Your baby, 4 months 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 and older

At this point, your baby can recognize familiar faces. He can distinguish his mom from his dad and knows who they are. Many babies have favorite toys and you may have found a book or song that your baby seems to like the best. By now, he probably likes to play with toys on a mat or blanket on the foor. Exersaucers are good choices for baby to play in. Steer clear of baby walkers. They are dangerous and should not be used.

It is important to respond quickly and calmly to your crying baby. When you respond quickly, your baby will develop a sense of security and develop trust in you. You will have to do less to soothe a distressed baby if you respond quickly. Many people are under the impression that they will spoil their baby if they respond to every whimper and whine. This is not true. You can spoil a child, but not a baby. A baby of this age can not be disciplined and is not able to understand your commands. Continue to be loving and gentle to foster a good relationship.

Your baby can most likely roll from side to side and possibly from her tummy to her back. Be careful not to leave her unattended-she may roll off and get seriously injured. Babies should be placed on their tummies to develop strength and muscles needed for sitting, crawling and walking. Encourage your baby to roll over and help her sit up with support. It is much more interesting to sit up and look at things vs. laying down and staring at the ceiling. At this age, your baby is probably grasping objects and putting them straight into his mouth. Make sure all of his toys are safe and clean.

Your baby may begin to get upset if you take a toy away or stop playing with her. She coos, babbles, smiles and laughs when you interact with her. She may be able to click her tongue and cough by now. Playing with your baby is important for development. Continue to read, sing, play and play games with your little learner. Talk to your baby in regular words-do not use baby talk because it does not sound clear to your baby and may confuse him. Praise your baby for jobs well done! Introduce your baby to new sights, smells, sounds and textures often. This is how he will learn the most about this new exciting world around him!

Around four months of age, your doctor may give the go ahead on solid foods. You will know if your baby is ready. He should sit well with support and be able to hold his head steady. If she is still pushing the food out of her mouth with her tongue, she may not be quite ready to start solids. Start with cereal and then try fruits and vegetables. When using a highchair, make sure that it is safe. Your high chair should not have any broken pieces and should be sturdy. Always use the seat belt and lock the tray on snuggly. Make sure you watch your baby closely while he is in the highchair. Do not feed your baby directly from the jar, unless you are certain he will eat all of it. Just because your baby is consuming solids does not mean she doesn't still need formula or breatmilk-she does!!

Developmental Milestones 4 Months Old

Physical

• Your baby's stomach has grown larger, so he does not need to feed as often
• Rolls over
• When laid on stomach, your baby will lift his stomach and shoulders high offf the ground
• Your baby's tongue-thrust reflex is fading, and your baby may be ready to start solid foods now
• Can reach out and grab objects-he still may miss his mark on the first try
• You will notice alot of drool-some babies start teething around this time

Intellectual

• Feedings can get difficult as your baby likes to see what is going on at mealtime
• Your baby is easily distractable
• Once the baby grasps ahold of an object, he will put it straight to his mouth
• Your baby likes a vairety of toys and objects-give her different toys with different responses
• Babies begin to understand cause and effect
• Begins to understand all basic sounds of language
• Begins to develop the ability to make vocal sounds-`ma-ma` `da-da`-although he does not connect sound to parent
• Color differences are clearer and your baby probably prefers bright primary colors
• Can laugh out loud and squeal in delight

Emotional

• Likes to be interacted with-play with your baby as often as possible
• Some babies like to play alone at this time
• May participate in back and forth imitation games-imitate your child's faces and sounds
• Your baby will respond to your voice and gestures by kicking legs or waving arms
• Baby will show you when she is no longer interested

Age Appropriate Toys

• Bright colored books
• Posters
• Activity gyms and play mats
• Musical toys
• Lighted toys
• Mirrors
• Teething rings
• Plastic toys to chew on
• Toys to grasp
• Brightly colored soft blocks
• Stuffed toys

Comments:

Comments 1-25 of about 21731 for month 4
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lilyxox19 - 10.5 hours ago
lol ok nevermind. that theory goes right out the window. guess my little guy just doesn't like to eat much at one time. But he loves eating his cereal! lol. He will attack the spoon. As I start to bring it up to his mouth he will lunge forward and half the time miss and it gets on his cheek. Also if I don't feed it to him fast enough he will a) either start trying to eat the tray or b) keep slamming his hand down on the tray--he does this almost all the time. Oh and he makes growling noises as he eats lol. I have upped how much I give him. We just started oatmeal cereal so he gets 3 tsp of oatmeal in the morning and 3 tsp of rice cereal at night. Both are then followed by a bottle.

keegansmommie - 20.9 hours ago
OMG Lily- My LO is a HOG compared to yours. we just started Solids and so now his schedule is 6am-8oz bottle. 11am he gets cereal and a veggie and the rest of his 8oz bottle. at 4 he gets a 5 oz bottle and then at 630 he gets cereal and a veggie and then at about 1030-11pm he gets his last 8 oz bottle. hes a very good eater.

ajoke - Monday, 13 Feb
congrats naomi!!

ajoke - Monday, 13 Feb
redding2009 i have not started olivia on cereal yet either she is pudgy enough just with the boob. we go to the ped today and going to talk to her about soild and starting on veggies instead of cereal...i will let you know what i find out.

naomifaith - Sunday, 12 Feb
thanks dre! i only knew this time because i was late so i feel fine :) hoping this one will be a boy then i will be done!! now that i think about it i am wondering that the hell i got myself into lol

dre28 - Sunday, 12 Feb
welcome back and CONGRATS naomi! I know this was something you wanted to that's so exciting! hope you're feeling good this time around :)

dre28 - Sunday, 12 Feb
Mommy0811---my LO has been having one bottle every day since she was about 10 weeks....she has had no problem going back to the boob for all her other feedings---I use the wide playtex vent air bottles with the wide nipples--they are designed to be good for babies that go back and forth from boobs to bottles (shaped more like a breast). hope this helps!

Mommy0811 - Saturday, 11 Feb
OK ladies I need your honest opinions... my daughter is 12 wks old and I efb and pump and store occasionally but I have still yet to give her a bottle I'm so afraid if I give her a bottle she won't want me anymore.. . Am I crazy? Anyone else feel like me? Me and the hubby are suppose to go to dinner and a movie next Saturday while my mom keeps my kids so I thought I would just feed her go to dinner,go back to my mom's feed her then movies and then back to get her? Or should I just take a bottle and stored milk to my mom? Will she even take a bottle... I'm in a dilemma lol

lilyxox19 - Saturday, 11 Feb
@Keegan or Dulcian Since your lo's weigh about the same as my son, how much do they eat at one time? Taylor won't take more than 4oz at a time so he is constantly eating throughout the day. I figured it was because he was small that his tummy just can't handle that much all at once. I try to get him to eat more but after 4oz he will refuse to take the bottle. I don't mind too much that is eats all the time during the day because then I know he isn't starving when he sleeps through the night.

lilyxox19 - Saturday, 11 Feb
Congratulations Naomi!

naomifaith - Saturday, 11 Feb
hey everyone!!! i haven't been on here since the first month, good to see so many babies doing well. Kami is 4.5 months old and weighs a good 21 lbs and is 26 inches long. she is getting 2 teeth that are almost through already :) came back to the site because we found out that we are expecting again!!

dre28 - Saturday, 11 Feb
how long do they stay on rice cereal for? or when do you start to increase the amount?

hannah7860 - Saturday, 11 Feb
There is no good reason y u can't start solid sooner than 6month, its a personal decision and if your health profesional has no objection and u are hapi then u go ahead and start, I dnt think there is any rite and wrong in weening at 4month or 5, and I would like to say many time when a person talk about formula or weening or how big there baby are or there child not sleeping thru the nite another person comes along and slaps you by saying OH MY BABY is Small oh I breastfeed my baby Its beta dan formula, we KNOW no need to pull it more and make otherz feel like shit, I say it how It is. Thats y some times I do wish I never joined but I stayed coz I made some gud friends. I raised my kids by weening, formula fed sleepless nites and they beautifull, fit, n health and no diffrent to a breast fed baby so on, just sharing my feelings not pointing at any1.

lilyxox19 - Saturday, 11 Feb
@redding My doctor told us it was ok to start solids (she recommended us to start with rice cereal). She didn't push us one way or another. Just asked us if we started on solids. She told us to only give 1 tsp three times a day, which is hardly anything. I give Taylor 2tsp in the morning and as of two days ago, I'm starting to give him 2tsp at dinner. The reason we started early is because my husband is getting deployed when our son turns 6mo old so I wanted to start early so he can experience offering different foods. But I'm not super rushing this first month of solids. So for the first 2 weeks of february he is just getting rice cereal (morning and night), then for the last 2 weeks he will be getting introduced to Oatmeal. So it will be Oatmeal in the morning and rice cereal at night. Then the first week of March (he will be 5 1/2 mo old) I plan on starting introducing veggies once a week :) @KEEGAN Our kids are really close!! I love how small they still look lol. My friend's kid is the same age but is huge!! compared to mine.

keegansmommie - Saturday, 11 Feb
my Lo is 4 months and we started on rice cereal sunday. he loved it just plain. and his 4 month appt was on wednesday and the DR gave us the okay to start veggies and fruit. we did Green beans and he loved those even more. when you introduce new foods you should only do that one food for a day or to before starting a new one. but so far so good with my LO

dre28 - Saturday, 11 Feb
redding--my LO is 20 weeks as of yesterday and we have not started solids yet. My doctor says not to start unless we have a pressing reason to until 6 mos....i think i will start in the next 2 weeks or so....and we're starting on rice cereal...

redding2009 - Saturday, 11 Feb
Also, do you think rice cereal is a good first food to introduce when starting solids? or are you skipping the rice cereal and plan to start ( or have started) with fruit and veggie purees for example?

redding2009 - Saturday, 11 Feb
Anyone here NOT starting their lo on baby cereal untill he/she is 6 months old? My pediatrician keeps encouraging to start at 4 months, but we don't want to start our daughter untill she is 6 months old( I read that breast milk/formula is sufficient for the first 6 months of life, so I don't see any need to start sooner). I know opinions vary on when to start solids and even whether or not to give rice cereal, so I am curious for those that HAVE started solids before 6 months, for what reasons are you doing so, and what is your ped's opinion on introducing solids?

keegansmommie - Saturday, 11 Feb
Lily- Keegan weighed 12lbs 7oz at his 4 month check up and is 25 inches long. and at birth he was 5lbs 11 oz. our kids are so close in weight and height haha. CONGRATS MZDALLAS thats great! :)

dre28 - Friday, 10 Feb
lily--yay for sitting up! my LO is doing this too....she puts her hands down in front and can sit unassisted for a good while before she topples over to the side or goes for a face dive :)

dayna22 - Friday, 10 Feb
my lo had her 4 month check up today. she's 14lbs 4oz and 26 1/4 inches long :)

lilyxox19 - Friday, 10 Feb
On another note my son is starting to sit up all by himself (unsupported). He can sit straight up for a good 30 seconds before he starts falling forward, but half the time now he will put his hands in front of him and push himself back up. He doesn't want to sit supported anymore. So everytime he is sitting, he is constantly trying to sit straight up without leaning his back against anything. Which means I can't sit him on the couch and leave him at all (like running to the kitchen to grab something). Because when I come back he will be face planted in the cushions lol

lilyxox19 - Friday, 10 Feb
@hannah My son weighed 12lbs 8oz at his 4 mo check up and is 23.5in. I love my little guy. He was 5lbs 10oz at birth and it didn't hurt too bad when I pushed him out. lol I'm really really hoping my future babies will be that small too. @mzdallas Congradulations! How is your daughter sleeping at night? Better yet?

hannah7860 - Friday, 10 Feb
My lo was born 9lb 2oz 1week over due, and now he weighs 18lb 2oz at 19weeks old, tho he's no chubby just very long and his peditrision seems to be hapi and hapi for him to be weened. He did say when he starts crawling and walking his weight would drop, am not bothred I love him just the way he is, tho my other 2kidz been only 6 and 7lbs, this one is my biggest at birth, I guess he gna be 1tall handsome boy/man when he grows up :-D

Dulcianasmom - Friday, 10 Feb
Cami went for her 4month checkup this past tuesday and she weighs 12lbs 4oz. so really good for her (she was born at 5lbs 12oz, i have small babies, all my chidren were 5lb'ers). So, she is doing very well, still EBF and nursing about every 2-3 hours still thru the day and then she goes to bed around 8pm, lately has been waking around 2am to feed and then goes back down again till 8am. She WAS sleeping thru the ntie for a long time, then she stopped :/ not sure if its just a grwoth spurt and she just needs more food or if this is the start of a bad 'attachmentt' trend. That is how my middle child was BUT she NEVER slept thru the nite. She would get up every 3-4 hours at nite..it SUCKED. Finally when she was about 9months old i had to have hubby intervene and for 2weeks, if she fussed at nite, i was not allowed to get up or go near the room. He would get up, warm a bottle of breastmilk and go in to feed her..well, she didn't want to eat, she was only waking and taking the boob cause she knew i would do it. So, after 2 weeks, she realized i wasn't coming in anymore to nurse her and she just gave up. I'm wondering if cami is getting into this routine..hard to say though cause she only gets up once anite and i honestly don't mind it cause its nurse, and right back to bed. So it only takes up about 45min. I'll have to see how things go next month when we start her on solids.

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