The Incredible Growing Baby

"I loved all the firsts, especially with my first-born. It's so exciting to see your baby learning new skills and to witness the joy on their face when they discover their feet or figure out how to clap their hands."
Maria, 32, mother of two

It's one of the greatest joys of becoming a parent--witnessing all of your baby's exciting "firsts". In fact, it's the ultimate payoff for all that "hard labor" you put in during and after the birth--the 13 hours of contractions you endured or the long hours you spent pacing the floor with a fussy newborn who considered falling asleep to be a sign of personal weakness.

In this chapter, we talk about the smorgasbord of marvelous firsts that await you and your baby during his amazing first year of development. We'll start out by examining what developmental milestones can and can't tell you about your baby. (Contrary to what most people think, the fact that your baby was the first baby in your prenatal class to start babbling doesn't necessarily mean that she has a future as a politician--which will no doubt have you heaving a huge sigh of relief.) Once we've talked about the limitations of developmental milestones in predicting your baby's future abilities, well zero in on the specific developmental milestones that you can expect your baby to achieve at various points during his first year of life--give or take a couple of months, of course. Finally, we'll wrap up the chapter by considering the joys and challenges of parenting babies of various ages and considering just how much growing and developing you will have done yourself by the time the first year of parenthood draws to a close. Your baby isn't the only one who's changing by leaps and bounds, after all!

BABY TALK
Your baby will grow at a rapid rate during his first year of life, adding an inch to his length each month during the first half of the year and adding a half inch to his length each month during the second half of the year. You can also expect him to double his birthweight by the time he's six months old and triple his birthweight by the time he celebrates his first birthday.

BABY TALK
Don't expect your breastfed baby to grow at quite the same pace as a formula-fed baby. According to the World Health Organization, breastfed babies gain approximately 1 pound 4 ounces to 1 pound 6 ounces less than formula-fed babies during their first year of life. Up until now, infant growth charts (including the ones in Appendix D) have traditionally been based on data from bottlefed babies, but the World Health Organization will soon be releasing infant growth charts based on data from breastfed babies, which should help to reassure parents of breastfed babies that they are developing normally even if they aren't quite as hefty as their formula-fed counterparts.