What’s Happening This Week
Your baby has never been outside a womb before. Everything — light, sound, touch, air — is new. They will sleep most of the day, cry when awake, and feed constantly. That is not a problem. That is a newborn.
The reflexes are all there: rooting (turning toward your touch on the cheek), palmar grasp (gripping your finger tightly), Moro startle (flinging arms out at sudden movements). These are not learned — they’re hardwired survival mechanisms. They’ll fade over the coming months.
Your baby can see roughly 20–30 cm — exactly the distance to your face while breastfeeding. They prefer faces over everything else.
Feeding This Week
Colostrum first. In the first 2–3 days your breasts produce colostrum — thick, yellowish, low in volume but dense with antibodies. Your baby’s stomach is the size of a marble on day 1. Colostrum is exactly right for it.
Transition milk comes in days 3–5. You’ll feel your breasts become fuller, sometimes uncomfortably so. Feed on demand — this is what regulates your supply. Frequency: 8–12 times per 24 hours, roughly every 2–3 hours.
How do you know feeding is working? Track diapers:
| Day | Wet diapers | Stools |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1–2 | 1–2 | Black, sticky meconium |
| Day 3–4 | 3–4 | Greenish, transitioning |
| Day 5–7 | 6+ | Mustard yellow, seedy |
If you’re hitting 6+ wet diapers and yellow stools by day 5–6, feeding is on track.
Sleep This Week
Newborns sleep 16–18 hours a day, but never in long stretches. Expect 30 minutes to 3 hours at a time with no day/night pattern — their circadian rhythm hasn’t developed yet. That develops around 6–8 weeks.
Safe sleep, every time: back on a firm flat surface, no pillows, no blankets, no positioners. Room-share (baby in their own cot in your room) is recommended for the first 6 months.
Wake windows are tiny — your newborn can handle about 35–50 minutes of awake time before they need to sleep again. Watch for eye-rubbing, looking away, or fussing as sleep cues.
Is This Normal?
Weight loss. Losing 7–10% of birth weight in the first 3–5 days is normal. If your baby weighed 3.2 kg at birth, losing 200–320 g is expected. Birth weight should be fully regained by day 10–14. If loss exceeds 10% at any point, or weight is not regained by 2 weeks, call your pediatrician.
Yellow skin (jaundice). Around 60–80% of newborns develop visible jaundice. Physiological jaundice appears after 24 hours, peaks days 4–5, and clears by day 10–14. Your baby’s face or chest looking yellow, while they feed well and are alert, is usually nothing to worry about. See “When to call the doctor” below for warning signs.
Mother’s Body This Week
Afterpains (uterine contractions) are intense in the first few days, especially during breastfeeding — oxytocin triggers both. Lochia (vaginal discharge) is heavy and red for the first few days, tapering to pink then yellow over 4–6 weeks. Sleep deprivation hits hardest this week. Postpartum blues — weepiness, mood swings, feeling overwhelmed — affect 70–80% of mothers in days 3–5. This is hormonal and usually resolves within 2 weeks. If it persists or worsens, talk to your doctor.
First Pediatrician Visit
Schedule the first visit at 3–5 days of age. The doctor will check weight (confirm no more than 10% loss), jaundice level, feeding, cord stump, and newborn screening results (if done at hospital). Don’t skip this visit.
When to Call the Doctor
- Jaundice appearing within the first 24 hours of birth
- Jaundice visible on arms, legs, palms, or soles
- Baby is too sleepy to wake for feeds
- Weight loss more than 10% of birth weight
- Fewer than 1 wet diaper on day 1, fewer than 3 by day 3
- Temperature above 37.5°C or below 35°C
- Cord stump is red, swollen, oozing, or has a foul smell
- Baby is breathing fast (over 60 breaths/min), grunting, or has blue lips
Real Questions from Indian Mothers
These are real questions asked by parents in the Babynama community, answered by our pediatricians.
“45 day old baby seems to be in very very deep sleep (was up most of night and morning) and has not had anything to feed in almost 4 hours. Please suggest ways to wake him up and if it’s okay to extend the time to 5-6 hours.”
U need to feed every 2-3 hours or earlier if baby demands, don’t let the gap be more than 3 hours. U can wake baby up by gental stimulations like rubbing soles and back. Gental rocking and changing diapers will help to wake baby for deep sleep