? My oldest son was colic, he cried from 6 weeks old to 6 months old. I don’t know what I would have done with out advice about warm sugar water and tummy massages.
Hi Trina,
Thanks for the positive feedback.It is very good suggestion and I will definitely build such section in near future. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Cheers
This is an awsome site. I love when I find people promoting growth. Raising kids might be the single most important responsibility of an adults life. Yet many people now a days seem to be neglecting the rasing of there children. Infancy and early development stages in life are very important so u was glad to see your information geared towards this.
Hi Darren,
Thank you for your heart-warming comment. I totally agree with you it does not seems to be important for many people.It’s just sad. I will try my best here to change it for the sake of our next generation. It’s good to have you here Darren.
Cheers
that is so glad to hear. you are actually trying to make a difference. I am often preaching and it honestly angers me because I see all the endless circles of hardship we create in our children. Well, i can say I’m thankful for people like you this is an awesome website and it has many great toys that are geared around the improvements of your babies development. absolutely inspiring.
Hey Darren,
You just melt me down mate. I don’t know if I deserve this much but I’m thrilled that you feel that way about this site and me. Thanks a lot.
Cheers
This is the third article I’ve read of yours and once again, you’ve blown me away with how knowledgable you are when it comes to infants!
Maybe you can help me with something…I have a friend who has a 1 month old “special needs” baby and I’m not quite sure if all of this information in this article would pertain to a special needs child or not…so what is your experience with a special needs one month old and do you have any articles that I could forward to my friend that may be of help to them?
If you don’t have any current articles, would you mind either writing one or replying back to me with where you recommend that I go to find such information?
Hi Jeremy,
Unfortunately I don’t have enough knowledge about this particular case but I do know that most likely (Not always) they don’t develop all their skills as fast as other kids. This is absolutely important and I will definitely work on it to make a section about it. Meanwhile I’ll do some research and let you know if I find some good quality paper or website regarding this matter. Could you also tell me what kind of “special needs” s/he is? Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy or … ?
Thanks for sharing this with us, You opened a new window in front of me.
cheers
Hello Jagulba,
thank you for your honesty, you’re much appreciated for that! Down Syndrome is the one.
All The Best,
Jeremy David Wilson
Hey Jeremy,
Thanks and I will find an article or website for your friend. Then I will make a section for kid with special needs.
Thanks again mate,
Cheers