At two weeks quondam, your baby will probably striking the first of many growth spurts, and then get set up for a more than demanding, hungrier, withal still adorable newborn.

If you're having whatsoever trouble feeding baby or keeping upward with his seemingly insatiable appetite, check in with your pediatrician. And if infant doesn't seem to be getting enough milk, talk to the doctor about what to do then too.

Baby's slumber is still spring to be pretty erratic at this early stage, so try to pace yourself, rest when you lot can and enquire for aid where you can get it. Just recall to accept care of yourself also, every bit yous're still in recovery and adjustment mode.

Here's what else to await from your two-week-former baby.

Your ii-calendar week-old babe's evolution

At a Glance

Sleeping basics

Newborns up to iii or 4 months old need fourteen to 17 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, commonly waking every two to four hours to eat.

Feeding basics

Breastfed babies should consume as much as they want at this age, only a general dominion of thumb is roughly 16 to 24 ounces of breast milk or formula in 24 hours.

Did y'all know?

Most lighter-skinned babies are built-in with dark blue or slate-colored optics, and near darker-skinned babies arrive with nighttime brown optics.

Information technology may not seem like your baby is doing much of anything these days — besides eating, sleeping and pooping.

But he's actually using his baby brain plenty, cycling between intently watching his surroundings, moving around and spending time in a drowsy phase, when baby's either well-nigh to fall asleep or simply waking upwardly.

Watch carefully, and over fourth dimension you'll exist able to respond to your baby'south dissimilar states of heed.

Though your babe seems like a helpless newborn, he's making lots of developmental strides this week, including beingness able to focus on a face with his sugariness little eyes.

And speaking of those eyes, it's also early to know for certain what color they'll end upwards being. A baby's true middle color doesn't commonly make itself fully known until somewhere betwixt 6 and 9 months, and can proceed changing until equally late every bit his third altogether.

Your 2-calendar week-onetime baby's growth

Yous tin can starting time posting those weight-gain bulletins beginning this calendar week.

Virtually babies will have regained or surpassed their nativity weight by x to 14 days of life, thanks to all the feeding they're doing — whether that nutrition comes from the chest or the canteen.

Some babies who get off to a slow start in the breastfeeding department may take a piffling longer to put on the pounds, but equally long as your baby'south md isn't worried, you shouldn't exist either.

Only brand sure yous're feeding your footling 1 every two to three hours, counting from the outset of 1 feed to the kickoff of the next.

Your two-week-former infant's wellness

At that place are no well-baby visits or shots this week (hurray!), simply there'south still enough to know about your footling one's wellness.

Average newborn weight

There's a wide range of good for you weights when information technology comes to newborns, merely in general, babies born full-term tend to weigh between 5 pounds 11.5 oz, and 8 pounds, v.75 oz. Read More

Circumcision care

If your infant male child has been circumcised, it usually takes nigh 7 to ten days to heal. Gently clean the area during each diaper change using warm water. Read More than

Cantankerous-eyed baby

Newborns' optics often expect as if they're crossed, in function because they're built-in with extra skin folds in the inner corners and in role considering they don't have full muscle command yet. Read More than

Umbilical cord infections

While rare, an infection of the umbilical cord known as omphalitis needs medical attention. Information technology ordinarily appears after the umbilical cord is cut or a few days after birth. Read More

Postpartum & new infant tips

Low milk supply?

If you're breastfeeding, you lot may experience poor milk supply. Since adequate supply is fueled by adequate demand, anything that hinders the latter can lead to a trouble.

Common culprits include:

  1. Supplementing. If you've added formula to the menu, your infant will accept less milk from your breasts, which in plough will cause your breasts to produce less milk.
  2. Exceptional feedings. Stretching out the fourth dimension betwixt meals (to four hours, for instance) may be easier on a new mom, but information technology can hateful your breasts won't be stimulated often enough to produce an acceptable amount of milk.
  3. Curt feedings. If you cut nursing sessions short (5 minutes on each chest, for example), not simply won't your infant go the fattier (and most nutritious) hind milk, but your breasts won't exist sufficiently drained. And without sufficient emptying, they won't be stimulated to produce more.
  4. Pacifiers. For some babies, time spent sucking on a pacifier means less time on or inclination for suckling on the breast, which means less milk production.

Pollex-sucking baby

It'southward perfectly natural for newborns to give thumb-sucking a big thumbs-up — for now. Here'south why:

  1. Babies are born to suck. Sucking is a normal reflex for babies. And so it'southward definitely a good affair that your baby has figured it out.
  2. Sucking calms down your baby. Even when y'all've just finished feeding your babe, he might nonetheless clamor for more than sucking activity.That doesn't hateful he's ready to grub downwards once more. In addition to suckling to fill their tummies, babies demand "nonnutritive" sucking, the kind that mellows them out. It's the whole reason nosotros accept pacifiers in the outset place — sucking helps a baby calm downward. Some babies, like your ain little thumb-sucker, dear nonnutritive sucking more than others.
  3. Thumbs are always at hand. There's a reason your baby's already going to town on his thumb: Like Mount Everest, it was in that location. Of class, the first few times were probably just adventitious taste tests, but when your baby figured out how comforting his thumb was, he soon found out how to get it into his mouth on purpose.

Abdominal or perineal pain?

While near of the initial intense discomfort usually passes within vii to 10 days postpartum, many women experience the lingering furnishings of childbirth for weeks after commitment.

You may find it uncomfortable to sit after a vaginal birth or bend over later a C-section, for instance.

