Understanding the
Fourth Trimester
Baby Behavior Unlocked
Why is my baby crying? Why are they feeding all the time? Why won’t my baby let me set them down? Is this my new normal?
These are questions you are asking yourself these days. A. Lot. Well-meaning onlookers give conflicting advice. And the doctor weighs in with yet different advice. But yet…your gut is telling you something else but you’re afraid of being judged, or worse, being a “bad mother”. What is the answer?
The Fourth Trimester is the answer you’re looking for. It’s based in anthropology, evolution and instinct. Your instinct is to keep your baby close and theirs is to want to be close to you too. Your gut, mama, is correct. That’s why the human species has survived and is still here today. I can help you understand from your baby’s perspective how they are programmed to survive.
The Fourth Trimester, the first 3 months of life, is a time of exterogestation. If the baby remained in utero for those 3 months it’s head would be unable to fit through the human female pelvis, hence birth at 9 months. In the first 3 months of life your baby does not know they are separate from their mother and are distressed if they do not sense their caregiver is nearby. Their instinct is “I am abandoned” because they are totally dependent beings. Their bodies release cortisol, the primary stress hormone. This “fight-or-flight” hormone inhibits brain development at a critical developmental stage.