In our review by the evolution of the baby month by month we enter the third month of life. It has already adapted to its existence in the external world, although it continues to know and learn from its surroundings. Parents and son are getting to know each other better and adapting to this new life.
It expresses and communicates more and more. The baby is more attentive around him, increasing communication with his parents through looks, smiles, crying, babble ... He already turns to us when we talk to him, looking for us and recognizing us.
Let's know in detail the characteristics of three month babies, focusing on their diet, sleep, growth and development, hearing and language, sociability and better stimulation.
Feeding
The baby at three months of age is still feeding exclusively on milk. The healthiest food is breast milk, as it offers innumerable benefits for both the recovery of the mother and the development of the baby.
Probably the baby has decreased the number of shots, which will be spaced between them and will be done at more regular times. But we must continue feeding it on demand and not unnecessarily lengthen the spaces between shots to prevent them from going hungry (it may take longer to "ask" us to eat because they are more entertained with their surroundings) and maintain adequate milk production.
If the baby drinks artificial milk, the bottle is also given on demand. It is recommended to take it every three to four hours to allow time for the baby to digest formula milk (the mother takes less time to assimilate). As the child's digestive and immune system is still very immature, we will have to prepare the bottle carefully.
To properly prepare the bottle, strict hygiene rules must be followed to avoid contamination, following the instructions on quantities that appear on the product, offer the milk just after preparing it and discard what is left over.
Dream
The baby consolidates his sleep-wake cycles, sleeping for longer periods, especially at night. In total, a three month baby usually sleeps between 15 and 18 hours. We must continue with our habits that make it pleasant when preparing for nighttime sleep (bath, music, massages, food ...)
The baby should sleep on his back, it is the recommended position to reduce the risk of sudden death. We must continue to take care and watch that the baby does not always sleep with the head supported on the same side, since plagiocephaly, a deformity of the bones of the skull could occur because they are not yet completely welded. That is why it is convenient to tilt the head alternating both sides while sleeping.
The best thing is that the baby sleeps in the same room as the parents, because we are more attentive to his awakenings, we listen better, we can feed him more comfortably without having to leave the room and the baby is calmer, because he knows about presence.
Growth and development
Broadly speaking, children during the first trimester earn about 200 grams per week and 3 cm in size and 1-2 cm in cranial perimeter per month. Either way, each baby is different and has its own growth rate. The important thing is that they are taking weight and height.
There are also differences if we feed the baby with breast milk or with adapted formulas, when they could gain more weight.
Each baby has its own pace of development, so it is quite difficult to predict exactly when you will learn a particular skill. However, these are the achievements that babies usually achieve Around three months old.
- Follow objects and people in slow motion with their eyes
- Look at the faces very carefully, focusing on the eyes
- When lying down keep moving your legs and arms
- Holds your head up longer and longer
- When placed on your stomach, lift your head and upper chest
- Use your arms to support yourself when you are face down
- Recognize familiar objects and people from afar
- Start coordinating hands with eyes
- Control your hand movement a little more, open and close them
- It is pushed with the legs supporting the feet when placed on a firm surface
- He puts his hand to his mouth more and more consciously
- Slap the hanging objects
- Start grabbing and shaking hand toys
The baby's vision develops more and more. I have already discovered his hands, and he plays and watches them carefully. It is because he is now able to perceive the smallest details quite well, and can focus almost at any distance.
Between three and four months the increase in eye muscle control allows the baby to follow objects, and the increase in visual acuity allows him to discriminate objects from backgrounds with minimal contrast. To stimulate your vision, it is good to show you different colors and new objects. In reality, a simple walk home will discover a whole new world to look at.
The baby focuses his actions on his own body (primary circular reaction) and, constantly repeating the actions, he manages to coordinate his movements.
As their movements are stronger than in previous months, we must continue to monitor the baby constantly and not leave it alone on the changing table, the bed or the sofa because it could turn and slide if it is not well supported on the back.
Hearing and language
The baby's way of communicating continues to improve, expanding his ability to distinguish and make sounds.
- Keep smiling when the mother smiles or talks
- You can give your first little laughs
- Start babbling some simple sounds
- Start imitating some sounds
- When interacting with adults, perform movements with the tongue and lips
- Turn your head in the direction of the sounds
- Listen fascinated by his twitter and phonation
But he not only enjoys listening to himself. The baby likes to listen to soft music and the voice of parents, more if they sing some melody. From the third month they start using the voice to communicate and dare to the first attempts, initially with vowels and twitter. We may hear the first "garlic", "gu-gu" (or something that resembles it), since in most cases it shows joy or pleasure using guttural consonants such as. In less pleasant states it uses nasalized consonants like "nga".
In any case, crying remains the primary mode of communication of the baby, becoming his first words, so we must not stop caring for him at any time. When the baby cries, it can be for multiple reasons that in the end we probably end up recognizing without difficulty: hunger, fear, sleep, pain ...
Sociability
Very related to language is the sociability of the baby, which is his ability to interact with other people, the people around him. Contact and bond building, with physical closeness, they are the basis for natural and healthy social development.
The baby already smiles openly at the familiar faces. Around three months old he enjoys playing with other people and may cry when the game is over or left alone. The baby is more expressive and communicates more with facial and body expressions. You can even imitate some facial movements and expressions that you observe closely, such as sticking out your tongue or opening and closing your mouth.
The first memory samples appear when you react with pleasure to see people you already know.
Stimulation
We have already given many clues about how to stimulate the development of the baby. The best stimulus for the three month baby is still our voice, our contact, our look. If we didn't have a single toy, the baby would be enough with our games and observing new objects, places and people. Simple activities such as talking and singing while we bathe or dress it are a whole world for babies.
To stimulate your motor development we can start offering you small rattles or soft objects that you will try to catch. You have to be careful with the toys and objects that we leave within your reach, they should be appropriate for small babies, without small parts or hard parts or that can hurt you.
As before, it is convenient to place the baby upside down while awake for a few moments so that it strengthens the upper part of the trunk. We can also do "gymnastics" with them now that you can keep a while incorporated, moving the arms and folding your legs.
These are all the characteristics of the baby at three months, regarding their physical, social and emotional development. The baby does not stop growing, and soon we will return with more data about the evolution of the baby.
