Baby week 10: the second vaccines, and the first laugh's bell

The queue and the giggle

The six-week queue is now familiar — same centre, same card, only the baby is six weeks bigger and an old hand at needles. Today is Pentavalent-2, OPV-2 and Rota-2.

Last time's lesson comes along: arrive fed, leave at the breast, and the evening roster shared. The second vaccine round goes easier than the first in most homes.

And this stretch's sweet event — the laugh. The smile is old news; now a tickle, a strange noise or a round of peekaboo draws a laugh from the belly. This week in some houses, a month later in others — but it comes, certainly.

Your baby this week

The second doses run on the first list — mild fever, swelling and crankiness normal, medicine only as dosed, cool compress fine. If the Rota drops are partly spat out or followed by a small vomit, don't panic — tell the centre; the dose arithmetic is theirs.

The head hold is now trustworthy — supported sitting keeps it upright, wobble fading. Change the carrying style: the baby now wants the world over your shoulder, not from its back.

With the laugh come the social games — peekaboo, air blown on the cheek, finger tickles. This is not mere entertainment: waiting for a turn, prediction, surprise — the very tools of later thinking.

Vision is now in the world of colour — bright reds and yellows firmly known, and tracking now recruits the head, not just the eyes. Turning toward a sound's direction also begins around now.

The mother matters too

The stretch between the three vaccine visits (6-10-14) is also the mother's own health checkpoint: anything left over from the six-week check — a repeat haemoglobin, thyroid, back or pelvic trouble — get it done on the baby's vaccine day; it is one and the same centre.

A breastfeeding mother's food still wants 'quality for two' — not quantity for two. The same trio-plus: dal, curd, greens, water — and the IFA tablet if it was advised to continue. A mother's anaemia robs the mother, not the milk.

The weather of the mind should be lifting by now — the baby laughs, the nights have lengthened. If heaviness persists anyway, or irritability grows, or the bond itself feels absent — late-onset postpartum depression exists, and it does not respect the six-week deadline. Speak — to the doctor, to Tele-MANAS (14416), to anyone. Treatment exists.

What to do this week

Get the third vaccine date written before leaving (14 weeks — Penta-3, OPV-3, fIPV-2, Rota-3, PCV-2). Two of three visits done — after the last comes the long gap (straight to 9 months).

Make the laugh games a daily ritual — peekaboo is the cheapest and best-proven. If there are older siblings, make this their department; big kids are this age's finest entertainers, and the bond is built right there.

Rolling preparation begins — when tummy time starts looking like the baby is see-sawing its weight onto one arm, the rolling rehearsals have begun. Today's rule prevents tomorrow's injury: not one second alone on a bed or sofa — every change and wipe now happens with one hand on the baby.

One job beyond the photo gallery — record the first laugh's audio. Not development advice; just something the houses that forgot regret for years.

Week 10 at a glance

The week's essentials in one place. Your doctor may adjust these for your baby.

When to see a doctor at once

The firm list — fever under three months (beyond the vaccines' mild short one), refusing feeds, fast breathing, lethargy, fits: hospital immediately. The rare post-vaccine list too — screaming beyond three hours, very high fever, fits, floppiness: immediately.

Falls begin from this era — the baby who fell off the bed is every hospital's daily story. If it happens: conscious, crying, quickly settled — still watch for the day; unconsciousness, vomiting, unusual drowsiness, or a growing lump on the head — hospital immediately.

This article is general information only and no substitute for personal medical advice. The people who can guide you knowing your baby's health, birth history and test results are your paediatrician or the doctor at your nearest health centre.

Check against the WHO charts

Age, sex, and weight or height — the tool returns the WHO growth chart percentile. Remember: not one measurement but the trend of measurements is what matters.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Every attempt at making the baby laugh gets a blank stare — when? — The laugh's window is wide — two to four months. If smiles and coos are flowing, the road is right; the laugh picks its own day. (And it usually picks something you never tried — a sneeze, the dog, a dropped steel plate.)

Q: Half the Rota drops were spat out — repeat them? — That call belongs to the centre — tell them and they decide (usually a full repeat dose is not given). Nothing is done at home on your own arithmetic.

Q: The baby is starting to roll to its side at night — how long does back-sleeping apply? — Putting down to sleep stays on the back for the whole first year. A baby who has learned to roll itself doesn't need re-turning all night; the rule is about the position you place them in. But that era is still ahead — for now, bare cot and on the back, that's all.

Q: The massage lady talks of stretching and binding the legs 'to straighten them' — allow it? — No. A newborn's curled legs are the womb's memory and straighten on their own; stretching, binding and 'corrections' can do harm. Massage is a light-handed art — joint tricks are not part of it.