Week 52

Days 358 to 365 · 51 weeks 0 days to 52 weeks 0 days old · about 12 months Your baby is now, on average, about 75 cm (29.5 in) long and weighs about 9.2 kg (20.3 lb). Babies vary widely, and the most reassuring thing is a child who keeps following their own curve on the growth chart. This last week of the daily entries has eight days, ending on day 365, the day before the first birthday. Your baby may be walking, talking, or busily getting ready to do both. You have made it through a year of feeds, nights, firsts and worries. This week is for looking back and looking ahead: how far your baby has grown, how much you have learned, a letter to your baby, the people who helped, what changes when your baby turns one, and a first glimpse of toddlerhood.

Day 358 · 51 weeks 0 days old

Look how far you have both come

A year ago, you may not have known how to fasten a diaper, settle a crying baby or tell a hungry cry from a tired one. Now you do these things without thinking, often in the dark, often one-handed. You have learned a whole new language made of whimpers, gestures and looks.

You have also learned things no one could have taught you in advance: what your baby finds funny, which song works on a bad night, how they like to be held when they are sick. That knowledge is real expertise, and it belongs to you.

It is worth naming the hard parts too. Perhaps feeding did not go as planned, recovery took longer than you hoped, or there were weeks when you felt you were only just coping. Getting through those times counts as much as the happy milestones. If the year has included depression, anxiety or a difficult birth, the fact that you are here, still caring for your child, says a great deal. No year with a baby goes exactly as imagined. The point was never to do it perfectly. It was to keep showing up, and you did.

Try this: Write down three things you know how to do now that you did not know a year ago.

Day 359 · 51 weeks 1 day old

Your baby has grown more this year than they ever will again

The first year is the fastest growth of a whole lifetime outside the womb. Most babies roughly triple their birth weight by 12 months and grow about 25 cm (10 in) in length. A baby who weighed 3.3 kg (7 lb 4 oz) at birth might now weigh around 9 to 10 kg (20 to 22 lb). Their brain has roughly doubled in size.

From here, growth slows down a lot. In the second year, many toddlers gain only about 2 to 3 kg (4 to 7 lb) and grow about 10 to 12 cm (4 to 5 in). Because they need less food for growth, and because they are busy exploring, appetite often drops, sometimes sharply. A toddler who once ate everything may pick at meals or eat well only once a day. This is expected, not a sign of illness, as long as your child stays active and keeps to their growth curve.

Bodies change shape too. Babies lose some of their roundness as they walk more, and look longer and leaner.

Call your baby's doctor if your baby is losing weight, seems unusually tired or unwell, or crosses down through the lines on their growth chart. Try this: Find your baby's birth weight and length and compare them with the numbers at the 12-month check.

Day 360 · 51 weeks 2 days old

A letter to your baby

Your baby will not remember this year, but you can give them a piece of it. A letter written now, around the first birthday, captures things that are easy to forget: what they were like, what you hoped for and how it felt to meet them. There is no right way to write it. You might describe the day they were born, or simply an ordinary morning this week. You might list their favourite foods, songs and games, the funny noises they make and how they light up when someone they love walks in. You could include what was happening in the world, what your home looks like, and what you have learned from them. Be honest if you like. A line about the long nights or the worries can sit next to the joy, and one day it may comfort them to know that love and tiredness went hand in hand.

Some parents write a letter every birthday, sealed until their child is grown. Others write once and tuck it into a memory box with a hospital bracelet, a first sock or a lock of hair. A partner, grandparent or other carer could add their own.

Try this: Set a timer for fifteen minutes tonight and write the first draft of your letter, without worrying about getting it right.

Day 361 · 51 weeks 3 days old

A glimpse of toddlerhood

Somewhere around the first birthday, your baby becomes a toddler. The word comes from that wobbly, wide-legged walk, and the year ahead brings change just as fast as the one behind.

Most children walk confidently during the second year, then begin to run, climb and kick a ball. Words, slow at first, often pick up speed in the second half of the year, and many children start putting two words together by around 2. Understanding grows faster still.

With all this comes independence. Your toddler will want to do things themselves, feed themselves, choose for themselves and say "no", sometimes to everything. Frustration and big feelings often spill over into tantrums, because their wishes grow faster than their ability to manage them. The gentle guidance you read about in week 36 becomes your everyday toolkit. Toddlerhood is also a time of huge delight. Children this age are funny, affectionate and endlessly curious, and they start to show who they are in new ways. You will find more about the second year in the closing chapters of this book, after day 365.

