Interacting With Your Newborn

Every baby is different, so you will need to learn what works best with your baby. Looking, smiling, talking, holding, consoling, touching, kissing and feeding are all times to interact with your baby. Babies are born social beings and prefer the look of a human face above most anything. Your baby will prefer the look of your face within the first week.

You'll learn their likes and dislikes and how they prefer to be soothed. You're the first experience in human interaction for your baby. Sights, sounds and touch are important. Babies can see, hear, touch and taste in the womb.

Babies like eye contact. They prefer the sound of human voices, especially those they heard in the womb. They are very sensitive to loud noises and the sense of touch. Your baby will learn your smell in a few days. Babies are also born with reflexes and will grasp any fingers that are put in their hands. They also have reflexes to suck and cuddle.

Too much stimulation for your baby can be stressful. However, babies do have the ability to withdraw or turn away from unpleasant circumstances. They can actively withdraw by moving, turning away, or falling asleep. Each baby is different. You should act as an outside filter for your baby.

Babies prefer bright, colorful objects, and like to play with their parents. They also like pleasant sounds and music. The rhythmic sounds and tones of your voice are understood even before they can understand your words. Babies differ in the amount they cry, and some, can soothe themselves, however, others may need active cuddling and reassuring activities. Giving and receiving signals is the trade off of behavior you and your baby experience together.

There are six basic states in a baby's life:

Active alert is the time that the baby can receive and process information and respond to their environment. This is also the time to engage them in new situations and let them experience change. Remember that play can last from seconds to minutes. Everything you do provides your baby knowledge of things human. Babies who have been fed, changed, bathed and rested will usually be ready for interaction.

Fussy babies are responding to discomfort. What you do is not as important as how you do it. With experience you will learn the best ways to soothe your baby.

Crying is a distress signal, a call for action. Crying can come from hunger, needing changing, being startled or from being tired or over-stimulated. With time you'll start differentiating between crying patterns and be able to deal with each need.

Quiet sleep Active sleep and Drowsy are the times your baby is resting or preparing to rest. Two-thirds of a newborn's life is spent sleeping. During these 12 to 16 hours a day you'll notice a variety of behavior. While your baby will spend only 10 % of its time awake the first few weeks, this should more than triple by the third month.

Activities, which soothe and alert, can vary from baby to baby. Your baby is learning to give and receive love. This will be used in all future human relationships. The first year they should learn to trust, love, and feel confident as a separate person. Remember to remain flexible and sensitive to your baby's needs. Each is baby different.