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Inside Your Baby’s Brain: The 0–3 Month Window
Part 2 of 2 | The 8-Part Neurodevelopmental Series
Episode runtime: approximately 1 hour, 14 minutes
The first three months with a newborn can feel like chaos — feeding, crying, fragmented sleep, and a coffee cup that never gets finished. But beneath all of that, your baby is rehearsing some of the most important neurological work of their entire life. Once you know what to look for, you stop reacting and start reading the neurological signs.
This is Part 2 of the 0–3 month window in the new 8-part neurodevelopmental miniseries.
Part 1 took us under the surface — what’s actually happening inside a newborn’s brain. This episode brings it up to the surface: what you should be seeing day-to-day, what’s normal, and what’s worth a closer look during the 0 to 3 month window.
Dr. Lisa walks mothers through nine specific areas: state regulation (T. Berry Brazelton’s six newborn states and Stephen Porges’ polyvagal work), the social engagement system (Tronick, Schore, Siegel), the primitive reflexes you should see and what they mean (Sally Goddard Blythe, Harald Blumberg), movement milestones (Mary Sheridan, Esther Thelen, Karen Adolph), sensory soothing (A. Jean Ayres, Lucy Jane Miller, Mona Delahooke), head shape and symmetry (Heiner Biedermann’s KISS framework), the visual system, when to ask for help (Robert Melillo), and a practical at-home wrap-up.
What You’ll Take Away
• How to recognize the six newborn states and read your baby’s nervous system instead of the clock
• What primitive reflexes should look like at 0–3 months — and what symmetry, strength and clarity tell you
• The movement milestones to watch for: head control, midline hands, tummy time tolerance, and early reaching
• A practical sensory soothing toolkit — proprioceptive, vestibular, tactile and auditory inputs that calm a newborn’s nervous system
• The early signals that are worth a clinician’s eyes (asymmetry, head preference, feeding difficulty, flattening) — and why “wait and see” rarely serves your baby
Episode Timestamps
00:00 Welcome & where we are in the 8-part series
05:30 State regulation in real life: the six newborn states
15:30 The social engagement system: eye contact, smiles & first sounds
21:30 Primitive reflexes & movement milestones
37:30 Sensory soothing & co-regulation
49:00 Head shape, the visual system & when to ask for help
Downloadable PDF with reference list - https://www.createthrivingfamilies.com/your-baby-s-brain-0-3-months
Related episode — Episode 16: Inside Your Baby’s Brain: The 0–3 Month Window (Part 1 of 2)
Connect with Dr. Lisa Website: www.createthrivingfamilies.com
Substack: substack.com/@drlisapedersen
Instagram: @dr.lisapedersen
Music composition and guitar by Philippe Custeau.
This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or professional advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider with questions about your child's health and development.
