Baby development : 4 month old
4-month-old baby developments:
Before we start talking about the developments of a 4-month-old baby, we should mention that all babies are unique and meet these developments at their own pace. This article merely shows what your baby has the potential to accomplish and how you can help him/her do it better.
By month four, your baby gained a lot of weight (likely doubled from birth). He is now much more interested in his surroundings and what is happening around him. He still smiles at people faces and laugh. He might now start to show a regular sleeping pattern and feeding cycles.
Vision
Babies see color from birth, but it’s hard for them to distinguish between similar colors or different shades(red and orange). Your baby may show a preference for bright primary colors now.
4-month-old baby can easily see across the room and doesn’t have any problem with focusing although they still prefer looking at people close up. Your child’s eyes can move smoothly and follow objects around him. Both eyes should move together ( should not be and eye crossed while tracking).
Your baby’s eyes are starting to change color. Their final shade gets fixed at about six months.
Hearing
Before your baby could understand the tone of your voice (angry, soothing, agitated). Now she can realize different sounds you make. This is the first step in understanding words, sentences and in general language. The hearing is crucial to developing the ability to talk, and now your baby is beginning to pick out different sounds. She might also start to respond to your voice by babbling. It might be that they even start understanding the difference between talking voice and environmental sounds.
Muscles and Motor skill
Another Amazing experience is on the way: Rock and Roll baby
Although there is an age range for infants to roll but it’s more likely they do it around 4-month-old. It will also be amazing for the kid when he rolls for the first time. It is easier for a baby to roll over from front to back because they have round belly which makes it easier to roll over. To prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), parents put their babies to sleep on their backs. This can delay the rolling process if the baby doesn’t get enough Tummy Time when he is awake.
Your little one will play a lot with his hands. You might find him playing play with his hands and feet for several minutes. He can use both hands at the same time to grab a rattle or anything he can reach. Anything bright, colorful or shiny will be grabbed and most probably will end up in his mouth.
A 4-month-old baby has developed his neck, back and arms muscles so he will be able to lift his head and shoulders when you place him on his tummy and can extend his arms and arch her back. This arching is an excellent exercise for strengthening their neck muscles further which help them to control their massive head when they start to sit up and crawl.
He also might show interest for doing one action over and over again until he’s sure of the result (cause and effect).
Communication skill
4-month-old will be paying close attention to your face and the sounds you make. So she may start to imitate your facial expression like smiling and frowning. She may also watch your mouth intently when you speak and try to respond to your voice by babbling. This is her first attempt to make contact using sounds and developing her conversation skills.
Are you dreaming or you just heard it?!! MaMa … DaDa
Between this time and six months of age, your baby will make some vocal sounds like mama or dada. They don’t know the meaning or the connection between these sounds and you but still this is an incredible moment in your life.
They start to understand if they drop an object it will return to them by parents. This is another way they understand there are people around them that respond to their actions.
Social skill
As we mentioned before your 4-month-old baby will start to pay more attention to his surrounding and begin to smile eagerly at people even when they aren’t trying to make him smile. As long as you are around he will be glad to meet other people and will get more enjoyment from social interaction. They need you to feel safe and secure to go and make a relationship with other people. This way he will develop his social skills.
But don’t worry you will remain his number one and he save his best reactions just for you!
Other development:
Teething
Some babies start teething at the age of 3-4 months. It is a painful process for kids but the degree of discomfort varies from baby to baby. Drooling, biting hands and objects, refusing to be nursed, robbing cheeks, These can be indications that your baby will start teething soon.
Touching
Your baby is all about grabbing and touching. She will be fascinated by any texture she touches: crinkly, lumpy or furry. Again remember whatever they touch is possible to be grabbed and it will undoubtedly end up in their mouth, so make sure they are clean.
Tickling
It is possible that your baby hasn’t responded to your tickling yet. Up to age three months, babies can’t get tickled because they don’t know the meaning of you and me; they don’t know they are individuals. You can’t tickle yourself because tickling is not really a physical phenomenon in your body but a social interaction. Right about this age, your baby will respond to tickling. It is one of earliest tricks we used for thousands of years to teach the individuality to our kids. The only thing you should remember is never to overuse it (No matter how old your child is).
