Your baby is starting to transform from a precious-only-super-sleepy newborn to an almost full-fledged baby. And with all that growth and development happening, there are some big changes and milestones coming downwards the pike.

So get excited! Payback for the slumber deprivation you're probably dealing with is on its style. Hither's what yous can look forward to this week.

Your 3-week-sometime babe's evolution

At a Glance

Sleeping basics

Newborns upwards to 3 or 4 months old need 14 to 17 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, usually waking every ii to four hours to eat.

Feeding basics

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

Did you lot know?

Your little ane is gaining musculus command, so those movements and reflexes will become less hasty and more graceful this week.

Your piffling i is getting stronger every day — and you can encourage baby to flex those muscles by providing ample supervised tummy time during the solar day so she tin practice lifting that cute caput.

Some 3-weekers will be able to elevator their heads 45 degrees when on the tummy, and the more than practice baby gets, the better.

Tummy time will also help prevent head flattening, something more mutual in babies who spend all twenty-four hour period and night lying on their backs or propped in bouncers and car seats.

In encephalon-related news, your baby is set up for more circuitous shapes (bye-bye circles, hello zigzags!) as vision, the ability to focus, and concentration improve speedily. She may actually dearest gazing at a mobile or a  soft toy you agree up close plenty and so she can encounter information technology.

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

In fact, there are newborns who sob inconsolably for hours. Doctors will generally diagnose such crying as colic when it lasts for at least three hours at a fourth dimension, at to the lowest degree three days a week, over the course of at to the lowest degree 3 weeks.

Your iii-calendar week-erstwhile baby'southward growth

Your cutie is surely packing on the pounds and ounces now that she's 3 weeks old. Merely when taking annotation of your little one's weight, stop yourself from comparing information technology to your BFF's baby's weight, or your sis'south, or ... you become the idea.

That's considering the most important measure of your baby's growth isn't how she stacks upwards to other babies, simply rather how she stacks up to her own weight and height curve.

The pediatrician will want to follow your baby's growth trends over time. The doc will look closely to brand sure your little ane is trending on relatively the aforementioned curve she'south been on (whether that's the 15th percentile, the 50th percentile or the 90th percentile).

A big spring (say, from the 20th percentile to the 50th percentile) tin mean that baby's gaining besides fast. A large dip tin can mean she isn't getting enough to eat.

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

Your 3-week-old baby's wellness

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

Spitting-up baby

Don't be alarmed if baby is spitting upward a lot. What looks similar her entire lunch is probably no more than than a tablespoon of milk. Things should at-home down in a month or 2. Read More than

Baby fevers

A mild fever under 100.iv degrees Fahrenheit in babies this historic period is unremarkably nothing to worry almost, just a temp of 100.4 degrees F or higher warrants a call to the md right away. Read More

The scoop on poop

If your infant is breastfed, her bowel movements will probably be mustard-colored, loose and sometimes seedy. In formula-fed babies, the stool will exist probably be soft, and can range anywhere from pale yellow to yellowish brown, light brown or brown green. Read More

Crib condom

Your infant will be spending a lot of time in that crib, so yous'll desire to make sure information technology's rubber. A crib should see the latest standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC). Read More

Vitamin D for baby

Newborns (and older babies) need 400 IUs of vitamin D each twenty-four hours. If your baby is breastfed, she'll need to take vitamin D drops. While formula is already supplemented with vitamin D, ask your pediatrician if you should add together vitamin D drops to your formula-fed baby'due south bottle. Read More

Postpartum & new baby tips

If you're not able to breastfeed, and your babe has a medical status that requires human milk (including prematurity, failure to thrive, an intolerance to formula or allergies), there are ways to get donated breast milk from other moms through a milk bank.

Here'due south what yous'll desire to go on in heed as you begin your search:

  1. Every bit tempting equally it may be, best friends (or even casual ones) shouldn't become breast friends. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), La Leche League and other experts frown on moms casually breastfeeding 1 another's babies and for skilful reason: There'due south always a risk that your pal could unwittingly laissez passer on a virus for certain illnesses like Lyme disease or hepatitis. In that location's also the risk that the shared milk could contain medications if your friend is taking any.
  2. Do consider buying from a milk depository financial institution. Unlike an informal arrangement between moms, the milk banks in the U.S. accept strict guidelines — guidelines that were ready up by the Human Milk Banking Association of Due north America (HMBANA), an arrangement of pediatricians and other health care workers. The guidelines regulate donors every bit well equally the way milk is collected and stored.
  3. Calculate the costs and get some fiscal assist if you demand it. Buying donated milk is expensive. Although nursing moms donate their milk for free, the milk, which the guidelines land can be obtained only with a prescription from your doctor, costs about $3 an ounce.

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

Amongst the weather that may exist keeping the skin your baby'south in colorful but less-than-flawless: red pimples and whiteheads (didn't expect those until middle schoolhouse at to the lowest degree?), pink diaper rashes, flaky cradle cap and purplish mottling (not to worry — information technology's just a sign of your baby'southward young circulation).

Fortunately, all these baby skin imperfections are temporary. Some, like the pimples and mottling, will go away on their ain; others, like diaper rash and cradle cap, will respond well to treatment. Clear baby pare is just effectually the corner.

