Introduction
In the following, the developmental steps of a newborn in the first year of life will be sketched as an example. The development of a newborn baby is very individual and often differs in many aspects from babies of the same age. Some children speak very early, but learn to walk relatively late.
With others it is the other way around. Some children crawl for a long time before they can walk. Other children go directly from “sealing” to walking.
Don’t be unsettled by the developmental steps described below. There is no single “norm” for the developmental process of a newborn. If you have any questions or uncertainties, your pediatrician is the right person to contact.
Baby development – First 9 weeks
The infant looks at faces more closely after birth. In addition, he or she can usually return a smile and in the course of the first two months begins to smile spontaneously on its own. In the first two months, the infant should react to sounds and perceive them.
He also makes unspecific sounds. However, this does not mean crying. In the course of time, the infant then begins to laugh and squeal.
Shortly after birth, the infant already has the ability to follow moving objects with its eyes. At first, this is better when moving objects towards the nose (eyes move towards the nose). This works better and better over time, so that it is observed that the movement of the eyes in the other directions (up, down, out) also improves.
Already after the first month you can additionally observe that the infant folds its hands together (a kind of “clapping”). After birth, the infant can slightly raise its head in prone position. This lifting is initially short-lived, but the amount of lifting increases during the first two months. In addition, some children can hold their head in a sitting position between the first and second month of life.
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