Your baby is starting to notice more in his world. He is very aware of your face and the sound of your voice. He is aware of you different tones of voice from the singsong tone to calm him down when he cries to the more exaggerated tones when you are trying to make him smile or laugh. Your baby is already making little sounds trying to talk back to you. This month as your baby develops, he may be a little fussy too.
Eyesight
He will notice moving objects and follow with them with his eyes. You can move a toy or other object about six inches from his face and watch his head turn as his eyes follow the object. If you have not gotten a mobile for his crib, get one. Most baby’s toys are in pastels but your baby will focus better on a brightly colored mobile. He will spend a lot of waking hours watching it over the next few months. His eyesight has improved enough that he can focus on smaller objects about the size of a jelly bean. Your baby’s eyes will work together this month and they will start to focus at the same time. His depth deception will also develop this month. If placed in front of mirror, your baby will be captivated by his own image. You can buy unbreakable mirrors and fasten them to the side of his crib or play pen. He will spend many hours staring and cooing to himself.
Feeding
Sometimes babies’ digestive systems cannot tolerate their formula. This may be caused from an immature digestive system. Often baby’s digestive systems continue to develop during the first four or six months of life. Talk to your pediatrician about changing the formula. Stitching from one formula to another should be done gradually.
Mimic Your Actions
This month, your baby will start to mimic you. When you smile at him, he will start to smile back at you. If you voice is excited and playful, he will wiggle his body and move his arms in excitement. As you talk softly to him, his cooing will take a different tone too.
Cuddling
Your baby will feel secure with your loving attention. Hold your baby and cuddle him in your arms up close to your body. He will respond to the attention and to the warm of your body. Being close to your body, feeling your heart beat as he did in the womb, will make your baby more secure.
Voice and Laughter
As you talk to him, he will start to repeat the vowel noises that you made to him. You will hear “ah” and “oh”. As he becomes aware of his own voice or sounds, you will start to hear more sounds from him. Whether you within his sight or not, you will start to hear him give little cooing noises. The more he hears your voice, the more he will try to respond to you. Your baby will laugh out loud and may even squeal with delight. If you baby has more brightly colored toys in bright colors, his senses will be stimulated more and he will “coo” more often.
Thumb Sucking
Your baby will instinctively start to suck his thumb or fingers. Approximately 50 to 70 percent of babies suck their thumb during their first year. Some children continue to suck their thumbs in age ranges of 4 to 5 years. Your baby’s thumb is about the same size as a nibble and quickly goes into his mouth as he roots around in his crib. Thumb sucking satisfies a baby’s need for oral stimulation and is as natural as it can be. Newborns first exploration into this new world is with his mouth.
Pacifiers provide the same comfort as sucking thumbs. But pacifiers are frequently dropped and can pass infectious germs to your baby. They need to be cleaned in your dishwasher and inspected often to make sure there are in good condition. Never give your baby a pacifier that may have any break, hole, or appear to be too worn. Pieces of old or worn pacifiers can come off into your baby’s mouth during his sucking. Your baby could be get these pieces caught in his throat.
If you are breast feeding, do not give your baby a pacifier until well after lactation is developed. If your baby is not gaining weight on a schedule, do not introduce a pacifier to him. The sucking on the pacifier may satisfy his sucking urges and he may be too tired to actually nurse. Some babies loose interest in breast feeding after sucking on a pacifier.
Muscular Development
The muscles in his neck have strengthened allowing him movement of his head. While lying on his stomach, he will steadily hold up his head for a moment or two. He will move his head back and forth more; especially when it is time for his bottle or breastfeeding.
His arms and legs will start to respond better. In his excitement at seeing, you he will start to reach out to you. His movements will be a little shaky and he may not meet his target just yet. He is gaining more control over the muscles and reflexes each day.
During this month, your baby will try to turn over. It may take a while for him to actually roll over; and when he does so this month, he will be able to roll over in one direction. While on his stomach, he will raise his chest using his arms for support. He will be able to lift his chest slightly higher than he did last month.
Colic
Colic causes babies to have intense crying which may occur several times a week. Sometimes it may be for an hour or two or several hours. Approximately 10 to 20 percentages of all babies have it. Your baby will have sharp cries or screams and feeding or changing his diaper or cuddling gives him relieve. If you are breast feeding your baby, you need to take a look at your own diet. Highly seasoned or spicy foods may be causing the problem. If you are bottle feeding, look at changing his formula. Some formula has a high protein count that will form hard curds in your baby’s stomach making it hard for him to digest it. Check with your pediatrician for recommendations of a different formula.
To help ease your baby’s discomfort, hold your baby in a face down position and gently rub his back with your hand. Wrapping him tightly in a light blanket may help him feel more secure. A warm bath or soothing music will also help him to relax. If his crying persists, call your pediatrician for suggestions.
Constipation
Since your baby’s diet is breast milk or formula, his bowel movements should be soft. If they are hard and dry, resembling little pebbles, your baby may be constipated. Try smaller and more frequent feedings. As your pediatrician if feedings of water in a bottle will also help.
Intestinal Gas
If your baby is sucking air rather than formula through the nipple of the bottle, he may have intestinal gas from the air in his intestines. When feeding your baby, keep the bottle tilted at a 45 degree angle to insure that the formula is always in the nipple as your baby sucks. If your baby takes all the formula on most feedings, you may try adding another ounce of formula to the bottle for each feeding.
Your Baby’s Ears
We have all heard that you must be careful with Q-tips and not put them into our ears. This is especially true for babies. Earwax is nature’s way of lubricating and protecting our inner canal part of our ears. Use the Q-tips only on the outside portion of the ear. Your baby’s ear has tiny little grooves and turns that make it impossible for our fingers and a washcloth to reach. You will be able to capture the wax as it naturally drains out plus any drips of formula or food.
Playtime
You will have short moments for play with your baby this month. He will respond to the sight of your face and will start to respond to other members of the family. Playtime should have lively, upbeat music. Some babies may still be a little anxious with this livelier music so watch your baby’s reaction. If he appears upset, turn the music off and calm with soothing tones from you.
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