18 weeks

Behavior and development

How does the baby develop?

At 18 weeks your baby can:

Keep the head steady when standing upright;

Breast lift when lying on your back with help from hand;

Hold the toy behind your back or on your fingertips;

Use both hands and feet at the same time for a few minutes;

Play in a crib by yourself;

Focus on small sized objects (don't keep them within baby's reach);

Repeating an action over and over to see what it resulted and may switch to another action to see if there is any difference;

Holding objects;

Screams when excited.

What do you need to do to support your baby?

To help your baby develop, you can play games with your baby because at this stage, playtime is the time for your baby to start learning everything. Peek-a-boo is a game that is very suitable for children of this age.

Health and safety

What should mom discuss with the doctor?

Depending on your baby's specific condition, the doctor or nurse will examine all or most of the following:

Physical examination including re-examination of previous problems;

Development evaluation. The doctors will check to assess the baby's ability to control head, use hands, see, hear and interact. Or simply the doctor will rely on your observations as well as telling about what your baby is doing.

Mother should know more?

At 18 weeks, you need to keep in mind the following when caring for your baby:

Pink eye

Red eye pain or conjunctivitis is inflammation of the eye caused by viruses, bacteria, or allergies. The membranes that cover the baby's white eyes and the inside of the eyelids (called the conjunctiva) will become irritated, which can lead to redness, white, yellow, or green rust due to discharge and pus. dry again. Babies may also experience watery eyes and have difficulty opening their eyes in the morning. Your child may experience redness in one or both eyes. If your child has signs and symptoms of red eye pain, seek immediate medical attention. Your baby needs to be examined and treated promptly.

Red-eye pain is contagious, so be careful not to get it from your baby. You need to wash your hands often, especially before and after using your hands to check your baby's eyes to avoid infection. Keep your baby at home and avoid going to the playground or daycare. Also, you need to clean your baby's bed, face washcloths and handkerchiefs regularly.

If the cause of your child's red eye pain is bacteria, your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic, usually in the form of eye drops or ointments. If the cause is viral and your child has symptoms of a cold, your doctor may advise you to regularly clean your baby's eyes gently with a warm towel and let the illness go away on its own within a week. If your baby's red-eye is caused by an allergy, your doctor will help you determine the cause, then you'll need to isolate your baby from your surroundings as soon as possible. The doctor will also give the baby eye drops to make the treatment more effective.

Sometimes the squeezed tear gland forms a rusty eye and makes the baby's eye more susceptible to infection. Depending on your baby's condition, your doctor may recommend massaging the tear glands or warming this area to help return circulation. In rare cases, your baby will need surgery if the tear duct remains blocked for a long time.

Light weight

In general, if your baby is hyperactive and thriving in all aspects, he will gain weight steadily. If your baby's weight is below average, at this time you should monitor the baby's height because to be able to assess the growth rate. There are many objective factors that can affect a baby's size and weight, such as heredity. If you and / or your partner are thin or have small bones, chances are that your baby will too. In addition, the reason why your baby is underweight can also be because he is overactive. In addition, other causes may include not eating enough necessary nutrients.

In addition, you should pay attention not to arbitrarily limit the amount of food for your baby. Some parents want their babies to have good health when growing up, so they limit calories and fat in the early stages of babies. This is very dangerous because at this stage, children need these nutrients to grow and develop normally. You can practice for your baby reasonable eating habits and always add necessary nutrients.

If you believe your baby's low weight is due to his poor absorption of nutrients, uneven metabolic rate or infectious or chronic diseases, contact your doctor for advice. and answer questions and find out treatment promptly.

Mother's concern

What are the things you need to care about?

At this stage, your baby may have habits and actions you need to be aware of.

Thumb sucking

Almost all babies suck on their fingers during their first year of life. Many babies even start that habit right from the womb. This is not uncommon, because the baby's mouth is not only used to eat, but also helps them explore and have fun. At first, maybe the baby just randomly put his hand in his mouth. But then your baby will realize that putting his hand in his mouthpiece can be soothing and he can form this habit.

At first, you will find your baby doing so cute or even helpful when he or she finds entertainment on her own without your help. But then, when the baby sucks continuously, you will start to worry when imagining that the baby goes to school and the hand is in the mouth all the time, the baby will be ridiculed by other children, and the teacher reprimanded. However, you do not need to worry and let your baby suck on hand. There is no evidence that self-sucking is caused by lack of affection or can damage the alignment of permanent teeth or any deformation of the mouth. Since most babies will give up this habit when they are 4 to 6 years old, many experts say that you do not need to try to stop the habit of sucking hands before this time.

Some studies show that nearly half of babies have a habit of sucking hands when they are young. This behavior is most common when babies reach the age of 18 to 21 months, although some babies will eventually quit the habit. Nearly 80% of babies quit this habit before the age of 5, 95% before the age of 6, and often they will quit without support from others.

To overcome the situation where your baby is only concentrating on sucking fingers throughout the day, distract him with toys, or games that use hands.