Child development (2) - three to six months
Child development (2) - three to six months
Most parents find having a baby from three months very enjoyable. Your baby will have overcome many of the internal ‘settling down’ processes that newborns have. They are most likely a very social being, who delights in being with you, and you have usually learned enough of your baby’s ways and messages to get their responses right most of the time.
Social and emotional development
Your baby has learned that you are the person (or one of the people) who comes a lot of the time to meet their needs, but they don’t yet understand that you are a separate person. They still have a notion that the whole of life is happening inside themselves, and they are ‘making it all happen’. They easily become overstimulated, so take care - when your baby has too much excitement, they will cry and need to be calmed down.
At four months, your baby:
Enjoys eye contact and having ‘conversations’
Smiles lots
Laughs out loud and squeals with delight
Shows they enjoy life by laughing and kicking their legs
Likes people
Is interested in surroundings and activities.
Physical development and motor skills
Your baby is starting to get some control over their body. It is good for them to spend time on their tummy on the floor, kicking their legs and waving their arms. This strengthens muscles and helps the progression to crawling. Your baby:
Rolls over from front to back at about four to six months.
Is able to lift their head and chest when they are on their tummy by four months.
When on tummy, will wave legs and arms about.
Plays with fingers from three to four months.
Is able to hold objects for brief periods.
Brings toys and objects to mouth by hand.
Topples over if put into sitting position.
Hearing and looking
Sounds as well as sights are becoming familiar and defined. Exploration is important, so give them time to look properly at objects and try to help them to be comfortable (to aid concentration). Your baby:
Follows you with their eyes, looks from one object to another and focuses on small objects
Checks their perception by grasping and mouthing the objects
Recognises voices and turns their head towards them.
Speech and language
Your baby is making a whole range of sounds, and shows interest in how your mouth works and how the sounds come out. Conversations are very important. When your baby makes a sound, repeat it so they know what sound they have made. Show your tongue and practise words together, like ‘ma’ and ‘da’. Your baby:
Coos and gurgles with pleasure
Babbles and listens
Turns head towards sounds.
Suggested activities
Suggestions on encouraging and supporting your baby’s development include:
Talk to your baby all the time, telling them what you are doing and what different noises are.
Make faces.
Blow raspberries on their belly.
Sing to them.
Place them on the floor in a safe place, on their tummy, for short periods to play.
Place them on the floor without a nappy to allow them the freedom to kick.
Provide them with bright objects to look at, and within reaching distance, so they can accidentally touch them, then try to touch them on purpose.
Provide a range of things to do, and either change what they are looking at or move them to a different spot so they have something else to look at.
Place colourful toys nearby so they can look at them, touch them and try to hit them.
Signs that suggest a developmental problem
All children are different and develop at different rates, so if your baby doesn’t do all the things listed in this article, it may be because they are working on some different area of learning and development. However, if your baby is very different from other children, or if you are worried about their development or it seems to go backwards, seek the advice of a health professional.
Signs that could suggest a developmental problem include:
Muscle tone and power unusually low or high
Fingers not extending spontaneously
Arms and legs held flexed most of the time
Not following activities with eyes
Parents persistently unable to settle baby
Lack of adequate weight gain
Does not seem to recognise mother or others
Shows a lack of interest in surroundings
Doesn’t startle to loud noises
Doesn’t seek sounds with eyes
Doesn’t vocalise at all.
Where to get help
Your
GP (doctor)
Maternal and child health nurse
The
Maternal and Child Health Line
is available 24 hours a day Tel.
132 229