Month Four

Babies First Year: Month Four

How Baby Is Changing

Baby is starting to tell people apart, and knows his mom and dad. He will smile more at real people than at pictures of faces. Baby might also have favorite toys.

Baby can probably roll from side to side, and might even be able to go from his tummy to his back. Watch out -- your little athlete could roll off a counter, changing table or bed. Baby is starting to learn that things go together. When he hears you in the kitchen, he expects dinner. Your infant likes to splash in the bathtub, and he loves to look in the mirror.

Your baby's reaching and grasping skills are improving. Watch baby when he wants a toy. At first, baby had to look from his hand to the toy. As he gets better, baby grabs for it directly without looking at his hand first. Whatever baby reaches goes right into his mouth! You'll want to be sure he can only reach things that are clean and safe to chew on.

Baby may be getting teeth, though most babies begin teething at 6 months. Usually, the two lower front teeth are first.

Baby Wants You To Know

How I Grow

• I turn my head in all directions.
• I lift my head forward when I'm on my back, and grab my feet with my hands.
• I sit up for about 15 minutes with my head and back straight if you support my body.
• I prefer sitting, instead of lying down; it's more interesting!
• I roll from my back to my side, but sometimes I get my hand caught under my stomach.
• I put things in my mouth.
• I splash and kick with my hands and feet in the bath.

How I Talk

• I babble and imitate sounds, coughing and clicking my tongue for long periods of time.
• I coo, grin or squeal with joy when you talk to me.

How I Understand

• I love to see myself in the mirror.
• I'm fascinated by my hands.
• I like some people, and am shy or scared of others.
• I can remember things for about five seconds.
• I remember important people, like my parents, from night to morning or even longer.
• I know if something is near or far.

How I Feel

• I get excited when I have fun. Everything is a game to me.
• I cry and get mad when you stop paying attention to me or take a toy away.

How You Can Help Me Learn

• Put me on my tummy and hold up a toy for me to follow. This helps me learn to roll over.
• Blow soap bubbles for me to follow with my eyes.
• Read nursery rhymes to me. I like to listen to your voice.
• Play "This little piggy..." with my toes or fingers.

Fun Activities

One way to have fun together is to have a daily exercise time. There may be books on exercises for baby in your public library. Here are a couple of examples to try.

• Pull to sitting ~ Lay baby on her back on a blanket or rug, and hold both of her hands. Slowly pull baby up until she is sitting. To encourage her, you can say things like, "Up we go!"
• At first, you may do more of the work. But baby will get the idea, and may soon work hard to help herself up.
• Rolling over ~ Lay baby on her back on a blanket and sit behind her head, holding a toy. Squeaky toys work well for this. Hold the toy where baby can see it. Slowly move it so baby has to turn her head to follow it.
• Praise baby if she arches her back and starts to turn. If she turns with her shoulders but her legs aren't following, gently push on her bottom to help her over. Save this game for a later time if baby doesn't try at all.
• Later, you'll be able to help baby practice crawling.

Feeding Baby

Starting Solid Foods (4-6 months)

Does your baby sit well with support? Hold his head up without wobbling? Put things into his mouth and chew on them? These are some signs that your baby is ready to start eating solid foods.

Many doctors recommend starting with rice cereal. This is fortified with iron and not likely to cause food allergies. Mix a tablespoon of cereal with breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula until the mixture is smooth and about as thick as cream.

Pick a time when baby is hungry, but not starving. It may help to give him some breast milk or infant formula, then try cereal, and finish with more milk or formula. Hold him on your lap.

Use a small, narrow spoon. Put cereal, a little at a time, toward the middle of baby's tongue. Baby's tongue may push the food back out. Be patient -- it takes time to learn how to chew and to swallow. Using a bib will cut down on the mess. Start with small amounts.

Do not use an infant feeder, syringe or bottle to feed solid foods. These can cause choking. They don't help baby learn to eat from a spoon, and they can cause overeating.

Fruits and vegetables are probably the next things to try. Try each single new food for three or four days before adding another new food. This gives you a chance to see if the new food causes an allergy or tummy upset. For the same reason, give single foods, like pears, before trying mixed foods, like peaches and pears together.

If you feed your baby food from the jar, you'll need to throw the uneaten food away. Baby's saliva on the spoon causes food to spoil quickly. To prevent this, put a small amount of food into a small dish to feed baby.

Even with solid foods, baby still needs breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula. Baby should drink either breast milk or formula -- not cow's milk -- until he is a year old. Cow's milk is not as nutritionally complete as formula and breast milk. And if given too early, cow's milk can cause allergies.

Baby's doctor may have other suggestions.