At this stage in their development, babies learn through cuddling, sleeping and feeding – as well as through their expanding senses.
They can focus on objects up to 8 inches away and can track moving objects with their eyes. They have an affinity for faces and can recognize colors.
1. Cooing
Cooing is an infant’s way of communicating, the first stage in babbling; consisting of single-vowel sounds like “uh,” “ah,” and “oh.” As your infant continues cooing and progresses through its development, they will eventually add consonants into their sounds for communication.
At this age, your child may also begin mimicking voices and noises around them – an important sign that their brain and vision are maturing well and they’re ready to explore more of their environment.
At this stage, it’s a good idea to try to physically engage with your baby by playing on the floor and engaging with mobiles, rattles or toys that light up and play music. Babies thrive with movement; when they start reaching out and touching objects it indicates their motor skills are progressing nicely.
Baby will typically begin smiling more frequently at this age. They’ll smile when hearing their favorite songs or seeing those they care most for (you and your partner). Over time, however, this behavior could extend to strangers as they further develop visual and social brain functions. Every child reaches milestones at different rates; should there be any concerns for your own child, please reach out to their healthcare provider who can determine what’s normal for him/her.
2. Rolling over
At this age, your baby’s arms and legs should begin moving more purposefully. He or she may lift their head when lying on their back or try rolling over, though this will take time and practice before becoming consistent. Additionally, their neck control improves significantly enabling them to look around more easily as well as turn their heads back towards people or objects behind them.
Babies typically begin trying to roll over as early as three months old and most can do it by six months old; however, every child’s development path differs and some never reach this milestone. If your baby seems unwilling or uncertain how to roll over on their own, contact their pediatrician immediately for advice.
Rolling over requires significant strength, so encouraging physical movement through play is vital to their development. Try having them sit on the floor with you or in bouncers/other motion equipment which help build strength; also try scooting/crawling together to see their response.
Others milestones to keep an eye out for include improved hand-eye coordination (they should now be able to grasp your finger), pincer grips (allowing them to pick up small items such as raisins between their thumb and forefinger) and better vision, enabling them to focus on objects of interest while becoming wary of strangers.
3. Sitting up
At approximately two months, babies begin developing stronger neck muscles that enable them to lift their heads horizontally and look horizontally. Their hearing also improves, and they can turn towards sources such as rattles. At this age they begin understanding their surroundings while becoming partial to bright hues (often preferring bright hues).
At around 4-months old, babies often start rolling over from back to belly and vice versa, rocking side-to-side or forward and backward during this process. This marks an early step toward crawling; most babies achieve it by the ninth month – though some might skip this milestone altogether and head straight for walking instead.
By six months old, your infant should be eating more than breastmilk or formula alone and is most likely eating three meals of cereals and single-ingredient pureed foods every day. They’ve learned how to grasp small objects using their pincer grasp, reaching for toys they see at playgroup and sitting independently for short supervised periods while strengthening their trunk muscles.
Tummy time is essential in helping infants build up the muscles necessary for sitting up. By forcing a baby too early into sitting position, too early seating risks less balance and higher risk of falling or bumping heads against furniture.
4. Reaching
At 8-12 inches away, babies can now focus 8-12 inches away and recognize objects and faces. At this age, babies begin understanding sensory perceptions such as the difference between shades of red and blue or the sound produced by rattles. Furthermore, babies begin exploring patterns and shapes more than before while tracking movement such as tracking balls that roll across floors or their own reflections in mirrors.
Children also begin to develop fine motor skills, using their hands more to interact with toys and objects around them and interact with them directly. Their hand-eye coordination improves as they open and close fists to bat at toys before bringing them close to their mouths for play. Furthermore, they can now use their heads to support themselves on their tummies and may start pushing up or crawling while resting there.
Babies begin eating solids at this age, starting with cereals and single-ingredient pureed foods. They may develop the pincer grasp – the ability to hold objects between their thumb and forefinger. Babies may reach for toys hanging above them but may not always succeed in reaching them all.
At this age, toys placed within reach can help your baby build up his or her neck muscles by encouraging them to bat at them with their hands during tummy time. Your child will also learn about object permanence – the idea that an object still exists even if out of sight – and may play with objects for longer.
5. Sitting up on their own
At this stage, babies can support their weight while sitting. They do this by placing their arms out in front of them and using the strength in their legs to support themselves. Babies may start rocking back and forth while in this position in preparation for crawling; they may recognize familiar faces and reach for toys (though often won’t reach for them all!); playing peek-a-boo and looking in baby-safe mirrors will keep them entertained!
Your baby will let you know when they’re ready for this next step: They may start reaching for objects dangling from chains, grasping at them with both hands or grasping and reaching. Multi-textured toys with bright colors or noisemakers might pique their interest as well as things that make noise. Furthermore, they might start clapping and dancing around.
Babies at this age are beginning to learn how to imitate sounds and actions, so they may imitate any sound you make or action you do. In addition, they may attempt to grab their own hands or feet but won’t succeed due to lack of strength.
Note that every baby develops at their own pace, though failure to meet milestones could indicate medical or developmental problems that should be evaluated by a healthcare provider.
6. Cooing and smiling
At about this age, many babies begin displaying their first genuine social smiles that go beyond being just reflexive. This indicates an increase in attention towards others as well as being able to identify individual faces through facial recognition software. Furthermore, they may start imitating facial expressions or gestures from those around them; especially if being tickled or brushed.
By this stage, most babies are cooing constantly and may even start making some consonant sounds and babbling as they continue to build their vocal capabilities. You can encourage this development by talking and singing to them frequently. They may also start looking for sources of sounds; an indicator that they are developing their listening skills as they learn how to interact with other people and form bonds through communicating effectively.
Infants during this baby milestone stage are learning about object permanence – or knowing that objects still exist even when out of view – making this the ideal time to introduce basic games such as peek-a-boo as it will help them grasp this concept more quickly.
As with everything, every child is an individual and will reach certain milestones at different ages than suggested in this guide. If they don’t meet some milestones by their target ages, contact their pediatrician immediately as this could indicate red flags that require further investigation or intervention.