The Truth About Newborns

"A telemarketer called the other day and asked for the master of the house. My fiancé told her that she was sleeping. When the woman asked how old the head of the household was, my fiancé said, Five months. The telemarketer then hung up on him! But it's so true: since day one, she has been the boss."
Angelina, 22, mother of one

Even if you have spent a lot of time around newborns, you could still be in for a bit of a shock after your baby arrives. After all, it's one thing to watch someone else care for a new baby: it's quite another to find yourself on baby patrol 24 hours a day. And if you are still harboring the illusion that you're going to be the one in charge during the early weeks of your baby's life well, lets just say that your baby will soon set you straight about that!

Part of the challenge of becoming a parent is that there's no way to predict ahead of time whether you'll end up with a calm, easygoing baby, the kind who falls asleep in restaurants and dozes through feature-length films at the movie theater, or a baby with a slightly more challenging temperament, the kind who takes great personal offense if you break eye contact with him long enough to bring a forkful of food to your mouth. Forget about buying lottery tickets or heading off to the casino if gambling is your thing, parenthoods your game!

The focus of this chapter is on life with a newborn: sensory development in the newborn, newborn sleep patterns, newborn crying patterns, and coping with infant colic. (With any luck, you'll be able to skip over that last part of the chapter.)

What Babies Know

Babies are equipped with powerful senses that allow them to start learning about the world around them right from the moment they are born. Here's what you need to know about each of your newborns five senses.