Try this: Look around your home at toddler height for one more thing your baby will be able to reach once they are walking and climbing, and move it today.

Day 362 · 51 weeks 4 days old

The people who carried you through the year

No one raises a baby alone, even parents who are doing it largely by themselves. Over this year, other people have quietly held things up: a partner who took the night shift, a friend who dropped off soup, a grandparent who folded laundry, a neighbour who waved from across the street on a hard day.

There were professionals too. Midwives, nurses, doctors, public health nurses or health visitors, lactation consultants, childcare staff and the person on the end of a helpline at three in the morning all played a part. Many of them will never know how much their help meant.

The first birthday is a natural moment to say thank you. It does not need to be grand. A short message, a photo of your baby now, or a few words in person can mean a great deal to someone who helped you in the early weeks. It is also a chance to notice what you and your partner or support person have built together. You have learned how to share the load, argue less over who is more tired and pick each other up. That partnership is worth celebrating too.

For your partner: Write a short note to the other parent or support person, naming one specific thing they did this year that made a difference to you.

Day 363 · 51 weeks 5 days old

What changes when your baby turns one

A few practical things shift around the first birthday. Here is a short list to keep handy.

Whole cow's milk can become a main drink, about 500 mL (2 cups) a day and no more than about 750 mL (3 cups), as you read on day 337.

Honey is now safe, because the risk of infant botulism has passed. Formula, if your baby has used it, is usually no longer needed. Bottles can be phased out in favour of cups.

The 12-month check and vaccines are due, as you read in week 50. Plenty stays the same. Keep your child rear-facing in the car seat for as long as the seat allows. Choking hazards such as whole nuts, whole grapes and popcorn remain a risk for several years. Your baby can keep sleeping in their crib, without pillows or heavy bedding. Many families wait a while longer before adding a light blanket or a pillow, and there is no need to rush. Keep brushing twice a day with a smear of fluoride toothpaste.

Medicines, cleaning products and button batteries still belong locked away, and supervision around water still means within arm's reach.

Try this: Copy this list onto a sticky note and put it on the fridge for the week of the birthday.

Day 364 · 51 weeks 6 days old

It has been your first year too

Tomorrow your baby is one year old. In a sense, you are too: one year old as this child's parent. That is worth marking.

Your body has carried and recovered from pregnancy and birth, or you have made your way into parenthood by another path. Your sleep, your work, your friendships and perhaps your sense of who you are have all shifted. Some of that change has been welcome, and some of it you may still be getting used to. Both are normal.

Take a moment for your own health. If you have put off a checkup, a dental visit, a physiotherapy appointment for your pelvic floor or a conversation about your mood, the birthday is a good prompt. Looking after yourself is part of looking after your child, not a distraction from it.

And think about what you want for yourself in the year ahead. More sleep, more time outdoors, a return to something you used to love, a closer friendship, or simply less pressure. A toddler will fill your days, but there can be room in them for you.

Try this: Plan one small celebration of your own this week, separate from the birthday party, even if it is just an hour to yourself.

Day 365 · 52 weeks 0 days old

Tomorrow, your baby turns one

This is day 365, the last of the daily entries. Your baby arrived on day 1, almost exactly a year ago. Since then you have counted feeds and diapers, learned to read a cry, watched a first smile, heard a first laugh and seen your baby roll, sit, crawl, stand and perhaps walk. Every one of those days was part of the story, including the ones that felt like nothing more than getting through.

Tonight, it is worth pausing before the bustle of the birthday. You might watch your baby sleep for a minute, look back through some photos, or simply sit down with a cup of something warm. Notice how much this small person has grown, and how much you have grown alongside them.

The book does not end here. The closing chapters, starting with "After day 365", look ahead to the second year: what to expect from a toddler, and where to find help. You will also find a quick reference to warning signs, the milestones at a glance and a glossary, all there for the months and years to come.

Thank you for letting this book keep you company through the year. Happy birthday to your baby tomorrow, and congratulations to you today. Try this: Before you go to sleep tonight, take one photo of your baby, or of your hands with theirs, to mark the last day of their first year.