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•  Steady now
•  Better arm, leg, and hand coordination
•  To sleep, perchance
•  Clear recognition of Mom and Dad
•  Reading 101
•  Early language development
•  Touchy feely
•  Beginning to interact with others
•  Is my baby developing normally?


Steady now
This month, your baby may be able to lift his head and hold it for several moments, or even longer, while lying on his back. If sitting with support, he should be able to hold his head steady and erect. When he's on his stomach, you might see him lifting his head and chest as if he were doing mini-pushups. You can offer encouragement by sitting in front of him and dangling a toy.

Better arm, leg, and hand coordination
Your baby can now wave his arms and pump his legs. And as his hip and knee joints become more flexible, his kicks are getting stronger. Hold him upright with his feet on the floor and feel him push down. He can also bring both hands together and open his fingers, though he'll probably use a closed fist to bat at dangling objects. (Of course, swatting at a toy or other object is developmental progress in itself!) Encourage his eye-hand coordination by holding out a toy to see if he'll grasp it.

To sleep, perchance
At last, your baby's sleep patterns may start to settle down, giving you some rest. Many 3- to 4-month olds sleep for a six-hour stretch through the night, though others still wake for an occasional feeding. Some even take until their half birthday or later to sleep through, so don't get your hopes up yet!

Clear recognition of Mom and Dad
By 3 months, and probably earlier, your baby knows your face and has formed an attachment to you. Most likely he'll still smile at strangers, especially when they look him straight in the eye and coo or talk to him. But he's beginning to sort out who's who in his life, and he definitely prefers some people over others.

Your baby's parietal lobe, the part of the brain that governs his hand-eye coordination and allows him to recognize objects, is developing rapidly now. And his temporal lobe, which assists with hearing, language, and smell, has also become more receptive and active. So when your baby hears your voice these days, he may look directly at you and start gurgling or trying to talk back.

Reading 101
Reading to your child, even at this young age, will pay off. Hearing you read helps your baby develop an ear for the cadence of language. In fact, varying the pitch of your voice, using accents, singing, and vocalizing make the aural connection between you and your baby that much more stimulating. But don't worry if he looks the other way or loses concentration while you're reading. Just try something else, or give him time to rest. Take your cue from his responses and interest.

There are plenty of good books to read to your baby — such as Goodnight Moon, The Baby's Bedtime Book, and Fuzzy Yellow Duckling. Choose board books with large, bright pictures and simple text — or even wordless books, such as Picnic or The Bear and the Fly, with pictures for you to narrate.

At this point you needn't be slavish to age guidelines. Books designed for older children can captivate a baby if they have clear, crisp images and bright colors. Or you can even read poetry written for adult ears — Samuel Coleridge's Kubla Khan, for instance. What your baby doesn't understand will still delight him (and you) with its musicality.

Early language development
Recent research links higher intelligence to how many words a child hears in the first year of life, so verbal stimulation is especially important right now. Set a sound foundation by exposing your baby to a variety of words and sounds. Talk about your surroundings when you take him for a walk, and point to and identify objects as you roam the grocery store aisles. Your baby can't repeat these words yet, but he's storing all the information in his rapidly developing memory.

If your home is bilingual, your baby will benefit from hearing both languages spoken regularly. If you'd like him to learn more than one language, try to repeat each phrase in both languages, or have each parent speak to him in a different language.

Touchy feely
Stimulate your baby's sense of touch with a variety of materials — such as fur, tissue, felt, and terrycloth. And look for books, like Pat the Bunny, that make touching a part of the reading experience. Touch — the feel of a gentle breeze or a massage, being carried on your hip, or kissed on the nose — is a powerful way to relax or engage your baby. Iit may even increase his altertness and attention span.

Beginning to interact with others
Your child is set on "receive," drawing conclusions about the world around him. By now, he may respond to his face in the mirror by smiling (babies love looking at themselves), and he may stop sucking his thumb or bottle to listen to your voice. By cooing or making noises at him, and by describing even the most mundane household chore, you're not only connecting with him but also encouraging him to express himself. Even with others, your baby is becoming more animated and engaging — flashing smiles, oohing, and cooing. The fun has really begun. When you're with friends, keep your baby nearby so he can hear the richness of human interaction.

