Your newborn kicks her legs because it's a normal part of development, helping build muscle strength for future skills like crawling and walking, but it can also signal gas, hunger, overstimulation, or just exploring her new body and practicing movements during active sleep. Kicking helps with digestion, releases energy, and is a way to express excitement or discomfort, so check for other signs like crying (gas/hunger) or happy coos (excitement) to understand the cause.
Practicing motor skills: As babies develop new physical abilities, they often "practice" these skills whenever possible—even when they should be sleeping. A sign of discomfort: Sometimes, leg kicking before sleep can indicate digestive discomfort, particularly if accompanied by fussiness or crying.
The 7 key danger signs for newborns, often highlighted by organizations like the WHO, are not feeding well, convulsions, fast breathing, severe chest indrawing, lethargy/unconsciousness (movement only when stimulated), high or low temperature, and jaundice (yellow skin/soles) or signs of local infection like an infected umbilical stump, requiring immediate medical attention.
Tremor, jitteriness and benign neonatal sleep myoclonus are frequently encountered, while other abnormal movements including neonatal hyperekplexia are less commonly seen. Many of these phenomena are benign and have no bearing on the neonate's eventual neurodevelopmental outcome.
Signs of overfeeding a baby include frequent spitting up/vomiting, fussiness, gassiness, a tight belly, and changes in stool (loose, green, frothy, or explosive). While babies often know when they're full (turning away, falling asleep), signs of overfeeding often involve discomfort and digestive issues, sometimes with rapid weight gain or a very full, hard tummy, especially if fed past fullness cues.
The hardest week with a newborn is often considered the first six weeks, especially weeks 2-3, due to extreme sleep deprivation, constant feeding demands, learning baby's cues, postpartum recovery, and a peak in inconsolable crying (the "witching hour"), making parents feel overwhelmed as they adjust to a new, exhausting routine. While the first week is tough, the challenges often intensify as the baby becomes more alert but still fussy, with major developmental hurdles like cluster feeding and increased fussiness peaking around 6-8 weeks.
Watch for signs that your baby is full (slowing down, spitting out the bottle or unlatching from breast, closing the mouth, turning away from the breast or bottle) and stop the feeding when these signs appear. As babies grow, they begin to eat more at each feeding and can go longer between feedings.
A child at risk for autism might move their hands, fingers, or other body parts in an odd and repetitive manner. Some examples are: arm flapping, stiffening arms and/or legs, and twisting of wrists. At around 9 to 12 months, infants usually begin “baby talk”, or cooing.
Infantile spasms are a form of epilepsy that affects babies under 12 months old. They look like brief tensing or jerking spells that involve your baby's abdomen (belly), head, neck, arms and/or legs. If you think your baby is having spasms, it's important to talk to their pediatrician as soon as possible.
What are the early signs of cerebral palsy?
No bowel movement in the first 48 hours. A rectal temperature over 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C) or less than 97.5 degrees F (36.5 degrees C). A rapid breathing rate over 60 per minute, or a blue coloring that does not go away. Newborns normally have irregular respirations, so you need to count for a full minute.
The newborn 5-5-5 rule is a postpartum guideline for new mothers to focus on healing and bonding in the first 15 days home, dividing rest into 5 days in bed, followed by 5 days on the bed, and then 5 days near the bed, encouraging minimal chores, visitors, and activity to prioritize recovery from childbirth and establishing the new family unit, drawing on traditional postpartum rest practices.
Signs of dehydration in a baby may include:
Babies often lift their legs in their sleep for very ordinary reasons – developing strength, easing wind, or simply moving through sleep cycles. It is usually nothing to worry about, though it can sometimes be a sign that they need a little extra comfort.
The risk for SIDS is increased predominantly for the prone sleeping position. The lateral sleeping position shows an increased risk intermediate between that for prone and supine sleep for both usual and last sleep, but neither increase is significant after adjustment for potential confounders.
Neonatal Neurological Disorder Symptoms
Generalized convulsing is rarely seen in infants. Instead, focal seizures and epileptic spasms are more common. A spasm can be as subtle as upward eye deviation or brief stiffness in the baby's back. More pronounced signs may include the baby's arms coming up with a slight head nod and their eyes rolling up.
Jitters or trembling of the arms and legs during crying is normal in newborns. It should stop by 1 to 2 months of age. If your baby is jittery when not crying, it could be abnormal.
Some common motor delays include:
Making little or no eye contact. Difficulty in following objects with their eyes. Hearing their name does not produce a response. Having limited or no reaction to loud sounds, or not turning their head to locate sounds.
One of the first indicators of autism in toddlers is repetitive body movements. From rocking back and forth, repeatedly kicking their legs, to flapping their hands quickly, there are many examples of repetitive motor behaviors in children. Yet, repetitive body movements are not unique to children with autism.
Around 90% of autism cases are attributed to genetic factors, meaning autism is highly heritable, with many different genes contributing, rather than a single cause, often interacting with environmental influences during early brain development, though specific environmental factors don't cause it but can increase risk. Twin studies show strong genetic links, with concordance rates between 60-90% in identical twins, and research points to complex interactions of many genes and prenatal/perinatal factors.
When fed too much, a baby may also swallow air. This can produce gas, increase discomfort in the belly, and lead to crying. An overfed baby also may spit up more than usual and have loose stools. Although crying from discomfort is not colic , it can make crying more frequent and more intense in an already colicky baby.
The 5-3-3 feeding rule is a baby sleep training strategy to encourage longer stretches of night sleep by delaying feeds: don't feed before 5 hours after bedtime, then feed, then wait 3 hours for the next feed, and another 3 hours for the next, using other sleep training methods (like Ferber or CIO) for wakes outside these windows. It's for older babies (not newborns) and aims to reduce night feedings by establishing a routine, but flexibility is key, and you should always prioritize your baby's hunger cues and consult a doctor.
But when your infant has painful gas, especially if it's frequent, it can cause your baby to cry or become fussy—until it's passed; unlike colic, which causes crying and fussiness that lasts for hours across days and weeks. Gas can have distinctive symptoms, too, such as a swollen-looking belly.