Table of Contents
How to say NO to your baby, taking care of a cruising baby, and some self-examination of the postpartum stretch marks.
Your baby's forty-one weeks after birth
A 41-week old baby begins to start understanding simple phrases and words that they observed while you were communicating with them. Perhaps, just like the week before, you must continue to talk to the baby every once a while as they now not only understand words but are now experiencing the decode phrases too.
The baby’s development begins to grow as their brain now works overtime now and helps them develop fine and gross motor skills along with their physical and mental development. Try to be more aware and active when around the baby and use words to build excitement in them to make them feel the importance and encourage the use too. To know more about what you can expect from your 41 weeks old baby, read on!
Your 41-week-old baby's development and physical growth
Let us now understand what happens with the little one in their forty-one-week after birth in terms of baby’s development in the forty-one-week after birth.
Your baby's weight:
- Expect your 41-weeks old baby to weigh anything around 18.11 lbs to 20.3 lbs. However, if they weigh more or less, make sure to contact your doctor for precaution and little one’s good health.
Your baby's sleep:
- A baby at 41 weeks will exhibit fussiness in their sleep cycle as the teething discomfort continues. Perhaps, no matter how painful it is, refrain from using a gel or any medication without the prescription of the doctor.
- Parents can look for symptoms of teething like biting, drooling, rubbing ears, facial rash, wakefulness, less appetite, mild fever, disturbed sleep, loose stool, coughing, blocked nose, body rashes, and vomiting in the babies.
Your baby's diet
- Irrespective of the fact that the baby can now consume soft solids, they might refuse to consume them in the 41st week. Perhaps, the best way to deal with this is to introduce a variety of foods in order for them to choose from, keeping in mind the nutrition required of the baby’s development.
- You need not worry about the baby’s nutrition as, during the first 12 months, the mother’s breast milk or the formula is more than enough to supplement her nutrition.
- If the little one complains of teething pain, try to give them soft, cold, and mashed foods that will provide your baby with some relief. Opt to give small frozen watermelon pieces and fish or chicken.
Your 41-week-old baby's health
A 41-week old baby or ten months old is acquiring major milestones and visiting the doctor for a check-up counts as one. Here’s what you can expect from the visit to the baby’s doctor:
- Tests
Expect the doctor to check for the baby’s height and weight to track the development rate.
- Blood test
The doctor may also recommend a blood test for the 41-weeker to check the levels of hemoglobin and iron. If at all they observe any deficiency, the doctor may provide some healthy supplements.
- Vaccinations
This is a good time for you to expect a baby shoot to complete the dose of Hepatitis B vaccine sooner or later, the third dose of polio (IPV) vaccine, and might also advise a dose of influenza vaccine.
Postpartum baby tips: Week 41 after birth
With the baby acquiring new milestones from the due date to the present week and many more to come, there are a few baby development things that parents must be aware of in order to be well prepared as and when it takes place. Here are a few mentioned:
Your baby's strength
- With the initial days of this week, the baby is now a pro at pulling themselves up and balanced, even for a shorter period of time.
- They will be great and will be able to sit down from a standing position with grace and being well balanced.
- The baby might also try swinging from one side to another on the favorite music piece while it further strengthens the baby’s leg muscles, perfecting the sense of balance.
- Expect your baby to also pull open the drawers, perhaps if you haven’t baby-proofed your apartment yet, you must now.
The importance of book reading for your baby
Irrespective of the baby trying to make out what’s written or its the parents reading it aloud to the baby at bedtime, a story helps the little one to inculcate the habit of hearing a story and examine the pictures-boosting their verbal skills, vocabulary, and brain development.
It’s ok if they tend to move around or away from the books at first, this is only because they are now just used to being focused on the physical arts of crawling, cruising, and walking, leading to them having a hard time sitting still, even for a minute or two.
Here are a few ideas to save your parent-baby storytime:
- Read when the little one is in a mellow mood
- Pick colorful picture books to help engage the babies in the visuals
- Pick books that are short and exciting as compared to the otherwise hefty books. This is because the baby, for now, has a short attention span, and if the book ends up being the longer one, they might just end up being more active and awake as opposed to being sleepy
Your baby's game time
Listed below are a few baby games that will help you enrich your bonding session with the 41-week old baby and also help them enhance their motor skills:
- First Step Game
Keep your distance and sit across the baby and encourage them to walk towards you. This will help them develop their core muscles and practice their walking skills. However, it’s ok if they can’t yet take big steps or are unable to walk back, they can come to you crawling or holding someone’s hand. Meanwhile, the baby will learn to walk and balance as and when the time comes, but, remember to encourage them in their little achievements.
- Peekaboo
In this week, as compared to the week before, the baby will not be able to play with you and also respond much quicker.
- Dance and Sing
Enjoy the time and put on some music to encourage the baby to dance and learn some moves along with you. This will help the baby to understand and decode the music and enhance their coordination and listening capabilities.
- Hide and Seek
While playing hide and seek, the baby will develop the ability to stay away for more time and build on courage. However, make sure you do not leave them for more than a minute as they might get scared.
The parents after childbirth of a 41-week old baby: What is happening and what to expect in their forty-one-week after giving birth?
Here are a few tips for our parents to help them simplify their journey with their 41st-week old baby:
Understanding your baby's need to build on motor skills
Here are a few tips to help you take good care of 41 weekers:
- Communication is the first and the foremost step towards building an association with objects. Make sure to communicate, speak loud and clear while pointing at an object for the baby to understand and observe.
- You need not baby talk with the little one anymore. Try and talk to the baby in full and complete sentences as this is when they learn different words and try to imitate or repeat. It will also help them develop speaking skills.
- Sing nursery rhymes to your baby with action to encourage actions, key phrases, and words.
- Parents must use the word ‘NO’ for the baby when they begin to be mischievous at home. This will help them register the word and learn about their no-zone areas.
Understanding your baby's health and the urgent need of a doctor
Listed below are a few instances where parents must consult a doctor regarding their 41-week old baby during this week:
- In case the baby happens to face or experience sleep apnea, that is they might stop breathing either temporarily or repeatedly, you would need to rush to the doctor. This usually happens due to allergies, a cleft palate, illness, adenoids, enlarged tonsils, or an immature nervous system.
- If the reason for less sleep isn’t your baby’s teething but still has loose stool, fever, body rash, and vomiting.
Postpartum stretch marks in Moms
If you have applied certain creams and oils during your pregnancy, and they happen to still be prevalent, try the below mentioned:
- If in the 41st week you happen to see those red, pink, brown, or purplish lines on your tummy, breasts, hips, and/or thigh areas, they are permanent. However, you can try to lighten it up to keep the skin soft and supple with creams containing collagen-building retinoids to improve its appearance. However, if you are still breastfeeding, consult your doctor to know if it’s ok for you to use the cream.
- The other way is to opt for laser and micro-needling treatments to help improve the stretch marks. It will trigger your body and create collagen. Talk to your dermatologist in regards to the process and time required for you to see significant results.
- On the other hand, if you do not wish to go for either of the options above, you could only embrace the beauty marks as a sign of love and affections during pregnancy and contractions.
To Conclude
A 41-week old baby just like the others happens to develop major motor skills, but during this week it’s more habitual and based on their personalities. For this very reason, it is perhaps important for parents to stay alert and aware of the baby’s health and move.
You might also want to place cushions in certain areas to prevent cruising into objects that could be dangerous for the little one. Also, remember to take some time off as and when needed!
