How Far Can a 3 Week Old See

Your infant is starting to transform from a precious-but-super-sleepy newborn to an well-nigh full-fledged infant. And with all that growth and evolution happening, in that location are some big changes and milestones coming down the thruway.

And then get excited! Payback for the slumber deprivation you're probably dealing with is on its way. Here'south what yous can expect frontwards to this week.

Your 3-calendar week-old babe's development

At a Glance

Sleeping basics

Newborns up to 3 or 4 months one-time need 14 to 17 hours of sleep in a 24-60 minutes period, usually waking every two to iv hours to consume.

Feeding basics

Breastfed babies should eat equally much as they want at this age, just a general rule of thumb is roughly 16 to 24 ounces of breast milk or formula in 24 hours.

Did you know?

Your little i is gaining muscle control, then those movements and reflexes will become less jerky and more graceful this week.

Your little one is getting stronger every twenty-four hours — and you can encourage baby to flex those muscles by providing ample supervised breadbasket time during the mean solar day so she can practise lifting that beautiful head.

Some iii-weekers will be able to lift their heads 45 degrees when on the tummy, and the more exercise baby gets, the amend.

Tummy time volition also aid prevent head flattening, something more common in babies who spend all 24-hour interval and night lying on their backs or propped in bouncers and automobile seats.

In brain-related news, your baby is ready for more complex shapes (adieu-good day circles, hello zigzags!) as vision, the power to focus, and concentration improve rapidly. She may actually dearest gazing at a mobile or a soft toy you hold up close enough and so she tin can see it.

Of course, when she'south not in the mood to play, she might exist in the mood to cry (and cry). All babies cry, simply some babies wail more than than others.

In fact, there are newborns who sob inconsolably for hours. Doctors will generally diagnose such crying equally colic when information technology lasts for at least three hours at a time, at least three days a week, over the class of at to the lowest degree three weeks.

Your iii-week-old baby'south growth

Your cutie is surely packing on the pounds and ounces now that she'south three weeks erstwhile. But when taking note of your niggling 1's weight, terminate yourself from comparing it to your BFF's babe'south weight, or your sister'south, or ... you get the idea.

That'due south because the most of import measure of your baby's growth isn't how she stacks upward to other babies, merely rather how she stacks upward to her ain weight and superlative curve.

The pediatrician will want to follow your babe'southward growth trends over time. The doctor will look closely to make sure your little one is trending on relatively the same curve she'south been on (whether that'due south the 15th percentile, the 50th percentile or the 90th percentile).

A big jump (say, from the 20th percentile to the 50th percentile) can hateful that baby's gaining too fast. A big dip can mean she isn't getting plenty to consume.

Your baby's doctor will help you brand sense of these percentiles and how your baby is growing.

Your 3-week-old infant'south health

There are no well-baby visits or shots this calendar week (hurray!), but there'due south notwithstanding plenty going on with your baby'southward health.

Spitting-upwardly babe

Baby fevers

The scoop on poop

Crib rubber

Vitamin D for babe

Postpartum & new babe tips

Milk bank FAQs

If you lot're non able to breastfeed, and your baby has a medical condition that requires human milk (including prematurity, failure to thrive, an intolerance to formula or allergies), there are means to get donated breast milk from other moms through a milk bank.

Here'south what you'll want to go along in listen as you begin your search:

Equally tempting as it may exist, all-time friends (or even coincidental ones) shouldn't become chest friends. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), La Leche League and other experts frown on moms casually breastfeeding one another's babies and for expert reason: At that place'southward always a risk that your pal could unwittingly laissez passer on a virus for sure illnesses similar Lyme disease or hepatitis. There's besides the chance that the shared milk could comprise medications if your friend is taking any.
Do consider buying from a milk bank. Different an informal arrangement between moms, the milk banks in the U.S. have strict guidelines — guidelines that were prepare up by the Human Milk Banking Association of Northward America (HMBANA), an organisation of pediatricians and other wellness intendance workers. The guidelines regulate donors equally well as the way milk is collected and stored.
Calculate the costs and get some financial help if you need it. Ownership donated milk is expensive. Although nursing moms donate their milk for free, the milk, which the guidelines state tin be obtained simply with a prescription from your dr., costs about $3 an ounce.

Soothing infant's skin

While older babies are known for their smooth complexions, 3-week-olds definitely aren't.

Amid the weather that may be keeping the skin your babe'south in colorful but less-than-flawless: ruddy pimples and whiteheads (didn't wait those until centre schoolhouse at to the lowest degree?), pink diaper rashes, flaky cradle cap and purplish mottling (not to worry — it's just a sign of your baby's immature circulation).

Fortunately, all these infant skin imperfections are temporary. Some, like the pimples and mottling, will get abroad on their own; others, like diaper rash and cradle cap, will reply well to treatment. Clear baby pare is just around the corner.

Fecal incontinence

Labor and commitment, every bit you might take noticed, are actually rough on your body — especially "down there." Your perineum muscles and nerves may exist stretched or damaged, making it difficult for you to control how and when digested food leaves your body.

