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Baby Development

Baby Development - First Month


What your baby does at this age:

Opens his mouth and searches for a nipple, sucks and swallows. Puts fists in mouth.
When alert, watches your face and listens to your voice.
Thrusts out his arms and legs in play. Rolls partway from back to side.
Grasps your finger.
Communicates with you by crying when he's angry, bored, or uncomfortable.
Sleeps most of the day, waking every 2 to 3 hours to feed.

Important Changes:

Your baby's vision comes under better control as his eye muscles develop. The eye muscles are still unsteady, though, so eye movements will be uncoordinated some of the time.
Personality starts to emerge. One baby maybe noisy and impatient, while another is quiet and easy going.
At the end of this month, first smiles begin to emerge in response to your talking, cooing and touching. Already, your baby is becoming a social creature.
Your baby's feeding schedules becomes more regular as the weeks pass.

Caring for your baby:

Change your baby's diaper frequently. Most babies this age have two to four bowel movements a day -often right after feedings.
Keep your baby's fingernails clipped so he won't scratch himself.
When your baby cries, hold him and talk softly or hum. Or gently stroke his head, back, arms, and legs.
Try to set aside time for older children if you have them. It will ease sibling rivalry and boost the self esteem of children who feel they have to take a back seat to the baby.
Identify a doctor for your baby, one whom you trust and communicate with well. Be sure to take your baby in for a check-up when he's between two and four weeks old.

Image from MorgueFile public domain.

Development Baby

Baby Development - Second Month

What your baby does at this age:

Recognizes differents faces and voices. Shows by her responses that she prefers people to objects.
Follow movements with her eyes. Enjoys watching brightly colored, three-dimensional objects.
Open her hands more often, rather than keeping them balled in a fist.
Likes to suck on objects. Can quiet herself with sucking.
Holds an object for s few seconds before dropping it.
Has definite preferences for sleeping positions.

Important Changes:

Your baby shows a broader range of feelings, including pleasure, anticipation and unhappiness.
She can now be soothed by the sound of a familiar voice and be being held.
Feeding and sleeping times are becoming well established. This month, she may start sleeping through the night, but some babies will still wake up frequently to be fed.
You baby's movements are less jerky as her nervous system develops, although she's still not very coordinated. Her head control is improving.

Caring for your baby:

Protect your baby against falls. Don't leave her unwatched on the changing table for an instant. Avoid putting her infant seat near something she can grab onto an tumble herself over.
Prevent diaper rash by cleaning your baby bottom after each diaper change and protecting her sensitive skin with a thin layer of zinc ointment.
When bathing your baby, place a towel on the bottom of the basin or tub to keep her from slipping. Support her firmly with your free arm and hand. Clean her eyes, and nose gently with a washcloth or cotton balls, not cottons swabs.
Take your baby to the doctor for her first immunizations and well-baby check.

Baby Development Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

Baby Development - Third Month

What your baby does at this age:

Interacts with the world more with his cooing, gurgling, and facial expressions. Cries less.
Protests when left alone. Prefers socializing.
Responds to a greater variety of stimuli. Likes objects of differents colores and textures.
Reaches objects and may grasp and hold them for a few seconds.
Follows a slowly moving object with his eyes, especially one that moves from side to side.
Leans on elbows while lying on stomach and holds head up.

Important Changes:

Your baby is gaining much more control over his head and body. His movements are less wobbly.
Your baby's nervous system is maturing rapidly. He can coordinate looking, grasping and sucking -which means he tries to put everything in his mouth.
He's becoming fascinated with his hands and fingers and watches them a lot. He's starting to use his hands to reach for interesting objects.
Your baby's visual abilities are becoming fully developed. He can see objects in detail.
Patters of sleeping, eating and alertness continue to become more regular.

Caring for your baby:

Keeps objects with small parts away from your baby. Don't let him handle anything he might swalows or choke on.
If your baby has been sleeping in a bassinet, think about getting a full size crib. He needs more room as he gets more active.
When you take your baby outside, dress him by how you feel yourself.

Development Baby

Baby Development - Fourth Month

What your baby does at this age:

Holds onto an object placed in her hand. Can reach for objects, but often overshoots her mark.
May roll over by herself. Sits up with support and holds her head erect. Smacks and pouts her lips. Recognizes different people in the household and respond to them.
Smiles openly and laughs while socializing, often interacting for an hour or more at a strech. Enjoys play, games, and toys.
May sleep through the night, with naps during the day.

Important Changes:

Your baby's first teeth are getting ready to come through. The first tooth may make appearance this month.
Your baby's vision has developed so she's able to see things in color and can focus her eyes to different distances. She can track movement smoothly. Your baby's hearing is reaching ful development, so she's interested in the different sounds she hears, as well as those she makes herself.
Your baby's body is filling out to pleasing proportions as her muscles grow and strengthen. Her hands and finger coordination is improving rapidly. She's learning to make her hands do what she wants them to.

Caring for your baby:

Check playthings for safety. Be sure metal squeakers on squeeze toys can't come loose, and plastic eyes can't be pulled off stuffed animals. Beware of any items your baby could put in her mouth and choke on.
If your baby uses a pacifier, don't put it on a string around her neck. It could choke her. If you baby starts teething this month, keep teething rings in the refrigerator to relieve any discomfort she may have. As soon as she warms one up in her mouth, give her another. Take your baby to the doctor for her second series of immunizations and well-baby check.

Development Baby

Baby Development - Fifth Month

What your baby does at this age:

Responds to people's voices and turns to look for the speaker. Stops crying when he hears his mother's voice.
Smiles and 'talks' to get attention. Makes a wide variety of noises - many of them his own, and many of them imitations of sounds he hears others making. Imitate movements he sees others making. Protests when someone tries to take away a toy or otherwise displeases him. Wants to touch, hold, and taste objects.
May transfer objects from hand to hand.

