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 51-75 of about 21733 for month 4
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mzdallas06 - Monday, 6 Feb
LILY: you are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! I paid extra close attention to my baby's mannerisms last night, she was not truly hungry, in fact she is still half asleep, she just is frustrated because she doesn't know how to soothe herself back to sleep. I can't believe that never occurred to me. So now I'm also on a mission to teach her how to not look for a bottle everytime She wakes up. I'm happy from you and your LO!

lilyxox19 - Monday, 6 Feb
Last night went soo well!!! Took me only 2 minutes to get Taylor to fall asleep and the best news ever...HE SLEPT FOR 6 HOURS STRAIGHT!! all by himself. He woke up at 3:30 am and I fed him 4oz then he went back to sleep until 7:30-8 am. SOOO here is a question for you ladies...what is considered sleeping thru the night? Right now I'm letting do 1 nighttime feeding but I'm wondering if I should just take them all away. Is 6 hours considered sleeping thru night? Or should I make him go longer?

lilyxox19 - Monday, 6 Feb
@sick Ya I wasn't planning on doing night time training this early. I was hoping that once he started fully on solid (not just rice cereal in the mornings) that he would just magically start sleeping thru the night. But for the past week he started waking up every 2 hours and I couldn't handle it anymore. lol I created a monster somehow! So I decided to start sleep training now before I created more permanent sleep problems.

sickasadog - Monday, 6 Feb
yikes lily, I am not ready for the whole night time training thing. I also am in the same room with Holdyn so she expects the breast for pacifier when she stirs. last time i didn't get it to her in time, she woke completely up and we were up for 2 hours. ugh. ha ha ha

lilyxox19 - Sunday, 5 Feb
@mzdallas Her naps aren't the issue. She doesn't know how to self-sooth herself back to sleep after the end of each sleep cycle. I tried the whole keeping my son up as much as possible during the day and all I got in return was a cranky-nightmarish baby the whole day. Did nothing for how long he slept. I also thought maybe I had a nighttime eater, but after last night I realized that he isn't able to fall back into a deep sleep at the end of his sleep cycles and that he was using his bottle to sooth himself back to sleep. So right now I'm in the process of training him to self-sooth. Since Taylor and I are sharing a room, I slept on the couch last night and will be sleeping on the couch for the next couple of nights. I think it would make sleep training harder if I sleep in the same room as him because he knows I'm there and won't understand why I'm not getting up. And he may refuse to self-sooth. Figured it would be easier training him if I wasn't in there teasing him. Last night wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but to be honest everything is a little fuzzy from 2am to 6am. I'm not sure how long he cried because he wasn't crying non-stop, he would only cry off and on, then fall asleep for a short period of time. So far tonight I have gotten him to fall asleep without his pacifier within a couple of minutes, but the real test will be getting him to stay asleep. Tonight will be Day 2 of the Ferber method. Hopefully it will be better!

mzdallas06 - Sunday, 5 Feb
LILY: my baby has the Exact same sleep issues as your LO so please keep me posted on how your new routine works for you. Also, ladies because my Lo doesn't sleep for more than 2 hrs at a time during the night, I'm thinking of eliminating a few of her later afternoon naps. Her last nap is abt 4 and it lasts till abt 5:30 we go to bed abt 9:30 and she's usually very tired but won't stay asleep. So should I eliminate the last nap? Or do you ladies think that I should try something else. Any help would be appreciated. IM RUNNING ON FUMES. IM SO EXHAUSTED.

brookesmommy78 - Sunday, 5 Feb
Quick question for you ladies....what time are your LO's going to bed for the night? My LO acts very crabby and tired in the evening, so we give him his bath and bottle and put him down between 8 and 9....but he treats it like a little nap and wakes up 56 mins later and wants another bottle! We try to go in and just give him his paci, but it doesn't work. He's 15 weeks. I think my daughter started going to bed around 7 at about 4 months. He then wakes up another time at about 3 am for a bottle.

lilyxox19 - Saturday, 4 Feb
I have come to realize that I am in the process of getting a nighttime feeder. My son is just about 4.5mo old and for the last 5 days he is waking up every 2 hrs to comfort eat back to sleep. He isn't even fully awake while he is eating. So I am changing EVERYTHING up. Nighttime routine is going to start off with a bottle instead of end with it (he was falling asleep halfway thru eating and would dream eat the rest of the bottle). Naps are going to be in his crib and his daily bottles will be given before he is cranky and ready for a nap. He was also falling asleep while eating. So in other words I am cutting out him using his bottles to falls asleep with. I'm also taking away the pacifiers since he really doesn't need them (he has fallen asleep before without them).

lilyxox19 - Friday, 3 Feb
Woohoo! Taylor ate from the spoon again! And for the past 3 days he is starting to hold his bottle. He doesn't do it though when he is tired. He just loves grabbing the bottle and putting it in his mouth. Then he gets a huge smile on his face with the nipple in his mouth lol. And dh is missing all of this too!! Can't wait for him to be back home next Wednesday.

