Physical Development

Your pediatrician will want to see you and your little one between two and four weeks after birth. She'll ask questions about eating, sleeping habits, and bowel movements, and check baby's weight, length, alertness, and other vital signs. Don't be alarmed if your baby loses weight in the first few days--nearly all of them do. He should reach his birth weight again and add about a pound more by the first checkup.

Social Development

At this stage, your infant's closest relationship will be with the feeding bottle or breast. He won't yet have a feeding routine, and it may seem like he eats all the time! In fact, bottlefed babies eat six to eight times a day, while breastfed infants average eight to twelve feedings in a 24-hour period. (That's right--he eats every two to three hours, around the clock. No wonder you're so tired.). He'll signal that he's hungry by crying, and he'll let you know he's finished by pushing the nipple out of his mouth, arching his back, or turning his head. You can stimulate the rooting reflex by stroking baby's cheek; if he falls asleep during a feeding, gently stroke his scalp, rub his feet, or remove some of his clothing to wake him.

Intellectual Development

Most of your baby's responses at this point are reflex actions (he'll start responding consciously in later months, when his nervous system is more fully developed). These include:

• Rooting and sucking, both to eat and to calm himself
• Stepping: When supported, he'll put one leg in front of the other as if walking
• Moro or startle reflex: He may throw up his arms and cry when he hears a loud noise or sees a sudden movement
• Smiling: Charming though this is, it's usually a sign of gas in infants younger than 6 to 8 weeks
• Grab reflex: When a finger is placed in the baby's palm, he'll wrap his fingers around it

Note: The information above offers general guidelines, but all babies develop differently, and few hit their milestones precisely when the conventional wisdom says they should. If your child was born prematurely, you may want to use your due date as a baseline for following baby's development.