At around month four, your baby will be developing an understanding of the basic sounds of language. You can encourage them by mimicking the sounds they make and initiating a few of your own. That means loads of baby talk conversations! This’ll help them interact and recognize more sounds.
Four to six months old: developmental milestones and behaviour
This age is jam packed with fun stuff - you'll really start to notice a little personality developing.
Here's a chart to help you track some of the important milestones at this time, so make sure you have your camera ready to go!
- More to love - around four to five months your baby will have doubled their birth weight, and they've probably already had several spurts. It’s common to have them around three weeks, six weeks, three months and six months. They'll need extra feeds when they're going through this.
By six months their weight gain will be slowing down – you can expect them to put on around 150g each week from here. - Heads up - your baby’s head and neck muscles will get stronger from around four months. By six months your baby will be able to sit up in a high chair, and from about seven months they should be able to sit up (somewhere soft and safe!) unsupported.
- Oh, its YOU - they'll be able to recognize familiar people - especially Mum!
- Smiles all round – your baby will most likely start to smile in response to your voice.
- Ten tiny fingers - they'll probably play with their hands quite a bit, chew on them and often just watch them.
- Taking notice - your baby will be really interested in world; they'll enjoy watching things and people move. They'll also be able to hold their own rattle.
- Little pearly whites - teeth might start to appear. These usually come sometime after six months, but your baby could get them sooner. They'll be able to chew really well even without teeth as their gums are very hard.
- A lot to swallow - the extrusion reflex (when food placed on your baby’s tongue is pushed out the front of their mouth) will disappear around four to six months. When it does, it means that your baby has the coordination to swallow smooth food properly.
- Bath time – by six months or so, your baby should be able to sit in the bath with assistance, but you still need to watch them really carefully and support them to make sure they don't slip. They might also enjoy having a bit of a splash too, so prepare for some fun times.
Remember, every baby is different so don’t worry if your baby has other plans and doesn't follow this pattern very closely.
