Week 5

Days 29 to 35 · 4 weeks 0 days to 4 weeks 6 days old · about 1 month This week a typical baby measures about 54 cm (21.25 in) and weighs about 4.4 kg (9.6 lb). Babies vary widely: what matters is that your baby follows their own curve on the growth chart. On day 31 your baby reaches one month. Many babies can now lift their head briefly during tummy time, gaze at faces for longer and make small throaty sounds. For you, bleeding has often stopped or nearly stopped, and you may be starting to move around more. This week covers colic and gas, your pelvic floor and gentle movement, the one-month mark, baby acne and cradle cap, eating and drinking while breastfeeding, pumping and storing milk, and diaper rash and thrush.

Day 29 · 4 weeks 0 days old

Colic is hard, and it is not your fault

Doctors often describe colic with the "rule of threes": crying for more than three hours a day, on more than three days a week, for more than three weeks, in a baby who is otherwise healthy, feeding well and growing. Roughly one baby in five fits that picture. The crying often comes in the evening, with clenched fists, a red face and legs drawn up.

No single cause has been found, and colic does not mean your baby is in pain from something serious. It usually improves by 3 to 4 months. Gas is often blamed, but swallowed air is more often a result of crying than its cause. Still, gentle burping during and after feeds, paced bottle feeding, cycling your baby's legs and slow clockwise tummy rubs are harmless and can help some babies.

Remedies sold for colic, such as gripe water and most gas drops, have little evidence behind them. Talk to your baby's doctor before switching formulas or cutting foods from your diet.

Call your baby's doctor if your baby has a fever, vomits often, has blood in their stool, has a rash or eczema, is not gaining weight, or if the crying is wearing you down. Asking for support is part of looking after your baby. Try this: Arrange a regular evening break this week, even 30 minutes, when someone else takes the crying baby and you go somewhere quiet.

Day 30 · 4 weeks 1 day old

Your pelvic floor is healing too

The pelvic floor is a hammock of muscles that holds up your bladder, uterus and bowel. Pregnancy stretches it for months, and a vaginal birth stretches it further. Even after a caesarean, these muscles are often weaker for a while. That is why leaking a little urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh or lift is so common in the first weeks.

Pelvic floor exercises help. Sit or lie comfortably. Squeeze and lift as if you were stopping yourself from passing wind and holding in urine at the same time, without clenching your buttocks or holding your breath. Hold for a few seconds, then fully relax. Then do some quick squeeze-and-release flicks. Aim for a few sets a day, slowly building how long you can hold. Link them to feeds.

Gentle movement helps your recovery and your mood. Short walks, increasing a little each day, are a good start. Leave running, jumping and heavy lifting until you have been checked and feel ready: entries from about 6 weeks look at returning to exercise.

Call your care provider if you leak stool or cannot control wind, you still leak urine often after a few months, or you feel heaviness, dragging or a bulge in your vagina. These are common and treatable, and a pelvic health physiotherapist can help a great deal.

Try this: Do ten slow pelvic floor squeezes at the start of each feed today.

Day 31 · 4 weeks 2 days old

Your baby is one month old

A month ago, your baby was brand new. Since then, most babies have regained their birth weight and gone on to gain, on average, about 150 to 200 g (5 to 7 oz) a week, though healthy babies grow at different rates. Your baby has probably grown a couple of centimetres too.

Look at what is changing. Many one-month-olds can lift their head briefly when on their tummy, and turn it from side to side. They gaze at faces, may follow one for a moment, and quiet at a familiar voice. They make small sounds besides crying: grunts, sighs, little throaty noises. Some babies give the first real social smile in the next few weeks, often around 6 weeks, but anywhere from about 4 to 8 weeks is common. Every baby develops at their own pace. If your baby was born early, judge their development by their corrected age.

It is a milestone for you, too. You have learned your baby's cues, survived dozens of nights and made a hundred decisions. Your baby may have a checkup around now, depending on where you live: bring your questions. Call your baby's doctor if your baby does not seem to react to loud sounds, does not watch faces at all, feeds very weakly, or seems very stiff or very floppy.

Try this: Take a photo of your baby next to the same object you plan to use each month, and write a few lines about this first month.

Day 32 · 4 weeks 3 days old

Spots and scales on your baby's skin are usually harmless

Just as you were getting used to that perfect newborn skin, small red or white pimples may appear on your baby's cheeks, nose and forehead. This is baby acne. It often starts at around 2 to 4 weeks, can look worse when your baby is hot or crying, and usually clears up on its own by about 3 months. Wash your baby's face with plain water, pat it dry, and resist squeezing the spots or putting on lotions, oils or adult acne creams.

