Developmental Overview: Ages 3-6m

- At 3-6m, your baby becomes very much his own person (show individual difference)

- babies develop at different rates (TK likes to smile, even when he's asleep)

- your baby may be faster in some things, slower in others (not more or less intelligent than another)

On the move

• At 3-4m put him on a blanket on his tummy and he may try to edge forward by pushing with his feet or pulling with his arms. Most can do stomach-to-back roll, some even back-to-stomach roll (TK loves to 'fly' like an aeroplane when confinement lady puts him on his tummy)
• At 5m, he may be able to push himself up to a standing position supported (TK did that even before he turns 1m old)
• At 6m, he may be able to sit unsupported

Grasping

• At 4m he is reaching & grasping. Grasp is limited as his fingers & thumbs don't work independently yet
• At 5m he can grasp a toy with one hand, then transfer it to the other. He uses fingers and thumb independently and can rotate his wrist to look at the object in his grasp
• At 6m he's discovering how to pick up small objects with his fingers and thumb, using his new skills in judging distance

Talking

4-month-old has discovered he can make different sounds come out of his mouth

- practice a sound he particularly likes, from a squeal to a raspberry, over and over again

 

- experiment with changes in volume

- spend a lot of time perfecting his consonant sounds

- likes to repeat sounds - 'dada' or 'mama' rather than 'da' or 'ma'. If you hear him say 'Ma-ma' and go to him with a loving smile, he repeats it and gradually associates the word with you

Did you know?

• Babies smile more at 4m than they do at any other time in their first 18m
• At 4m, babies understand the law of gravity - that balls thrown up in the air should come down again, and they understand that balls bounce off surfaces

Things to do

• Let your baby try to hold a cup at 5m
• Give your baby a toy, first to one hand then to the other. Soon he'll learn to transfer the toy by himself