Understanding Your Baby

Introducing a go-at-your-own-pace online course on infant cues, reflexes, states, stages, and settling.

Here is a sample from the Understanding Your Baby course. The images below show how a baby responds to new experiences and how coregulation (helping babies to regulate their emotions and behavior) works:

  • Arousal Response

    This baby responds to being placed in a bathtub for the first time with high arousal consisting of fast breathing, a stiff body, their head thrown back, an arched back, vocalization, and fisted hands. Compare the body posture shown here with the next frame.

  • Regulating Response

    In response to the baby's heightened arousal, the parents smiled and the mother leaned in and offered reassuring touch. They also likely spoke to the baby in a calming, melodic tone of voice. Because of their calming signals, the baby made eye contact, relaxed their body, started opening their hands, and slowed their breathing.

Here is a sample from the sleep stages section:

NREM stage 2: It will take more to awaken a baby from this stage of sleep than NREM 1, but this is still a light stage of sleep. The baby will have a lower temperature and their heart rate will slow down. Their eyes will be still and they might grunt or give a brief cry. As stated under NREM 1, they can easily awaken in this state and might experience hypnic jerks. They may also have twitches of the fingers or limbs but without the eye movements seen in the REM stage. It is believed that these twitches might be developing the sensorimotor system. NREM 2 is important for neurological development in infants.

What you see in the video:

The baby in the video above is in NREM 2. If you watch carefully you can see her limbs twitching without movement behind the eyes, and you can see her chest rise and fall in a steady manner. This twitching is different from a hypnic jerk. Compare the twitching to the hypnic jerk shown in the video below.

Here’s a sample from the Infant Cues Section on how to tell when a breastfed/chestfed baby is full:

I’m Hungry: Active Nursing.

If a baby is actively transferring milk from the breast they will make big jaw movements as they nurse like this baby does. Notice that there is jaw movement up to the ears. Also notice that there are moments when the chin drops extra low. This indicates that the baby is swallowing milk.

I’m Full!

Now watch this video of an infant who is no longer hungry but is still on the breast. There are long pauses between suckles, and the jaw doesn't move very much in comparison to the actively nursing infant above. In this video you don't see the extra low chin drops either, meaning the baby isn't transferring milk from the breast. In such a case, you can either leave the baby on the breast since it brings them comfort, or you can take them off.

You’ll also get tips, like this:

While this baby can't yet walk, notice how he grips using his toes while in a walking stance. When babies learn how to walk, they use their toes to grip and their heels help stabilize them. You can help them learn to walk by letting them practice without shoes or socks on.

A newborn's tear ducts and sweat glands aren't yet fully developed. This means that they won't shed tears during the first month of life, and won't sweat much at first either. Because their sweat glands aren't fully developed, they need you to make sure they don't overheat. Skin-to-skin contact with your baby (with a blanket across their back) can help them regulate their body temperature.