Every baby looks different, and all of them are beautiful. But most babies have some physical idiosyncrasies right after birth. Here’s what to expect:

• Your baby's head is probably large compared to the rest of his body. (His head may also have a bump or two from labor or from help he received during birth.)

• His eyes may be bloodshot and eyelids swollen. He may also occasionally cross his eyes in the first weeks.

• His skin may be dry and flaky with a rash or two.

• Baby boy and girl breast tissue may be swollen due to your hormones which still remain in his body.

Take lots of pictures! Your baby's look will change quickly in the first week.

From the moment your baby enters this world, he’s learning. It’s good to keep in mind that he’s lived nine months in a dark, warm, and cozy womb and is now in the bright open space of the big world. His senses are being bombarded. Is it any wonder that he’s so unpredictable during the first month?

• He stares at objects, but doesn't reach for them, and sees best within 12 inches of his face.

• He likes bold shapes and high-contrast objects, such as a black and white bull’s eye.

• He loves looking at faces, and your expressions, and may imitate them right away.

• Aside from the faces of loved ones, he may get bored looking at the same thing for too long.

Your baby’s hearing is well-developed, but he won’t look for the source of the sound. Here’s how he’ll respond to it:

• He may react negatively to loud voices or music.

• When startled by a noise, he may cry, stiffen his body and legs, or thrust his arms outward and pull them back to his chest.

• He generally likes sounds that change, such as a voice or music.

• He may "keep time" to your voice with arm and hand motions. Babies seem to react more to normal, rhythmic speech than to nonsense vowel sounds. This may be the beginning of language for them, so hearing you talk is critical to development.

Everyday events, such as a bath, being dried with a blanket, and being cuddled are regular sensory feasts for babies.

• Babies love the feel of different textures.

• Some babies love the feeling of cuddling with you.

• Most babies’ lips seem to be particularly sensitive to touch. They react to a touch on the lips by smacking their lips and sucking.

• Babies can also taste and smell from the time of their birth. In tests, babies have turned their heads away from strong odors. 

Your baby already has a good grip, and many automatic reactions or reflexes. His startle reaction to sudden noises is just one of these. Other reflexes include:

• The grasp reflex that lets your baby grip his rattle, only to immediately drop it because he can’t hold on

• The rooting reflex that helps your baby open his mouth and find the nipple for feeding

• Yawning to increase the air in his lungs

• Pulling back if he’s hurt and sneezing to clear his nose

• Turning his head to one side if his breathing is blocked

As you know, interaction between you and your baby, even at this young age, will help determine his intellectual, social, and emotional development. How you respond to his cries, satisfy his needs, and show him love will determine how he sees the world later. You are his window to the world, and he’ll learn how to act and interact with others by watching you.

Feeding is one of the many ways you show your baby love. Here are a few tips for getting into this new and loving ritual:

• Talk softly to your baby while you feed him.

• Feed him frequently, in small amounts. A newborn is not very hungry the first two or three days.

• Recognize signals from your baby that he’s ready to feed, including lip smacking, tongue movement, and eye fluttering. Crying is a late signal of hunger.

If this is your first baby, you may be concerned about how to properly care for the remains of the umbilical cord. To hasten healing, keep the area dry and exposed to the air by turning the diaper down and shirt up. The cord should fall off between the first and fourth weeks of your baby’s life.

Baby baths can be lots of fun, and after the first few, you’ll get ahead of the learning curve. Here are a few tips to help both of you have a good experience:

• Talk softly, explaining what you're doing and why. The more you talk to your baby now, the more likely he’ll enjoy being talked to or read to later.

• Avoid daily bathing — it can dry out his skin. Newborn babies don't get very dirty, except for the diaper area, which gets cleaned at each diaper change.

• Only a sponge bath is needed, until the umbilical cord has fallen off and the circumcision site (if one was done) has healed. After that, two or three baths a week are plenty.

• Once you’ve graduated to bathing baby in an infant tub (and later, the big one), remember never to leave him unattended, even for a second.

Soon, you’ll both enjoy this ritual.

Newborn babies often seem to have no real sleeping pattern — and no regard for whether it's day or night! Often sleeping 16 to 18 hours a day, your baby will probably sleep for two to three hours, wake up, eat, and go to sleep again. Adjusting to his new world can be tiring!

At about 6 weeks old, his sleep and wake pattern will begin to become established, and by 16 weeks, he may have settled into a regular schedule. So there is a routine in the not-too-distant future.

When putting your baby to bed, remember that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that healthy infants sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). SIDS is a term used to describe the unexpected death of babies in their sleep for no known reason.

For many new parents, the lack of definitive information about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) makes it especially concerning. To learn more about this topic and how you can reduce the risk of SIDS, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics.