Baby Milestones: Every 3 to 4 Month Old Should Hit
Today we’re going to continue our series on development and what to track with your children as they grow older. Last time we talked about the first two months of age. Today, let’s talk about what’s expected when a child is three to four months of age. These are our Baby milestones…
By three months of age your baby should be:
- Smiling at you.
- Getting more consistent about self-soothing, calming him or herself down.
- Gaining better head control—if you place the child on his belly he should be lifting his head and trying to push up from the surface.
- Looking at you when you talk to him, and making cooing and gurgling sounds.
- Paying attention to your face, and following you with his eyes. If a child at three months old is not following you or turning toward his environment that could be a red flag, and you should raise this concern with your physician at your appointments.
- Finally—and this is very important—your child should be turning his head towards sounds. He should turn his head too look at the sound source and give some kind of body response such as movement, cooing, or smiling.
By four months of age your baby should be:
- Smiling, especially at people. When you talk to your child she will smile back at you.
- Cooing at you when you give her attention, or cooing when she wants your attention. At this age babies start to seek your undivided attention.
- Babbling. Babbling is very important!
- Making facial expressions in response to sounds.
- Recognizing familiar faces and responding more consistently to his familiar environment.
From a cognitive standpoint, four months of age is very important. During this period your child will start reaching for toys with her hand, and bringing them to her mouth. The child should be exploring toys with her mouth.
From a movement standpoint, a child should be holding his head up well. When you pick up your baby, his head should stay straight on the midline. When you place him on his belly he’ll lift his head up all the way and start using his hands to push his chest up off of the surface. This is a very important step in learning how to roll, which is going to happen at about five months old.
Also, if you place babies at this age on their elbows when they’re on their belly, they’ll just stay up there and look around at their environment, turn their head to the right and left, and be much more engaged with their environment.
Things you need to check for that may be of concern to take to the pediatrician:
- If your child doesn’t look at things when they move. If something moves in front of him and the child does not follow it.
- If the child is not smiling at you when you are talking to or interacting with her.
- If she’s not holding her head steady.
- If your child is on his belly and he’s not pushing up.
These are all things to bring to your pediatrician’s attention.
If your child is four months old and not bringing toys to his mouth, that is a significant concern that you need to bring up with your doctor.
Also, if your child is having difficulty with his eye tracking—it’s not going to be perfect at this age, but his eyes should be moving together in both directions. If your child’s eyes move in one direction, but not quite doing it in the other direction, that is a significant concern that you need to show to the doctor.
We broke these descriptions down into detail because if you wait until the child is six months old to address these concerns, the child is going to miss a lot of lot of little details,that could be taken care of at the time that it’s right to take care of them. When you are aware of any problems and we can address them quickly, we can prevent any delays in your child’s development. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us!