Cradle cap is another common rash: yellowish, greasy or crusty scales on the scalp, sometimes also on the eyebrows, behind the ears or in skin folds. It is not caused by poor hygiene. It often fades over several months. You can loosen the scales by gently rubbing in a little plain emollient or baby oil, leaving it for a while, then washing your baby's hair with a mild baby shampoo and gently using a soft brush. Do not pick the scales, as that can make the skin sore. Avoid nut oils.

Call your baby's doctor if the rash spreads to the body, looks red, swollen, weepy or crusted with yellow fluid, bleeds, seems itchy, or your baby is unwell or has a fever. It could be eczema or an infection that needs treatment.

Try this: Next bath time, wash your baby's face and scalp with plain water and a soft cloth only, and see how their skin looks in a few days.

Day 33 · 4 weeks 4 days old

Eat well, drink to thirst, and know your limits

If you are breastfeeding, your body needs roughly 400 to 500 extra calories a day. You do not need a special diet. Eat regular meals with plenty of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and protein. Eat when hungry and drink when thirsty. Many care providers suggest continuing a prenatal or breastfeeding multivitamin, and if you eat no animal products, a vitamin B12 supplement is important. Fish is good for you: aim for about two servings a week of low-mercury fish, such as salmon, trout or sardines. There is usually no need to avoid particular foods unless your baby's doctor suggests it.

Caffeine passes into milk in small amounts. Up to about 200 to 300 mg a day, roughly two cups of brewed coffee, is generally considered fine. If your baby seems jittery or wakeful, cut back.

With alcohol, not drinking is the safest choice. If you do have an occasional drink, wait about two hours per standard drink before breastfeeding. Alcohol leaves milk as it leaves your blood, so pumping and discarding milk does not speed this up. Feed your baby or express milk before you drink. Never sleep beside your baby, or hold them on a sofa, after drinking alcohol or using cannabis or sedating medicines. Cannabis is best avoided altogether while breastfeeding.

Try this: Make a "one-handed snack" basket today: nuts, cheese, fruit, crackers, and a water bottle, wherever you usually feed.

Day 34 · 4 weeks 5 days old

Pumping and storing breast milk safely

You might express milk so someone else can feed your baby, or because your baby cannot breastfeed yet. If breastfeeding is going well and there is no medical reason, many people wait until about 4 to 6 weeks before pumping regularly, so supply settles to match your baby's needs. You can express by hand or with a manual or electric pump. Choose a flange that fits: your nipple should move freely in the tunnel without rubbing, and pumping should not hurt. Wash your hands first, and clean the pump parts after each use.

For a healthy, full-term baby, freshly expressed milk keeps: - at room temperature for up to about 4 hours - in the back of the fridge for up to about 4 days - in the freezer for about 6 months (up to 12 months is acceptable in a deep freezer)

Label containers with the date and freeze in small amounts. Thaw in the fridge or in a bowl of warm water, never in the microwave, which heats unevenly. Use thawed milk within 24 hours and do not refreeze it. Milk your baby has started drinking from should be used within about 1 to 2 hours, then thrown away. If your baby was born early or is unwell, follow the hospital's advice instead.

Try this: Try a few minutes of hand expression after one feed today, just to learn how it feels.

Day 35 · 4 weeks 6 days old

Red bottoms and white patches can be treated simply

Most babies get diaper rash at some point, from damp skin, stool and rubbing. A typical diaper rash is pink or red and shiny over the areas that touch the diaper. Change diapers often, clean gently with water or fragrance-free wipes, pat dry and allow diaper-free time. A thick layer of barrier cream, such as zinc oxide or petroleum jelly, at each change protects the skin. If the rash is bright red, lies deep in the skin folds, has small red spots around the edges, or lasts more than about three days despite care, it may be a yeast infection, which needs an antifungal cream.

The same yeast can cause thrush in your baby's mouth: white patches on the tongue, gums or inner cheeks that do not wipe away easily, unlike milk. If you breastfeed, thrush can pass to your nipples, causing burning or shooting pain and shiny, pink skin. You and your baby usually need to be treated at the same time; wash pacifiers and bottle parts well.

Call your baby's doctor if the rash has blisters, pus or open sores, spreads beyond the diaper area, or your baby has a fever or is feeding poorly; or if you think your baby has thrush. Call your care provider if your nipples become painful after comfortable feeding.

Try this: At today's changes, leave your baby diaper-free on a waterproof mat for ten minutes, and then apply a generous layer of barrier cream.