julier - Friday, 3 Feb
yeah it really freaked me out at first. Now she'll start to fuss but not actually wake up around 3a and since she still sleeps next to my bed I just pop her Paci in and shes out cold. But I am so obssesed with her developing according to her age and I think I need to calm it down.

mzdallas06 - Friday, 3 Feb
JULIER! 10-12 HRS PER NIGHT??!! I WOULD TRADE ALL OF MY LO'S ADVANCEMENTS FOR 1 (YES, 1) NIGHT OF SLEEP!! LOL!

julier - Friday, 3 Feb
Mzdallas- yes she has slept through the night since she was 5 weeks she actually sleeps about 10-12 hours at night !! So I guess thats where her advancements went. lol. She'll sometimes sit up if I put her in the sitting position but she cant actually go from laying down to sitting up on her own.

cpineapple2 - Friday, 3 Feb
Julie my first son never wanted to hold his own bottle.

mzdallas06 - Friday, 3 Feb
JULIER: don't worry too much abt ur baby holding the bottle- kids do things at different times. For example, my LO started sitting up a couple wks ago and is also showing interest in holding her bottle but she refuses tummy time & has YET TO SLEEP THRU THE NIGHT! Is your baby is sleeping thru the night? (or at least halfway thru?) If so, count your Blessings cuz I'm up every 2-3 hrs :(

julier - Friday, 3 Feb
@lily I want to get her a bumbo but keep putting it off. Maybe I should. I ordered the baby bullet online and should have it soon and then im going to start solid feeding her. Smh they grow up so dang fast.

guadeloupe97139 - Thursday, 2 Feb
as soon as i place my son on his back..he rolls over immediately on his stomach...he places his arms in a push-up position with his head up haught and laughs away....so impressive..he'll be 4 months on saturday

lilyxox19 - Thursday, 2 Feb
@julier He sits up fine in his bumbo. Or I can sit him up on the couch but I have to have a pillow on either side of him to keep him from falling sideways

julier - Thursday, 2 Feb
@lily does your LO sit up by themself already?

lilyxox19 - Thursday, 2 Feb
TAYLOR ATE OFF THE SPOON!!! I orginally gave up trying to get him to eat rice cereal from the spoon. But after 4 days I decided what heck, and I offered it again to him. I only made 1/2 tsp of the rice cereal because I just wanted him to practice, didn't think he was going to eat anything. HE ATE ALL OF IT!! And he was opening his mouth! In fact I bet he would of ate more too!!! I'm soo excited! Hopefully he will eat off the spoon tomorrow morning too! YEAH

lilyxox19 - Thursday, 2 Feb
so I put my son on his play mat with the top of his head pointing to the window. I then sat on the couch to pump. When I got down with pumping I went to go pick him up since he was crying. But now his feet are pointing towards the window??? Did he really just wiggle himself around? And I missed it!!!!

lilyxox19 - Thursday, 2 Feb
@julier My son is 18 weeks old and is now starting to show interest in holding his bottle. For the past 3 days, he will hold his bottle during his lunch time. He will hold it but a lot of times I still have to lift the end of the bottle up because he is just holding it to his mouth but not getting anything

julier - Thursday, 2 Feb
So I'm worried. Yesterday I went over a friends house and his son was born Sept 4th 11 days before my DD and he is already holding his bottle! Is any of your little ones doing this? Trinitee doesnt :( When I talked to my mom she just blabbed about how Trinitee was a preemie and may be a bit behind blah blah no mom wants to hear that their kid is behind! So I was hoping this other baby was just ahead? Any thoughts?

alliegirl - Thursday, 2 Feb
Hi all, Haven't posted in a while. Noah is 4 months old and just so great! Babbling, squealing, etc. etc. He loves baby bananas. He's not good with the apples, give him a horrible tummy ache. Anyway if any of you are looking to make a lil money on the side please join this site with my link, it is a legit site, I've made $50 already, and also the owner has a wish program on the forum that she's granting wishes for just about anything you can imagine, its really great and I'd like to see more people join it not just for me, but for the wish program too! You never ever have to pay anything ever, just ignore offers that ask you to pay. I do and still make plenty of money. Here is the link. http://rewards-spot.com/members/register.php?ref=noahgirl Thanks!

mzdallas06 - Thursday, 2 Feb
Lily: glad to know I'm not going insane from sleep deprivation!! LOL

mzdallas06 - Thursday, 2 Feb
MarineBaby: I also just found out I was pregnant- and even though I was Happy, some panic did set in. But I have a girlfriend whose kids aare 15 months apart and hers were unplanned also. She said its the greatest thing that they're close in age because they are constant playmates & are extremely close. Don't worry honey, it will all work out!

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