Feeding
His stomach has grown and now he can drink enough milk in one feed so you won’t need to feed him as many times as you did in the last three months. It’s time for you to relax a bit, but wait!
Although you don’t need to feed him eight times a day anymore, there is a new challenge. Your baby is so into discovering his surrounding that he can easily get distracted by whatever is happening around him, so the feeding may become more difficult.
How to help your child develop at this age
Vision
Give him more colorful toys and books. They’ll love looking at them. Install some eye-catchers mobiles-crib or his activity gym, filled with bright primary-colored. Visually striking board books are also perfect for their visual development. Present him with a variety of colors in books, toys, and clothing. They have started to notice different shades of a color (red-orange).
Hearing
Please make some time to sing and read to your baby every day. It does wonders for your baby’s development. Don’t think if you have a beautiful voice or not, you will be her Frank Sinatra or Tina Turner. She loves being held in your arms and hearing the sound of your voice.
You can start reading books to your kid. Board books with bright colors can also help developing her other senses (visual and touching).
You can also bring music into your baby’s life. Any slow or steady melody will stimulate baby’s mind. It doesn’t need to be only Bach or Beethoven music, as far as it’s not loud and violent (metal, rap, some country songs) it will soothe your baby. Although some kind of music like lullabies proves to be very effective regarding soothing and stimulating baby’s mind. Musical crib mobiles can stimulate both visual and hearing at the same time.
Muscles and Motor skill
Your baby will probably start Rolling over, but you shouldn’t force it. What you can do is gently encourage it by putting his favorite toy by his side and move it around and see if they try to follow it and roll over. Applaud his efforts he may need your support as new actions can be scary.
Anything bright, colorful or shiny most probably will be grabbed and will end up in his mouth, so be careful with your necklaces and earrings because it’s dangerous for you and your baby (it’s a very painful tug). There are beautiful necklaces made by Edible Silicon to deal with this problem (before they understand the concept of NO for doing things). You can see it at the bottom of this post.
Tummy time is still one of the most important activities he should do every day. When he is on his tummy, he will exercise and strengthen muscles in his neck, back and arms. An activity gym is an excellent choice for your baby to use his hands and eyes in coordination.
Give him a light rattle and watch him delight for the sound it makes when he shakes it. He may hit himself in the face with the rattle or any other toys and make himself cry. Don’t worry we all did that when we were babies; just make sure the toys don’t have sharp edges.
Communication skill
One of the best things you can do to help your baby develops her communication skill is by imitating his facial expression and sounds. This way she will begin to realize that what she says makes a difference in his surrounding (cause and effect).
Try to make sense of what she says. Like if she says “ma” you can reply “yes that’s me, MAMA.”
Spend some time to repeat words you like for her to say; this will help further babies’ language skills. For example, you can name his toys and repeat their name each time you gave it to them. You can also repeat her name and touch different parts of her body.
Other development:
Teething
One of the best ways to calm your baby is using your clean finger and rubs it on his sore gums. But this can’t be done all the time, you need more practical methods. Giving your little one’s cold washcloths or teething toys is one of the most effective ways to reduce the pain.
Touching
Touching different part of her body while singing or talking to her, stimulate not only her brain but also enhance your loving relationship. Regular massaging your baby will help her to recognize different parts of her body.
You can stimulate her sense of touch using different textures like fur, wood, glass, tissue, felt, velvet and towel. You can check for board books that introduce different texture and make touching a part of the reading experience.
Sleep
She would fall asleep much easier if you can establish a nighttime routine. You can feed him, give him a bath, put him in pajamas, sing him a song and sway him, put him down in his crib, read a book with a soft voice and play some music (music box or crib mobiles). This routine gives your little one time to calm down and start to feel sleepy during the process.
Feeding
As we mentioned before at this age, it becomes challenging to feed her because she gets distracted by everything around her. The best way would be you find a quiet place to nurse her. But of course, it’s not possible to do it everywhere you go. One solution is to use toys and blanket so she will be occupied during feeding. Another great way is to use a necklace specially designed for this particular problem. There are made by Edible Silicon and have very vibrant colors that make your baby play with them and not get distracted. You can see one of these necklaces at the bottom of this post.