Postpartum fecal incontinence usually takes care of itself every bit your body returns to normal. Until then, here are a few steps you can accept to alleviate this problem:

Eat a gas-conscious diet. Skip hard-to-digest foods for now (naught fried, no beans, no cabbage), and avoid overeating or eating on the run.
Do your Kegels. Then do them over again…and once more. Kegels are just the ticket for tightening up those muscles, every bit well as the ones that control urine, which may besides be leaking these days.
Don't exist shy. Talk to your practitioner if the problem persists. Your wellness care provider might propose a heed-body technique called biofeedback or maybe surgery if the situation is particularly bad, which information technology rarely is.

Newborn care during outings

Information technology pays to exist extra careful for the first month — the younger your baby, the less time that tiny immune organisation has had to strengthen. (That goes double for infants born prematurely or with other health concerns.)

So in those early weeks, avoid crowded areas. Inside or out, keep your infant in a stroller, sling or carrier. And after whatsoever outing, clean your baby's easily with a wipe or wet, soapy textile.

Baby mixing up mean solar day and nighttime?

If your little one keeps mixing up solar day and dark, try these tips:

Limit daytime snoozes to three-hour stretches. That way she won't go into the habit of bunching up slumber during the day. Even though your newborn doesn't have a naptime routine yet, you probably volition want to wake your baby upward to swallow every three to four hours or and then anyway at this age. If you have trouble rousing your drowsy darling, effort these tactics: Concur your baby upright, unswaddle your little one, strip off some wearing apparel, tickle those little feet or hands, stroke that cute confront, move baby'south artillery and legs, or put a cool washcloth on the forehead. If all else fails, try changing baby'due south diaper — that'south unremarkably a surefire way to wake upward a little sleepyhead. Once she's awake, proceed your little one warning by singing upbeat songs and dangling toys in front of baby's face up.
Make your newborn's naptime routine slightly different from the nighttime one to help your babe distinguish betwixt the ii. Though you'll desire to plant a wind-down routine for naps that's like to the one you apply at bedtime, adjusting it a bit during the day can clue your babe in that it's not fourth dimension to turn in for the night. Keep a shade or curtain open up a little, for instance, so the plant nursery's not pitch-dark. And don't become overboard in terms of tiptoeing around while she's napping, either (though you should do the opposite at dark). Hearing some ordinary sounds while she's snoozing, inside reason, can aid reinforce the deviation between twenty-four hour period and nighttime.
Don't ditch naps. While it is important to teach your sleeping affections that nighttime is the best fourth dimension for snoozing in long stretches, she'll still need to fit in some shut-heart during the twenty-four hours. The boilerplate baby sleeps at to the lowest degree xiv to 17 hours in a 24-hr period, so lots of that infant remainder needs to happen during the solar day. And exist grateful that your baby seems to know how to power-nap at all — it's a practiced sign that she'll acquire how to sleep through the nighttime in the not-too-afar future.

Manus washing for friends

Your friends and family are probably as excited to meet your newborn equally you are to evidence your little bundle off.

Only be sure to fix and enforce this simple footing dominion: All admirers who want to touch or hold your baby must launder their easily first — and anyone who is clearly sick or has a rash should stay (far) away.

Blame your pediatrician or your own paranoia, simply get your bulletin across. Be especially careful with small children, who could be conveying all sorts of contagious stuff.

Teach them to gently pat your baby'south back or touch her tiny toes, just never the hands or face. And later any outing or social scene, clean your infant's hands with a wipe or moisture, soapy cloth.

Infant's cries, explained

Most babies pick a fussy period during the afternoon or early evening as their "witching 60 minutes" to let it all out and cry for a while.

If the crying is colic (which it isn't e'er), it may seem similar those babies are in pain. 1 theory is that colicky babies are likewise gassy babies, though they might exist gassy considering they're swallowing a lot of air from all that crying or because newborns often struggle with gas hurting considering of their immature digestive systems.

Colicky babies as well often seem to desire to eat all the time — but sometimes that'southward because the sucking is soothing, not considering they're hungry. Using a pacifier tin help.

Your baby's tearful bouts could be a sign that she'due south overstimulated. Babies this age often need to unwind with a adept cry at the terminate of the day.

She could also exist hungry more often because she'due south going through a growth spurt or for some other reason. Check with your pediatrician if you suspect hunger is the crusade.

If your baby does seem to exist in pain, cheque for fever and phone call the doctor. It's possible that she's coming down with something.

But if it'south colic that she'southward coming downwards with, it'south probably here to stay, to some caste, for the side by side few weeks or months. And if it's hunger, work with your pediatrician to figure out whether any adjustments in the feeding department are in order.

From the What to Look editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Expect When You're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such every bit peer-reviewed studies, bookish inquiry institutions and highly respected health organizations. Acquire how we continue our content accurate and up-to-engagement past reading our medical review and editorial policy.

What to Expect the Start Year, 3rd edition, Heidi Murkoff.

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