Bringing a newborn into the world is a joyous experience. But that delight may be accompanied by nerves about your infant’s development. Fortunately, Dr. Baqir Malik of Canton Center Pediatrics, serving Canton, MI, and the nearby region, offers newborn care to ensure your baby reaches its developmental milestones.

Building Neck Muscles

When you first bring your little one home in Canton, MI, they don’t have sufficient neck muscles to hold their head up. Therefore, you’ll need to support their head adequately. 

However, as you give your little one “tummy time,” they’ll gradually build up their muscles. Around two months, they should be able to hold their head up while on their stomach. 

By the age of four months, you won’t have to support their head as much while you hold them.

Smiling 

Smiling is a milestone your little one will develop in six to eight weeks. At this point, they’ll smile during interactions with you and others. 

By three to four months, they’ll start giggling. 

These are important milestones for their social and emotional well-being.

Eye Tracking

When you bring your newborn home, they won’t be very responsive to objects and the world around them. When you hold an object and move it slowly, they won’t be able to follow it at all. However, by three to four months, your little one will start to develop eye-tracking skills and be able to follow a moving object.

Responding to Noises

Initially, loud noises may frighten your child, and they may respond with crying. However, by one to two months, they start to understand where noises are coming from and will turn their head in the direction of the sound.

Hand-Eye Coordination and Reaching

At around three to four months, your infant will start to reach for objects, you or other family members, etc. This is the start of developing hand-eye coordination. 

Pediatrician Guidance

We want to note that every baby develops differently, so a delay isn’t always a cause for concern. These are only some of the milestones we monitor.

That said, during a newborn care visit at our Canton, MI, office, we’ll ask you about the skills your baby is learning. If we notice delays in one or more areas that may be a sign of a developmental delay, we’ll guide you on how you can help and possibly intervene with treatment or referrals to the appropriate specialists.

Contact Us Today

At Canton Center Pediatrics, serving Canton, MI, and the general vicinity, Dr. Malik can help your little one reach all the milestones and intervene when your child has signs of developmental delay through newborn care appointments.

Call us for an appointment at (734) 254-1900 today.