Is my baby developing normally?
Remember, each baby is unique and meets social milestones at his own pace. These are simply guidelines to what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then shortly.

If your baby was born prematurely, you'll probably find that he needs a bit more time before he can do the same things as other children his age. Don't worry. Most doctors assess a preterm child's development from the time he should have been born and evaluate his skills accordingly.

If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, check with your practitioner.

•  The first real smiles
•  A growing preference for complex designs
•  Sleeping for longer chunks of time
•  Movements are less jerky
•  Is my baby developing normally?


The first real smiles
This month your baby will reward all your loving care with a beaming, toothless, just-for-you smile. This will probably disarm you, even if you've just had your worst night yet. For Ron Heckman, a new father in Piedmont, California, that first smile from his 6-week-old daughter, Hadley, brought tears to his eyes. "It was a lousy day at work," he recalls. "I was sleep-deprived and the commute traffic that day was incredibly thick. When I finally got home and my wife handed me the baby, who looked straight at me and smiled this gorgeous all-gums grin, I remember thinking, 'She knows me' — and nothing else mattered."

A growing preference for complex designs
By 2 months of age your baby will begin to move beyond his early preferences for two-tone objects toward more detailed and complicated designs, colors, and shapes. Show your baby — and let him touch — a wider variety of objects now. Good choices include plastic cookie molds and soft balls.

Sleeping for longer chunks of time
If your baby is sleeping through the night now, you're one of the lucky few. Most babies still want a middle-of-the-night feeding at 2 months. But the good news is, he should be sleeping and staying awake for longer intervals instead of cycling back and forth so much. Most 2-month-olds have two to four long sleep periods and as many as ten hours a day when they're awake.

Movements are less jerky
He's no Fred Astaire yet, but your little guy is now coordinating his movements better. You'll notice that the jerky arm and leg movements of his newborn days have given way to smoother, more circular motions. While in the early days grabbing was mostly involuntary and instinctual, your 2-month-old is also able to purposely grab objects now.

Is my baby developing normally?
Remember, each baby is unique and meets cognitive milestones at his own pace. These are simply guidelines to what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then shortly.

If your baby was born prematurely, keep in mind that he'll almost always need a bit more time before he can do the same things as other children his chronological age. That's why most preemies are given two ages by their pediatricians — their chronological age (calculated from their birthday) and their adjusted age (calculated from their due date). Doctors generally assess a preterm child's development from the time he should have been born and evaluate his skills accordingly.

If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, check with your practitioner.

•  Head's up!
•  Exploring extremities
•  Learning to soothe himself
•  Look who's baby-talking now
•  Music appreciation
•  Eyes can track objects now
•  Is my baby developing normally?

Head's up!
Your baby's neck muscles are getting stronger, which allows him to hold up his head for short periods. He can hold it up for a few moments while lying on his stomach, for example, and he may even be able to turn it from side to side. He may be able to hold it up when he's in a car seat or front carrier, especially if he has lots of support and you use special baby headrests designed to help him in those situations.

Exploring extremities
At birth, your baby had no idea his arms and legs were attached to him. That's all changing now as he starts exploring his body. The parts he'll discover first are his hands and feet. You can encourage his interest by holding his arms above his head and asking, "How big is baby?" or by reciting "This Little Piggy" and counting his toes.

Learning to soothe himself
Babies love to suck. They need to suck. In fact, you may have discovered that a pacifier works wonders in helping your baby calm himself now. And when his binky's not around, he may even be able to find his thumb or fingers to pacify himself.

Look who's baby-talking now
Your 1-month-old may gurgle, coo, grunt, and hum to express his feelings now. A few babies also begin squealing and laughing. Be sure to coo and gurgle back, and talk to him face-to-face. He'll enjoy holding your gaze now. If you have things to do, though, he'll still enjoy hearing your voice from across the room.

Even though your baby has been able to recognize you since he was just a few days old, by the end of this month he may be able to show it. About half of all babies this age begin to exhibit an obvious recognition of their parents. (They react differently to mom and dad than they do to strangers.) Your baby may quiet down and make eye contact with you, or he may smile when he sees you.

