Welcome Home: Week 6

Welcome Home: Week 6

Remember when you were only six weeks pregnant and your baby was the size of a pomegranate seed?! WOW, time sure flies when they are on the outside!! How is motherhood going? You're doing much better than you think you are, guaranteed! That sweet babe is alive, fed, and loved, and that's pretty much all they need right now. Oh, and of course a clean bum!

 

For many dads, especially first timers, learning where they fit in with the new baby is hard. Unless your baby is bottle fed, you are their source of everything they need. Milk, milk, and more milk. If dad has a full-time gig, whether it is school or work, it may be easy to just fall into the habit of you doing all the "mom stuff" and him just picking up the slack when you are just sick and tired of doing anything at the end of the day. He needs your help and encouragement to develop his dad skills! So how do you do that?

  1. Give him things to do. Chances are high that he really wants to help you out with all of your responsibilities, but he just doesn't quite know what to do. Kindly ask for help with specific tasks with baby or around the house, and then graciously thank him when he has finished-even if it wasn't done exactly how you would have done it.
  2. Give him fun duties too. Would you want to be helpful to someone that only wanted you around to change the poopy diapers? Nah. Let him pick out baby's outfit and get baby dressed for the day! Remember, this is his child too!
  3. Don't hover. Even though your brand new mom senses want to be involved in every tiny detail, let dad just be the dad without you peering over the couch. Many dads tend to feel insecure in their new role in the beginning, so offer them every opportunity to gain confidence in themselves!
  4. Listen to him. There are a lot of things that you are having to change and adjust to now. He probably has plenty of great advice for you! Hear him out when he has ideas about your new bundle of joy's care. Remember how you're still learning and winging it too? Let him help you navigate!

 

Your sweet little bundle is becoming much more awake and alert these days. At 6-weeks-old, babies typically begin to have longer periods of wakefulness during the day. This also means that they are more aware, and are starting to work on more developmental tricks.

For one, they are starting to express more with their face. You will probably get a good laugh out of some of the faces they pull, and fall even more in love with them! They are starting to grasp objects. Provide them with a few toys that they can easily latch on to like the Oball Rattle that is linked below. Big open spaces in a toy make it easy for their jumpy little fingers to hold on to. Along with his new grasping efforts, baby is starting to develop some sensory perception. Provide him with music, mirrors, different textures, etc., to help this development right along!

 

Remember that every baby is an individual! If this is your first, don't compare your baby to your friends or sister's baby too much. Some little ones will develop quicker, right on pace, or even slower, and that is 100% normal! As long as you are attending your pediatrician visits and your doctor is pleased with your baby's development, you should be pleased and content too! Before you know it, they will be running circles around you, so embrace whatever they are or aren't doing right now!

 

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