Getting to Know Your Baby - How She Learned From Every Sensory Experience

As each week goes by, your baby will appear less floppy, less curled up, and more alert. She is now interested in the world and is learning from every sensory experience.

Reflexes and posture - At this stage reflexes still govern your baby's movements, although over the next few weeks they will become more integrated and most of the more primitive ones will disappear. Your will notice that she still has her fencing (ATNR) reflex - when her head is turned to one side, she extends her arm on the same side. She will start to catch a glimpse of her hand in this position, but because her arms swipe around so much, she will not be able to remain focused on it for long. Her arms and legs move a lot at this stage, especially the arms, swiping wildly through the air. This makes her feel disconcerted and you can help her to feel more composed by cupping your hands behind her shoulder blades and providing some pressure to bring her hands towards the midline of her body. During this period you will notice that she clasps her hands much less. Occasionally she will open them. She will not start reaching for objects yet, but will stare intently at them, almost reaching out with her eyes.

During this period your baby needs opportunities to work her back and neck muscles, as she becomes less flexed. If you place her on her tummy she will start to lift her head up from the surface and when held in a sitting position she may hold her head upright for a little while. When you pull your baby into a sitting position from lying on her back, she will start to hold her head in line with her body. By six weeks your baby will have uncurled a lot, have straighter hips and knees, and will be able to hold her head up for a few minutes.

Visual development - Your baby is working hard at developing her eye muscles. The muscles inside her eyes are responsible for her focus and clearness of vision. She will be practicing her focus at different distances. She loves mobiles with contrasting colours because they help her to maintain focus and work those muscles. The muscles surrounding her eyes are responsible for coordinating eye movements. This is essential if she wants to watch a moving object. Your baby enjoys patterns of any kind. She will watch people if they are in her line of vision and even turn her head towards them if she hears a sound.

Social awareness - Your baby recognizes your face and will stare intently at your facial features. If you stick out your tongue, she may copy you. If you smile, she will try desperately to copy it. Eventually the big milestone that makes all the hard work seem worthwhile will happen around the six-week mark: your baby will start smiling. Some babies start smiling with intention (not just for gas bubbles) even earlier than six weeks. Your baby loves language and responds to your voice. When you speak to her she will hold your gaze for longer and may even try to talk by making little throaty noises.

Regulation - At this stage your baby can just about maintain her body temperature and heart rate. She cannot regulate her sleep/wake cycles or state (calm-alert/active-alert, and so on) yet and that is why she fusses just before she falls asleep. One of your baby's key tasks at this age is to learn to remain calm when exposed to stimulation.

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