Important Changes:

Your baby's verbal abilities are developing rapidly, even though he won't be able to say words for several months. He copies voice inflections and sounds such as coughing. When he gets attention for making certain sounds, he repeats them.
Your baby now makes movements that are the forerunners of crawling. Just by kicking and wiggling a lot, he may be able to cross the crib. Fear of strangers may become apparent as your baby becomes wary of anyone outside the household.
Your baby's weight gain is slowing down,but his higher activity level means that he needs just as much nourishment. His present weight should be about double his birth weight.

Caring for your baby:

Consider investing in a play chair. Your baby is at an age when he can easily tumble outohf his infant seat.
Start baby-proofing your home. Soon your baby will be crawling from room to room, pulling things off tables and grabbing at electrical cords.

Baby Development

'Development - Sixth Month'

What your baby does at this age:

Turns and twists in all directions and turns head freely. Enjoys rolling from stomach to back, and back again. May start creeping, with her tummy still on the floor. May sit alone, though she still can't get into a sitting position by herself.
Transfers an object from hand to hand easily but doesn't know how to let go deliberately. Shakes things to see if they make noise. Interested in the sounds she can make and compares them. Drop things from her highchair, playpen or crib and wants them retrieved right away. Studies your face intently, touches it, pulls your hair.

Important Changes:

Eating takes a new appeal as your baby starts feeding herself by hand. She may be more interested in playing with food than eating it. Your baby's intelligence is increasing rapidly. She can now plan actions to get what she wants. For example, she may try harder to creep because she wants to visit the fish tank in the living room.
Speech skills are developing. Even though your baby can't talk yet, she recognizes important words such as "Mommie", "Bottle", "Car", and so on. Your baby has a broader range of feelings and can express them with noises, facial expressions, and body language. She shows pleasure, excitement, love, impatience, fear, distrust, and many other feelings.

Caring for your baby:

Baby-proof your house. Puts caps on unused electrical outlets, and gets cords out of reach. Keep small objects off the floors. Be sure no leaded paints have been used or furniture or interior surfaces that are within the baby's reach.
If your house has stairs, install stairway gates. Put medicine and cleaning agents in high cabinets and lock them. If it has hot radiators, put up guards. Check the width between stairs bannisters, and be careful of balconies to be certain the baby cannot fall through. Get a baby carrier of the backpack type, and take your baby to the park, shopping mall and other interesting places.
Take your baby to the doctor for her next immunizations and checkup.

Baby Development

Baby Development - Seventh Month

What your baby does at this age:

What your baby does at this age: May raise himself to his hands and knees in preparation for crawling. However, babies have widely differing crawling styles, and yours may not use the standard four-on-the-floor style.
Tries to pull himself to a standing position. Test various objects by tasting, shaking, squeezing, throwing, and banging them. Wants to be included in social situations, wiggles in anticipation of play, and shows that he has a sense of humor. Tries to imitate sounds.

Important Changes:

Your baby's sense of balance is improving rapidly. He may be able to combine sitting with other activities, such as playing with a toy. Your baby is becoming more curious amd adventurous, but this is balances by fear. He'll leave you to explore but come back often to touch base. Your baby is starting to use his fingers rather than his whole hand to investigate objects.
Your baby's mental powers are growing. For example, he knows that hidden objects still exist even though he can't see them - and he'll search for them. Your baby is learning about disapproval - yours and his.
He knows when you don't like what he's doing. And he knows what he doesn't want to do.

Caring for your baby:

Watch symptoms of teething -tugging at the ears, sucking the lower lip, and perhaps mild fever or changes in the stool. Offer your baby teething rings kept cold in the refrigerator. If symptoms persist, call your doctor. When you're too busy to watch your baby closely, put him in his playpen with some toys.
This limited environment is good for your baby sometimes. Buy a federal approved car seat for older babies, and install it in the back seat of your car. Every time you take your baby out, be sure you're both buckled up.
The infant seat can be placed facing forward after your baby weighs 17-20 pounds.

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Baby Development - Eight Month

What your baby does at this age:

Picks up small objects between thumb and forefinger. Concentrates on objects themselves rather than the effort required to grasp them. Crawls well. Pulls herself to a sitting position without help.
Pulls herself to a standing position by hanging onto furniture, but may not know what to do once she's up. Enjoys games with others. Has a longer attention span. Remembers past events and looks forward to future ones. Is very attached to you and fears separation.

Important Changes:

Your baby's curiousity is growing as she explores her environment in earnest. She chews, bangs, throws, or empties everything in her reach. The urge to climb is getting strong, as your baby tries to climb onto low furniture, climb on open drawers and go up stairs. While she may succeed making the trip up, she doesn't know how to get back down. Your baby is more aware of herself as an independent human being.
As she becomes more strong-willed, she gets angry when things don't go her way. She knows what she wants. Her individual eating style and food preferences are emerging. Your baby's eyesight is fully developed.
She notices all the details of her environment. Your baby is learning how to function in the world by copying you. She mimics your speech, not in the words but in inflections. She copies the things you do around the house.

Caring for your baby:

Takes breakable, sharp, or pointed items out of the bottom drawers and cabinets in your kitchen, a favorite play area for babies.
Special cabinet guards to kneep your baby from opening forbidden cupboards and drawers are available.
Try to set aside time for older children if you have them. It will ease sibling rivalry and boost the self-esteem of children who feel they have to take a back seat to the baby. Have emergencies numbers posted near your phone: police, fire department, doctor, ambulance, and poison control center.