Your baby is almost ready to sit up!
It might only seem like yesterday that you were leaving hospital with your new baby in your arms and now you’re on the verge of an exciting new set of developments! Your baby’s arms, upper body and neck are becoming stronger, and sitting up is not far away.
Feeding your baby
Once your baby is at this stage, you’ll be starting to think about introducing them to solids in addition to their milk, although National guidelines recommend waiting until around six months (and definitely not before four months). Introducing solids is another exciting moment in your baby’s development, and it’s also a process that helps them develop the muscles they’ll use for talking later on, as well as introducing them to new flavours and textures.
Did you know?
Vegetables such as pumpkin, sweet potato/kumara and carrots have a natural sweetness which babies love, helping them learn to enjoy vegetables right from the start.
Your baby is becoming more mobile
You’ll notice that your baby is now gaining more control of their upper body and can probably sit without toppling over. At this stage you’ll also notice the little muscles in their neck, shoulder and chest gradually developing too. As your baby gets more active, expect plenty of wriggling and rolling around during nappy changes, so it’s a good idea to move their change mat down onto the floor, and never leave them alone for any length of time on a change table.
Make some time for play on the floor. Place your baby on their tummy and encourage them to stretch for toys that are slightly out of their reach. This will give them plenty of opportunities to show off their first ‘roll over’ and strengthen their muscles too!
A better grip and view on things
From grabbing at dangling objects, exploring and inspecting toys briefly then dropping them and holding their arms out to be picked up, your baby is discovering how to use their arms, hands and fingers. From now on, your baby’s natural grasp reflex will gradually turn into more controlled hand and finger movements. They will also explore objects by grasping and shaking them with their hands rather than using the tried and tested ‘sucking’ approach.
Another exciting change for your baby is their ability to see further and focus better. The world is becoming a more fun and colourful place for them, so if you have long hair or glasses, you’ll probably notice that your baby starts to grab at them. From four months, they’ll be able to focus as far as their toes – so your baby will soon have a real interest in grabbing their feet and putting them into their mouth, if they can!
If you are using a bottle for feeding, you can use this time to help with your baby’s development too. Let them grasp their bottle with both hands – it will give your baby a little more hands-on experience and give you some freedom to prepare the family meal. But don’t forget to always supervise baby at feeding time.
Finding their voice
From four to six months is a magical time as your baby begins to find their real voice. New sounds will pop out all the time as your baby coos and babbles away. Although you’ll probably start to hear a few little ‘ma’ and ‘pa’ words and more long vowel and consonant sounds, it may be a while before your baby knows to call you ‘mama’ by name. At the moment, it’s still just a fun noise for them to make!
Perhaps the best sound you’ll hear for the first time is a real happy laugh or giggle. Try gently tickling your baby so you can enjoy the little laughs together. You might feel a bit silly, but chatting to your baby at this stage can really help with their speech development.
Learning
There are many things that you can do to help your baby learn new skills. Even though your baby does not talk back, you should feel free to talk and smile as much as you want, as this will be great for helping their speech to develop.
Giving them a sealed plastic container filled with rice or pasta to hold and shake will help them practice using their hand and finger muscles, and the new exciting noise will surprise and entertain them. Please remember to make sure the lid is secured.
Bath time becomes more fun as your baby learns that when they move their body they can make things happen – like little splashes of water. Remember to keep extra towels handy!