You may want to start giving your baby solid foods. This is not recommended in general by a pediatrician, however, if she can sit up unsupported, control his head, and move food around his mouth then it’s safe for her to eat solid foods. But for this matter, you have to counsel with your pediatrician. Remember breast milk has all the nutrients your baby needs (up to 6 month-old)
Remember:
- It’s hard, but if you’ve isolated yourself from friends and family for the last three months, it’s time for you to visit them again. Breastfeeding is more on regular time, and it’s not as many times as before so you can manage it. Don’t worry you will be fine.
- Walkers: we enjoy watching them move around and laugh in their walkers, but this is not helping them. She just found something much easier and more fun than walking. New studies show that babies who used walker-jumpers will learn to walk later than babies who didn’t use it. Also, they might not be interested in crawling anymore which is crucial for your baby strength and coordination.
- Though your baby is not yet crawling and can’t stand up, you need to start thinking about childproofing your apartment: Locks on cabinets, snap gates in front stairways, put cleaning products out of his access range and so on.
- Never shake firmly your baby’s head (excited or angry)
We hope you find this review informative and helpful. Now it’s easier to find appropriate toys and gears for kids. Please let us know if you have any question. We will try to answer it as soon as possible.
You can also check our other posts about 3-month-old and 5-month-old baby developments.
Reading this post made me realize how much I didn’t know about babies. This post gives me a true insight of how babies need special care as they are still developing. Thank you for the great information and keep it up!
Hi Eliezer,
I’m glad you found this post helpful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Cheers
Thank you for the informative and helpful post.
Playtime with your baby I find is the most helpful to get them stimulated and help them grow. When you play whether it’s reading, tummy time or just singing it is not only helping the baby but also building a long lasting bond between the baby and the parent. This is the best part of being a parent.
When the baby is teething and it’s late in the night, what is a good solution to help with the pain of teething and getting them back to sleep?
Hi Dinh,
Thanks for your comment.
I agree with you on playing time. It’s not just your child but you as well. You will reconnect with your inner child in a way.
For teething problem, ibuprofen or acetaminophen for infants can be used because they help to reduce the pain and inflammation, helping your baby sleeps for a couple of hours during the night. Of course, this has to be checked with the pediatrician, so they get enough dosage of these medicians.
Also, you can rub teething gels on their gum before bedtime. It will numb her gum, and this helps her to sleep through the night.
Cheers
Oh man, this article is 2 years too late, lol. There are a lot of things that happen to babies during those first few years that I just didn’t know about.
Well done on a good and well written article.
Hi dave,
Thanks for positive feedback. I will try to post about all ages up to 12 years old. Hope by then you can use some of the articles here in your life.
Cheers
Hi Jagulba,
This is a really great article and the detail that you have included is incredible.
I really loved watching my children’s development, and encouraging them to respond to people and their environment is key to helping them develop. I spent a lot of time talking to them when they were really young and now I literally cannot get them to shut up 🙂
Tummy time was also very important for me as well. and both my kids started rolling over, sitting up and walking very early because of this.
Keep providing us with great information.
Vivia
Hi Vivian,
Thanks for sharing your experience on this matter. They talk a lot, and it was so funny when you said ” I literally cannot get them to shut up :-)”. They do love to speak to us about everything. Soon you will miss it because in a couple of years they barely talk. But that’s life and it’s fun.
I’m glad you like it.
Cheers
This is a great article! I’m an early childhood teacher and knew some of this stuff, but it’s a great reminder that SO much is going on! The early years of a child’s life are so important for development. Your tips on what kinds of toys are great for a new parent.
Hi Jennifer,
It feels great to have a professional opinion on my post about child developmental stage. I’m grateful for your comment.
Thanks also for positive feedback.
Cheers
Wow! Great article! I am happy that someone has reminded us of how important these years (months) are. There are so many people out there who need help with there kids and you have provided much needed information for them. You seem to have covered all areas of what is needed to provide a nurturing and safe environment for a child. Again, thank you for the reminder and very well done.
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for the positive feedback, I’m glad you found it helpful. It’s important to help each other to raise better generation by giving them the right tools and attention, so they developed to the fullest. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us.
Cheers
Hi Jagulba,
Thanks for writing such a helpful post, filled with information every parent could use. While it’s true babies develop at different rates, it’s always good to have a guide to know what to expect, and how your child should be progressing. It’s good know you don’t have to rely solely on nature, but there are so many things parents can do can help them develop, stimulate their senses and teach them.
