During the first month of life, newborn babies develop rapidly as they adjust to life outside the womb. The U.S. National Institutes of Health states that infants begin developing cognitive, social and physical skills immediately after birth. Children vary widely in their exact rate and pattern of development, but most babies will follow a relatively standard timetable. Several factors, including the baby's gestational age at birth, can influence a newborn's rate of physical and cognitive development.
Significance
Child development experts evaluate a newborn's development to determine the presence of congenital defects, physical abuse, neglect or neurological illnesses. The NIH classifies newborn development into four categories: cognitive, language, social and physical. A child's development in each area can signify his overall health or the presence of abnormalities. An expert may use newborn development guidelines to diagnose a medical condition.
Primitive Reflexes
In the first month of life, newborns generally display primitive reflexes; functional reflexes indicate the child's overall neurological health. Primitive reflexes generally exist at birth and subside after the first few weeks or months; preterm babies may develop them after birth. The NIH states that children in the first month of life should display the Babinski reflex, which causes the toes to fan outward when a person strokes the sole of the baby's foot. A newborn should also reflexively grip an adult's finger, grip with his toes and suck from a breast or bottle. Other reflexes in newborns include the tonic neck response, which causes the baby to extend his left arm when he looks to the left. Some newborns lose these reflexes during the first month as a normal component of brain development, but other healthy chlidren may retain them for several months.
Language and Social Development
Immediately after birth, babies are generally alert to voices, particularly those heard from within the womb. Healthy newborns use a range of different cries to signify varying needs, such as hunger or exhaustion; the NIH notes that some parents can identify the subtle differences between these cries by the end of the baby's first month. BabyCenter.com states that some newborns can also engage in other forms of communication---such as cooing, gurgling or even laughing---toward the end of the first month.
Influencing Factors
During the first month, some babies may develop faster or slower than average; this is only rarely a sign of a medical condition. Preterm babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy are physically younger than their full-term peers, so they may show signs of cognitive or physical delays. However, most preterm infants "catch up" to their peers during the first or second year of life. Other factors that influence a newborn's development include genetics, environment and the caregivers' levels of interaction.
Consdierations
A child's level of development during the first month can fall anywhere within a vast "normal" spectrum. While some one-month-old babies may seem unusually advanced, other healthy children may seem to experience little development in the first month of life. Rarely, developmental problems during the first month may signal a more significant problem. Concerned caregivers should contact the child's pediatrician or a child development expert regarding any concerns they have about infant development.
