When Do Newborns Become More Alert?

Newborns don't do much more than eat and sleep, but before long, your baby will stay awake longer and respond more to his surroundings. Even when it looks as if your baby isn't aware of his environment, infants are more alert than they might appear. Even a newborn reacts to stimuli and to your actions, although it takes a few weeks or months before he responds with recognizable responses such as a smile or a laugh

  1. Looking at Things

    • Newborns don't see well, which limits their interactions with their world. At birth and for two weeks after, a baby's pupils are constricted, to limit the amount of light that enters the eye. Because of this, a newborn can't differentiate well between shades of light and dark. He can see only to a distance of between 8 and 15 inches, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and he doesn't yet see in complete color until around 4 months. Around 1 month, he can see your face clear from this distance but may glance briefly at objects as far away as three feet. By age 2 months, he can focus his eyes on objects and track them at the same time. By 3 months, he can not only see objects in front of him but begins to reach in their direction.

    Sleeping Less

    • In the first few weeks, your newborn sleeps as much as 16 to 18 hours per day, psychologist Dr. Gwen Dewar explains, although rarely when you would like her to sleep. By the age of 1 month, the average baby sleeps 14 hours per day, although some normal infants sleep as little as nine hours and others as many as 19, according to Dr. Dewar. Babies don't show an immediate preference for sleeping at night and staying awake during the day; sleeping for a five-hour stretch, or more, at night might take as long as three to five months. To encourage your baby to be up more during the day and less at night, keep the lights on during the day for her naps rather than darkening her room. Turn off the lights at night to encourage development of her circadian rhythms.

    Smiling

    • Your baby's first tentative smile might seem like his first recognition of you as a person. You can look forward to this validation for all the hard work of early parenthood around the end of your baby's first month, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. While newborns often appear to smile -- or even giggle -- during sleep, it's the deliberate smile when your baby looks right at you that will melt your heart.

    Making the Most of Alert Periods

    • After his first month, your baby has certain periods during the day where she's calm and "approachable." When you talk softly to her, move an object for her to track or simply look at her, she focuses on you. But babies are easily overstimulated and quickly become irritable or agitated. An overstimulated baby turns her head, frowns, fusses or cries. Learn to read your baby's cues so you know when she's had enough stimulation and give her some down time.

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