The Wonder Weeks
Researchers are finding that babies will have weeks throughout the first two years of life when there will be big changes in development. During these weeks a baby may be more unsettled and fussy than usual, but the good news is that after these 'wonder weeks' your baby will have developed in some new way, such as knowing you still exist even though they cannot see you or have a new physical skill (be able to use their thumb and finger to grasp an object) or have some new word skills (saying more words such as 'mama', 'dada' and 'no'
The bad news is that it is often difficult for your baby to handle these big changes in what they can do, how the world looks, or what they understand about it. It might be a surprise or a little scary. You might find that just when you thought things were settling into a routine, your baby might be more unsettled, cry more, be more clingy, have more trouble sleeping, perhaps not feeling like eating.
After these 'wonder weeks' many babies will have calmer and happier weeks - sometimes called 'sunny weeks'.
The unsettles weeks might be hard for you to cope with, but sometimes if you know they are coming and they mean your baby is growing well, it is easier. Remember, it means your baby is getting ready to show you a wonderful new thing they can do and you will be full of wonder about how smart your baby is!
The Wonder Weeks are likely to be:
Week 5 - world of changing sensations: able to focus for longer, more interested, more alert, awake for longer, smiling more
Week 8 - world of patterns: able to recognise simple patterns in the world around them, and in their own body - includes all the senses, not just vision.
Week 12 - world of smooth transition: jerky movements become smoother and more controlled, head movements also
Week 19 - world of events: ability to understand more of the world around them and developing new skills such as being able to reach for a toy, grab it, shake it run it around and put it in their mouth.
Week 26 - world of relationships: understanding more about things happening in their world, eg that certain noises mean that mum is in the kitchen or that another noise means that water is running for a bath.
Week 37 - world of categories (36-40 weeks): trying out new things, like squishing a banana to see how it feels, picking up tiny specks from the floor.
Week 46 - world of sequences: now realising that their may be an order of doing things, such as getting dressed. Looks to see which things go together and how they go together.
Information from the 'Welcome to your baby' edition 4, Child and Family Health Service SA
