Your baby is increasingly developing skills which are useful in a world filled with sights and sounds. Their hearing has developed and they are beginning to track the movement of objects with their eyes. Movements are less jerky and they are gaining control of their head and neck. You will soon see indication they are working on intentional movement of their hands and moving their hand to their mouth on purpose. The central nervous system is developing down their spine and begin the coordinated movements so necessary in the second six months.

Just when you might be starting to feel a bit more confident about caring for your baby - nature has a surprise for you!

Welcome to Wonder Weeks!

As well as a physical growth spurt, common around 4-6 weeks, this week will see significant brain development underway. If your baby was born on her due date, around five weeks she will experience the first Wonder Week.

As your baby approaches the first month anniversary of their birth, you will already see significant changes from how they appeared that first day. Although some babies still like to be curled up as though they are still held tight within the womb, most babies are getting used to having arms and legs they can stretch out and straighten. Those curled up little legs can make positioning your baby in a baby carrier a challenge when you are starting out, as you struggle to position them in the recommended M position with the carrier supporting them “knee to knee”. As they begin to unfurl like a blossoming flower, this gets easier and you will also find dressing them a little easier too.

Sometimes the pathway to breastfeeding involves supplementing breastmilk with your own expressed milk, donor milk from another mother or infant formula. If exclusive breastfeeding was your goal then you might feel disappointed, frustrated or even angry that this hasn't been possible for now. However temporary mixed feeding doesn't mean you will need to do so permanently and it helps to understand you have options to try.

This can be the week when you can hit the wall so be gentle with yourselves and call on any offers of help. But the help you need isn’t someone to sit holding the baby while you do housework and make them a cup of tea! So be selective about who you invite into your space and say no when you need to.

The first week of your baby’s life can pass in a bit of a blur. If you haven’t birthed at home, transferring there after a few days in hospital can seem surreal but in the second week you will begin to adjust to caring for your baby in the environment you carefully prepared for them.

After around 40 weeks, your baby has outgrown the available space inside the womb and relocated to the outside world! Pregnancy and birth retreat to the past as your whole focus becomes a week of firsts for this new person in your life.

From the vital first hour and the first breastfeed to the first nappy of around 2000 changes in the first year alone - strap on those training wheels as there is a steep learning curve ahead of you all!