Parenting is not easy, especially in the first six weeks of the baby’s life. You might be drained both emotionally and physically while taking care of him. It would seem as if time is passing by ever so slowly and your daily routine is becoming very taxing. However, everything changes with a 7 week old baby as the baby becomes less dependent and the parents see a significant change in their babies’ habits. It is around this time that babies start crying less and become much more fun to play with.

How Is a 7 Week Old Baby Developing?

1. Physical Development

• Start to track things with their eyes. The eyes of the baby will become able to follow things more easily now. He would have no problem in tracking moving objects, a feat that was difficult for him before. Move anything horizontally or vertically in front of his eyes and you will see him tracking them immediately. However, diagonal tracking may take some more time. Moving your head close to the baby in a horizontal or vertical motion will get the baby’s eyes to track your each move without breaking eye contact.

• Taste to explore. At this age, the baby is more likely to start experiencing the world around him using his mouth. Since he wants to explore how toys and his blanket taste, he won’t mind putting them in his mouth.

• Learn to turn their heads. The baby will now start learning to turn his head. When put on his tummy, he will start raising his head and even begin to make sideways movements with his hands much more smoothly too.

• Reach and grasp. Flailing is another thing that a baby would start doing at this age. Anytime he sees a person or a toy he wants to play with, you will see him flailing his legs and arms to get hold of it. The newborn would now start to reach out with his hands and to grasp things too. Even before a baby begins to roll, he becomes capable of making an ample amount of movement, which is why it is not safe to leave him unattended especially on raised platforms.

2. Social Development

Most babies start socializing and smiling in the seventh week. It is also the time when their crying becomes more frequent as well and on average he starts crying for about 2 hours a day. At this time in their life, the babies start interacting more with the people around them. They would try to produce sounds, smile at you or even imitate what you are doing. However, they can’t keep this up for long and soon start getting restless. At such times, you must look for ways that will help you in relaxing the baby. Since not all babies are the same, your baby might not like the lights or too much noise and would not be easy to calm down. Try experimenting with different ways until you ascertain the thing that makes him relax.

3. Cognitive Development

Babies start responding to events taking place around them in the seventh week. You will see them getting happy when you are about to feed them or play with them and getting agitated when you are doing something they don’t like for instance a diaper change or a bath. Babies of this age are happy to see faces they recognize and don’t like stranger looking at them. They tend to love seeing things and listening to sounds too as they are trying to understand them.

Watch this video to learn more about a 7 week old baby’s development:

How to Take Care of a 7 Week Old Baby

1. Feed Your Baby Properly

By this age, the baby would have learnt how to suck and swallow milk. He would start demanding more feeds as well. Thus, make sure that you give him regular feeds. Moreover, see to it that he is feeding in the right manner because it will help him in growing steadily and also help you in producing more milk.

2. Sleep Pattern and How to Cope with It

The baby would not have developed a steady nighttime sleeping pattern just yet. However they will begin to start taking 6-hour long naps in the night during the seventh week. To ensure this, you must keep the baby fed properly and have him sleep in a safe environment away from any smoke. Moreover, keep his mouth uncovered and see to it that he sleeps on his back.

3. Safety Always Comes First

The safety of the baby should remain your primary concern. You must make sure that he does not get hurt because seeing your baby in pain is not an easy thing to swallow for a parent. In order to remain on the safe side and avoid any chances of injuries like scalding or burning, the use of the following preventive measures can prove to be very beneficial.

• Don’t hold any hot drink or beverage in your hand while carrying your baby.
• Don’t have your baby with you while cooking.
• Keep the baby’s crib at a safe distance from heaters or radiators.

Read up on first aid techniques and try to learn them so that if an accident occurs, you are ready to provide first aid to your baby.

4. Don’t Forget the Tummy Time

Letting the baby lie on his tummy for a while becomes important from now on. Since the baby has grown up he will be able to start lifting his head up. However, he might not be able to keep his head in that position for very long. So, make sure that there is something soft present underneath his head on which he can fall without hurting his face or his nose.

5. Keep Talking to Your Baby

Talking to the baby is important. It will not only help him in learning language but will comfort him as well. Since the baby’s hearing skills have developed, he would pay attention to what you are saying, so it’s best to communicate with him every time you do something around him.

6. Deal with Diaper Rash

Diaper rash is a common problem faced by babies. However, it is not something that cannot be dealt with. Make sure that the diapers of the baby are changed as quickly as possible whenever he gets wet. This way his skin will remain dry and there would be less chance of any rash.

Ammonia is usually the culprit behind diaper rash in infants, which is formed because of the reaction that takes place between the baby’s urine and the bacteria present in his feces.

7. Start to Think about Childcare

If you want to get back to your career and job then this is the time to start thinking about childcare. Since a nursery is not that easy to find, you will be better off if you start searching for them now. If you plan to work from home then hiring a nanny would be a good solution.