9 weeks

Behavior and development

How does the baby develop?

By the first week of the third month, your baby can:

Smile in response to your smile;

Distinguish the difference between a familiar voice and other sounds;

Begins to look over where there is noise;

Better harmony with the surroundings;

Respond to bells in a variety of ways, such as staring, crying or silence.

What do you need to do to support your baby?

A conversation with your baby (although it may seem as if it's only you at this time) can help your baby develop cognitive development. Your baby will even follow your mouth while you are talking and enjoy the action. You will be amazed by your baby's ability to communicate by chirping to make sounds, laughing or crying to express different needs.

Health and safety

What should mom discuss with the doctor?

Depending on the baby's condition, the number and type of assessment techniques and procedures performed will vary widely. But you can anticipate and consult your doctor about the following:

Your doctor will check your baby's weight, height and head size to make sure the baby is growing at the right pace.

Check your baby's eyesight, hearing, heart and lungs, check your baby from head to toe, front chest and back, make sure your baby is healthy and reach developmental milestones.

You should have your baby vaccinated with the following vaccines: hepatitis B, polio; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, hepatitis, pneumococcal, ear infections and meningitis; acute diarrhea caused by Rota virus (oral infection) to prevent common causes of severe diarrhea.

What should mom know?

Immunization

Many parents may hear more about the risks than the benefits that vaccinations bring. But the doctors will assert you that: for most babies, vaccination is very beneficial because vaccination will keep them safe from diseases easily encountered.

Immunization works on the following mechanism: when one comes into contact with pathogenic microorganisms that have been weakened / dead or exposed to toxic substances that have become harmless after heat treatment or treatment. chemically, the body produces antibodies. These antibodies will develop if the baby's body becomes infected. They are equipped with a special memory of the immune system, which will recognize and destroy specific microorganisms if they attack the body in the future.

Even though vaccination saves thousands of children's lives each year, this kind of prevention is not perfect. Most children may have a slight reaction to the vaccine, others get sick again, and in others very serious illnesses. In rare cases, some vaccines can cause permanent damage, even death, in infants. To minimize the risk, refer to and take some of the precautions below to ensure that your baby is always safely vaccinated:

Make sure the doctor carefully checks the baby's health before getting vaccinated to make sure he doesn't have any serious illness. If your baby is very sick, you should postpone immunizations. However, when your baby has mild illnesses such as a cold, there is no need to delay the vaccination;

Read the vaccine information your doctor gives you before giving your child a shot;

Watch your baby carefully for 72 hours after vaccination (especially during the first 48 hours) and immediately notify your doctor if your baby has any serious reactions or unusual behavior. In addition, you should also report the child's reactions even if not serious to the doctor in the next visit;

Ask the doctor to write the name of the vaccine manufacturer and the vaccine batch / lot number on the child's record along with the baby's reactions. Keep a copy of this information. The baby's serious reactions will have to be reported to higher levels by the doctors to get timely solutions;

Before the next shot, remind the doctor again of the child's reactions to the previous injection;

If you have any concerns about vaccine safety, talk directly to your doctor.

Although it is very rare that your baby has a serious reaction after a vaccination, you should call your doctor if your baby develops any of the following within two days of the shot:

Fever higher than 40 ° C;

Crying lasts more than three hours;

Seizures / convulsions are normal, but are due to fever and are not serious;

Seizures or unusual behavior within seven days of injection;

Allergies (swelling of the mouth, face, or throat; difficulty breathing; immediate rash);

Lethargic, slow reactive, excessively drowsy.

If your baby has one of the above symptoms after the injection, take him to the doctor and collect and evaluate this information to help reduce the risk later.

Mother's concern

What are the things you need to care about?

Give your baby a bottle

Some mothers give their babies a bottle to sometimes have an afternoon or evening free. The reason may be because they have to return to work or because the baby is gaining weight slowly if only breastfeeding.

Even if you don't plan to breastfeed regularly, express and cool six bottles of breastmilk in case of reluctance. This will provide your baby with a spare milk supply when you are sick, are on temporary medications and medications may interfere with your milk or you have urgent work that needs to be away for a few days. Don't worry if your baby has never bottleed before because the close taste of breast milk will make it easier for him to bottle.

Some babies have no problem transitioning from bottle-feeding and vice versa. But most babies will adapt better if you extend breastfeeding for three weeks, preferably the first five weeks of your baby's life. Early bottle-feeding can interfere with breastfeeding because the baby can confuse the breast with the nipple. Another reason is that breastfeeding and bottle feeding require different techniques. However, if the baby is bottle fed later than this time, many babies will refuse to bottle because they are used to breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is very convenient in that your baby will suckle when he wants, not depending on how much milk you give. So as soon as you start bottle-feeding, the first obstacle is determining how much milk your baby needs. You should consult a doctor or a registered dietitian in this case, because each different baby in each age will have very different nutritional needs.

If your job forces you to skip two feedings during the day, switch to bottle feeding. You should begin bottle-feeding at least two weeks before returning to work. Give your baby a week to get used to feeding one bottle a day before switching to two bottles per day. Not only will this help your baby, but it will also help your body gradually adapt to the changes if you plan to breastfeed with formula. Your milk supply will gradually decrease and will make you feel more comfortable when you return to work.

If you plan on giving your baby a bottle every now and then, expressing both breasts before going out will reduce problems with engorgement and leaking. Make sure your baby is not fed too close to the time you return you can feed your baby as soon as you get home if you are full of milk.

Baby's first smile

If your child doesn't smile at you, don't worry. Even the happiest kids don't really laugh until they reach six or seven weeks of age. And once your baby starts to smile, he just laughs randomly, not at a specific person. You will be able to tell your baby's real smile from those random smiles by observing how he uses his entire face to smile, not just his mouth. Even though your baby doesn't really laugh until he is ready, he will smile at you sooner if you talk to him, play and cuddle him more.