| There can be little doubt that breast-feeding gives a baby the best possible start in life. However, milk is not 'let down' immediately a baby is born. For three days or so after birth the breasts secrete a clear, yellowish fluid called colostrum, which gives the baby valuable antibodies and hormones. The baby's sucking causes extra large amounts of a hormone called oxytocin to be released from the pituitary; this stimulates milk production and also helps the walls of the uterus to contract.
The balance of minerals, vitamins, and proteins in cow's milk is not ideal for babies. It contains many times more sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus than the baby needs, three times as much protein, which overtaxes acid secretion in the baby's stomach, resulting in indigestion and a proliferation of harmful bacteria, and only a third of the Vitamin C and a tenth of the Vitamin D.
At birth the the head is very large compared with the body - about a quarter of body length is head. This is because the brain develops well in advance of the body. At birth the brain weighs about a quarter of its adult weight, at six months about 50 per cent, and at twelve months about 60 per cent. By contrast, birth weight is only 5 per cent of young adult weight, although this doubles within six months and triples within twelve. Head circumference is measured 3-4 days after birth and serves as a baseline for growth and for detecting any abnormalities.
The pace of brain development is most easy to observe in the way a baby looks at things. In the first few weeks, a baby sees and reacts to objects about 20 cm (8 in) away from the face. By the age of three months the eyes are sufficiently coordinated to be able to track slowly moving objects, provided they are no more than 30 cm (12 in) away. At four months full accommodation or focusing occurs. At six months objects are watched with great attention until they disappear from sight and are then 'forgotten'; the realization that people and things continue to exist when the eye can no longer see them comes much later. At twelve months a baby recognizes familiar people as soon as they come within a range of 6 m (20 ft).
Even newborn babies 'corner' their eyes towards certain sounds. In tests babies have shown themselves to be far more sensitive to the human voice than to pure tones and household noises; in other words they possess an innate ability to distinguish speech sounds from other sounds, an ability fundamental to language acquisition. The first recognizable syllables, usually produced towards the end of the first year, are preceded by burbling and babbling as the pitches and rhythms of speech are tried out. Other tests have shown that even very young babies have a good memory for smells - they recognize mum by her smell.
Physical development is most obvious between 16 and 28 weeks, when the neck and trunk muscles develop, allowing the baby to sit up and look around and take experimental swipes at nearby objects. By 40 weeks most babies are experienced crawlers, eager for horizons beyond the cot and the pram. Shortly afterwards there are wobbly attempts to stand, though unsupported standing is not usually achieved until about a year old.
The things to watch out for particularly in infants are fever and dehydration. Temperature quickly rises in response to infection, hot weather, too many blankets, and so on, and measures to reduce it should be taken very swiftly (see Fever). To take a baby's temperature, put the bulb of the thermometer under the armpit for 3 minutes. Persistent diarrhoea or vomiting can easily cause dehydration; usually the cause of diarrhoea is premature introduction of solids or too much sugar in feeds.
Daily immersion in soap and water is not essential for a baby. The essential areas to clean thoroughly are eyes, face, hands, and bottom, the tradition 'topping and tailing' method.
Granules are the most convenient way of giving homeopathic remedies to babies; they quickly dissolve on the tongue and cannot be spat out as easily as pilules. Alternatively, crush a pilule between two clean spoons, dissolve it in a little warm water, and drop it on to the tongue with a dropper. |
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