Newborns spend their first week of life adapting to their new environment.
The outside world is very different from the womb, where it’s dim, the temperature is constant, and noise is muffled. You can help your baby get used to the outside world by giving them warmth, love, security, attention – and lots of cuddles and smiles.
Your newborn will sleep most of the time, waking up every few hours to feed. Newborns can’t ‘sleep through the night’. They have tiny tummies, so they need to wake and feed often
Your newborn is learning a lot as you spend time together every day. Their brain is growing and developing as they see, hear, smell and touch the world around them.
Your newborn will close their hands involuntarily in the grasp reflex and will startle at sudden loud noises. They’re also likely to have sudden jerky movements while asleep.
You can communicate with your newborn using your voice, touch, sight and smell. Gentle touch, cuddling, smiling and gazing communicates important information about your newborn’s place in the world, and helps your newborn feel safe and secure with you.
During this first week, you’ll also start getting to know how your baby communicates with you using baby cues and body language.