If y'all've had a vaginal birth, the entire perineal area and rectum will be swollen for a few weeks.

You can expect the site of any stitches (either from a perineal tear, episiotomy or C-department) to be sore and sensitive for about that long too. Itchiness effectually the stitches or scar is also common.

Bowel movements may be uncomfortable for a number of weeks, as well, so be sure to drink lots of fluids and step up the fiber in your diet so you won't take to strain. Y'all might likewise want to ask your practitioner about using a stool softener.

Your practitioner has probably put the brakes on intercourse until around six weeks postpartum. But while you're waiting for the green lite to get busy, endeavour to put that time — and your pelvic muscles — to good utilize.

Resume Kegel exercises to stimulate circulation, speed healing and restore good muscle tone. This style, when y'all do have sex activity again, you lot'll enjoy information technology more — though probably not right away.

Virtually of all, relax and give yourself fourth dimension to heal. Full recovery won't occur overnight, but it will happen eventually.

Baby's soft spots

There are actually two on your baby's head, and they are technically called fontanelles.

Baby's soft spots serve two important purposes: Start, they helped your infant'southward skull to shift and mold so it could fit through the nascency canal (thank goodness), and second, they allow room for your babe's brain to grow (very!) rapidly during the first yr.

The larger and more prominent soft spot, the inductive fontanelle, is on superlative of your newborn's head. Information technology's shaped like a diamond and can exist upwards to 2 inches across. It'll start to close when your baby is about 6 months old and be completely closed past 24 months.

The 2nd, or posterior, fontanelle is much smaller and harder to detect. It's on the back of the head, triangular in shape and only about a half-inch in diameter.

While protecting your baby'south head (no bouncing or shaking) is wise, the expert news is that it'due south much less frail than information technology seems.

Those soft spots are covered by strong membranes that do an excellent chore of safeguarding the brain. Two (rare) signs of trouble: A depressed fontanel could be a symptom of aridity, and a constantly bulging one could betoken pressure on the brain. In either case, contact your baby's medico.

Bottle-feeding tips

If you lot're formula-feeding or pumping, keep in heed that when introducing the bottle, some babies take to it like a fish to water, while others demand a little more than practice  —and coaxing — to become sucking down to a science.

These how-to-bottle-feed tips will aid you lot become started:

  1. Accept several bottles at the ready in your fridge so your hungry honey doesn't get his crank on waiting for supper.
  2. Sterilize nipples and bottles the first time out. New bottle-feeding gear should be boiled for five minutes in a pot of water (or use a store-bought sterilizer). After that, merely wash bottles and nipples in hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher. You may need to sterilize them more frequently if your babe was born prematurely, has an immune system disorder or has been sick.
  3. Savor the bonding experience. Don't let anyone tell y'all otherwise — y'all can absolutely bond while canteen-feeding, with enough of cooing and peel-to-skin contact.

Eat nuts for energy

Chances are you're often wearied these days, so noshing on basics volition give you a quick flare-up of energy. The poly peptide, cobweb and healthy fats packed into these picayune shells brand them fantastic fatigue-fighters.

They're a fleck on the loftier-calorie side, though, so stick to a third of a loving cup or an ounce-and-a-half per serving. And reach for walnuts, almonds, cashews or pistachios because they have a healthier fatty profile than, say, macadamias or pecans.

Eat them out of your paw or spread two tablespoons of peanut, cashew or almond butter on a piece of whole wheat toast for an extra free energy heave.

Conquering postpartum constipation

Blocked up? Try these tips for postpartum constipation:

  1. Eat loftier-fiber grains. Opt for whole grain cereals, breads, brown rice and anything made with bran, oat bran or flaxseed.
  2. Make a date with raisins, figs, dried apricots and prunes. Toss your dried fruit with basics for a good boost of omega-3s — and some extra constipation-fighting muscle.
  3. Nibble on crunchy fresh fruits and vegetables, and rough things upward even more by leaving the skins on.
  4. Melt up a pot of legumes, such as lentils or blackness beans, and add together them to soups, salsas or salads.
  5. Avoid refined foods such as white rice and white staff of life, and go for the (whole) grain instead.
  6. Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Nothing unclogs like fluids, so make sure y'all're getting enough.Some women discover a loving cup of hot water flavored with lemon particularly moving (try information technology first matter in the morning). Vegetable and fruit juices can help, besides — particularly prune juice.
  7. Consider a fiber supplement. If none of the in a higher place tricks are working (or working well), ask your doctor about taking some extra fiber. Adding straight-upwards wheat bran and/or psyllium tin give your diet the bulk it needs. Just don't overdo it, and don't take your calcium foods with them since they can block absorption of that vital bone-building mineral.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Expect When You're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, bookish research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and upwardly-to-appointment by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Expect the Get-go Year, third edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Your Newborn'southward Weight: Normal Gains and Losses and What the Average Baby Weighs, August 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Babe's Eye Color, May 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Vitamin D for Babies, October 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Cantankerous-Eyed Babe, March 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Newborn Circumcision Care, Dec 2018.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Rubber Sleep Tips for Babies, February 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, How to Care for Omphalitis in Newborn Babies, November 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, How Much Should Baby Eat?, Apr 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Here'southward How Much Sleep Babies Need, June 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Newborn and Baby Sleep Basics, May 2020.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, States of Consciousness in Newborns, November 2009.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, Starting time Month: Physical Appearance and Growth, August 2009.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, Vitamin D and Iron Supplements for Babies, May 2016.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, Newborn Heart Color, June 2020.

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