Hi Hindy,
I’m glad you found this post helpfulhere. I think you catch what I exactly try to show here. These posts are just guidance for you to see how he will develop his skills during his childhood. The more you invest in your baby’s life in the first 2-3 years the more he can develop to the fullest.
Thanks for visiting us again,
Cheers
It’s an interesting article and very informative, you know a lot about babies! Im no mother, but if it’s the time, your advise would help me for sure 🙂
Hi Alice,
I’m glad you found this site helpful. Hope to see you here soon.
Cheers
What a thorough list of developments for a 4 month old. There was so little information in the old days. Its amazing to me to so easily see the expected changes in a small timeline. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Vic,
I agree there were not so much information on how you should help your baby grow to the fullest. Nowadays many studies show how a child develops month by month and how we can help them increase their potential. Thanks for your comment Vic.
Wow these are excellent tips that I wish I had when my baby was this age! He has just completed a year now and currently is extremely clingy to his mum! Are you going to have articles for older kids too? Thanks!
Hi Shaz,
Wow, that’s great, Hope he grows to be a healthy and happy person. I think you enjoyed the last year with all of its difficulties. I will certainly post articles for older kids (up to age 12 at least) within next few months. Then I guess this website would be more helpful for you and your little man.
Happy new year
some great isight here. i loved how talked about self identiey. or having an idea of your slf in the world. i seen a study where they put red coloring on a moneys nose and he seen his nose in the mirror and tried to rub the red stuff off. when done with dogs cats ect. they didnt even realize the ned nose was out of palce.
This is because they dont have a concept of themselfves in the world. they jsut exists.
It sounds like your sayng that untill 3 motnhs olds babys experince this same lack of identity.
What do you think. is it differnet.
Hi Mike,
Excellent question indeed. You can say at the age of 4 months you will have self-awareness. But the mirror experience is a different story. You won’t be able to recognize yourself up to the age of two years old. So the stage one is when you understand you are different from the outside world, and the next stage is to see something in the outside world and say that’s me. I hope it doesn’t sound like philosophy. Let me know if I need to explain it in more detail.
Cheers
you mentioned the special neckless that can keep the babies attention during feeding. I’ve seen one that was supposed to be okay for the baby to put in their mouth but this just seemed like a sales tactic. it was like some kind of special stone. but I’m not filmmaker wit its name.
Do you know what I’m talking about? and would you recommend something like that?
Hi Darren,
There are products like that and I mentioned them in teething toys here:http://coolgiftforkids.com/infant-teething-toys
These are made from food grade silicone and are totally harmless for your child.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for asking,
Cheers
I have to say its quite amazing how babies react to the world. I’m about to have a child and i am so nervous and happy that I keep looking up information. been here a few times. and At each stage of development it seems more and more critical stuff happens.
What is your best advice as to help and don’t hinder these stages?
Hi Sarra,
I’m glad and grateful that you are coming back to read my reviews, and I hope they are helpful. There are three things I can suggest you to do.
1- Continue reading articles and books about baby’s developmental stages and make a list of them or bookmark the article you read online. You can always go back and take a look at them when you reach a particular stage.
2-talk to your relevants (moms) and see how they raised their infants (these kinds information can come very handful)
3- the most important one: trust yourself. Without any of the above information, you are still going to do the same thing other mothers did for several hundreds of thousands of years and we turn out to be just fine. You will take care of him, and you play with him all the time.
I hope this was helpful Sarra,
Cheers
when you spoke of social skills being developed at this age. it made me think how much we need companionship. and this is probably instilled right here. My mom was a very loving and caring mom and I was the first. I have been in one long term relationship after another since I was 12. And I’m now 29.
I recently separated and have been wondering why I have such a great need for a partner.
This article while meant to teach about the upcoming baby. actually made me look into my own history and wonder.
do you think im correct or maybe reading to much into it?
Hi Joe,
It’s more connected to psychology and I have very little knowledge in that area. I don’t think I’m the right person to talk about it. As far as I know the relationship between caregivers and parents with an infant is crucial to help baby to find herself in the world and feel safe and wanted.
Cheers