Labor and delivery, equally you might have noticed, are really rough on your body — especially "down there." Your perineum muscles and nerves may be stretched or damaged, making it hard for you to control how and when digested food leaves your body.

Postpartum fecal incontinence normally takes intendance of itself as your body returns to normal. Until and then, here are a few steps you lot can take to alleviate this problem:

  1. Eat a gas-conscious diet. Skip hard-to-digest foods for now (zippo fried, no beans, no cabbage), and avert overeating or eating on the run.
  2. Do your Kegels. Then do them again…and again. Kegels are just the ticket for tightening up those muscles, likewise as the ones that control urine, which may besides exist leaking these days.
  3. Don't be shy. Talk to your practitioner if the problem persists. Your wellness care provider might suggest a mind-body technique called biofeedback or possibly surgery if the situation is particularly bad, which it rarely is.

Newborn care during outings

It pays to be actress careful for the offset month — the younger your baby, the less time that tiny immune arrangement has had to strengthen. (That goes double for infants built-in prematurely or with other wellness concerns.)

And then in those early weeks, avoid crowded areas. Inside or out, keep your baby in a stroller, sling or carrier. And after any outing, clean your infant'south hands with a wipe or wet, soapy material.

Babe mixing up mean solar day and dark?

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

  1. Limit daytime snoozes to three-hour stretches. That way she won't go into the habit of bunching up sleep during the solar day. Even though your newborn doesn't have a naptime routine yet, you probably will want to wake your babe up to consume every 3 to four hours or so anyhow at this age. If you have trouble rousing your drowsy darling, try these tactics: Concord your baby upright, unswaddle your little ane, strip off some wearing apparel, tickle those little feet or hands, stroke that cute confront, move baby's artillery and legs, or put a cool washcloth on the forehead. If all else fails, effort changing baby'due south diaper — that's normally a surefire way to wake upward a little sleepyhead. Once she'due south awake, continue your trivial one alert by singing upbeat songs and dangling toys in front of baby's face up.
  2. Brand your newborn'southward naptime routine slightly dissimilar from the nighttime one to help your baby distinguish between the two. Though y'all'll want to plant a wind-downward routine for naps that's similar to the one you use at bedtime, adjusting it a scrap during the day can clue your babe in that it's not time to turn in for the night. Keep a shade or curtain open up a little, for instance, and so the nursery's not pitch-dark. And don't go overboard in terms of tiptoeing effectually while she's napping, either (though you should do the reverse at night). Hearing some ordinary sounds while she's snoozing, within reason, can help reinforce the departure betwixt day and night.
  3. Don't ditch naps. While it is important to teach your sleeping angel that nighttime is the best time for snoozing in long stretches, she'll nonetheless demand to fit in some close-centre during the day. The boilerplate baby sleeps at least 14 to 17 hours in a 24-hour menses, so lots of that infant rest needs to happen during the day. And exist grateful that your baby seems to know how to power-nap at all — information technology's a good sign that she'll learn how to sleep through the dark in the not-also-distant future.

Your friends and family are probably as excited to meet your newborn equally y'all are to show your little bundle off.

Simply be certain to gear up and enforce this simple ground dominion: All admirers who want to touch or hold your infant must wash their hands starting time — and anyone who is clearly ill or has a rash should stay (far) away.

Blame your pediatrician or your own paranoia, merely go your message across. Be especially careful with small children, who could exist conveying all sorts of contagious stuff.

Teach them to gently pat your baby'southward back or impact her tiny toes, but never the hands or confront. And afterward any outing or social scene, make clean your baby's hands with a wipe or wet, soapy cloth.

Most babies selection a fussy period during the afternoon or early on evening every bit their "witching hour" to permit it all out and cry for a while.

If the crying is colic (which information technology isn't ever), it may seem like those babies are in pain. One theory is that colicky babies are also gassy babies, though they might be gassy because they're swallowing a lot of air from all that crying or because newborns often struggle with gas pain because of their immature digestive systems.

Colicky babies also often seem to want to swallow all the time — only sometimes that's considering 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 historic period often need to unwind with a good cry at the end of the twenty-four hour period.

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

If your babe does seem to be in hurting, cheque for fever and call the doc. It'south possible that she's coming down with something.

Just if it's colic that she's coming down with, it'southward probably hither to stay, to some caste, for the next few weeks or months. And if it'southward hunger, piece of work with your pediatrician to figure out whether any adjustments in the feeding department are in gild.

From the What to Expect editorial squad and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Expect When You're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic inquiry institutions and highly respected wellness organizations. Learn how nosotros keep our content accurate and up-to-appointment by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Await the Get-go Yr, 3rd edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Colic in Babies: Signs, Causes and Tips for Parents, November 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Understanding Infant Growth Charts, December 2018.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Crib Safety, August 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, What to Do if Your Baby or Toddler Has a Fever, October 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Spitting Up Babe, December 2018.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Newborn and Baby Poop, Baronial 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Vitamin D for Babies, October 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, How Much Should My Baby Eat?, April 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Here'southward How Much Sleep Babies Need, June 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Newborn and Baby Sleep Basics, May 2020.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, Dorsum to Slumber, Stomach to Play, January 2017.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, How to Read a Growth Chart: Percentiles Explained, September 2015.
  • Mayo Clinic, Colic, February 2020.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics,Pediatrics in Review, Colic, July 2012.

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