Music appreciation
Now that your baby is awake for longer periods during the day, you can use these times to stimulate his sensory development. Try singing your favorite lullabies or playing tapes or discs of childsong troubadours such as Raffi, Linda Rondstadt, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. But you needn't restrict his listening fare to children's' songs. Fill the house with the sounds of music — from Talking Heads to Mozart — and watch as waves of pleasure (expressed in coos, lip smacks, and spasmodic movements of arms and legs) pass through your child. The sound of wind chimes or a ticking clock will also amuse your baby. The more varied the offerings, the richer the impact. Inevitably, you'll see your child react more pleasurably to one selection over another as he begins to develop preferences.

Eyes can track objects now
With both eyes now able to focus, your baby can track a moving object, something he may have been able to do for only brief periods since birth. The stores are packed with developmental toys, but you'll do just as well with everyday objects. Pass a rattle or a bright plastic ladle from side to side in front of him. Then try moving it up and down. This should attract your baby's attention, though he probably won't be able to smoothly follow vertical motion for about three months. You can also play eyes-to-eyes by moving very close to his face and slowly nodding your head from side to side. Often his eyes will lock onto yours.

Is my baby developing normally?
Remember, each baby is unique and meets cognitive milestones at his own pace. These are simply guidelines to what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then shortly.

If your baby was born prematurely, keep in mind that he'll almost always need a bit more time before he can do the same things as other children his chronological age. That's why most preemies are given two ages by their pediatricians — their chronological age (calculated from their birthday) and their adjusted age (calculated from their due date). Doctors generally assess a preterm child's development from the time he should have been born and evaluate his skills accordingly.

If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, check with your practitioner.

•  Comfortably curled
•  Ruled by hunger and sleep
•  Crying is his main form of communication
•  He only has eyes for you
•  Learning begins immediately
•  Newborn play
•  Remember, your baby is an individual

Comfortably curled
Because he was curled up inside your uterus until recently, your newborn baby will probably look "scrunched up" for a while, with his arms and legs not fully extended. He may even appear bowlegged. Don't worry. He'll stretch out, little by little, and by the time he reaches his half birthday, he'll be fully unfurled! In the meantime, as he adjusts to life outside the warm, safe confines of your womb, he may enjoy being swaddled.

By the end of his first month, your baby may lift his head briefly — and maybe turn it from side to side — when he's lying on his stomach. Jerky movements give way to more fluid ones as his nervous system and muscle control mature. Still, your baby's primitive reflexes, such as sucking and chewing on his hands, remain dominant.

Ruled by hunger and sleep
Food is the most important thing in your newborn's life, with sleep running a close second. Most newborns will eat every two to three hours around the clock. Sleeping schedules are equally intermittent and quite variable from one infant to another. Most newborns sleep for a total of 16 to 17 hours in a 24-hour period, but that's usually broken up into eight or so naps. By the end of the first month your baby may have developed something of an eating and sleeping pattern. But don't count on it; you may not notice real regularity for months.

Crying is his main form of communication
Having undergone the trauma of birth, your baby is now trying to deal with an onrush of stimulation. You may not be able to detect much of a personality just yet, as he spends his time moving in and out of several different states of sleepiness, quiet alertness, and active alertness. Although the only way he knows to communicate is by crying, you can communicate with him through your voice and your touch. Most babies love to be held, caressed, kissed, stroked, massaged, and carried. He may even make an "ah" sound when he hears your voice or sees your face.

He only has eyes for you
Your baby's sight is still pretty fuzzy. And since his range of vision is just about 12 inches or so, he can see your face clearly only when you're holding him close. Studies show that newborns prefer human faces to all other patterns or colors. (High-contrast items, like a checkerboard, are next in line.) Give him plenty of opportunity to study your features by gazing at him from a close distance.

Learning begins immediately
You may notice short periods of time when your newborn is quiet and alert. This is prime time for learning. Use these intervals to get better acquainted with your child — talk to him, sing to him, give him a tour of the pictures on the walls of your house. But if you try to interact with him and he doesn't seem receptive, don't insist. He may have gotten sleepy or moved into a state of active alertness (when he's working on new physical tricks).

Even this early, babies can recognize faces and gestures intuitively — and sometimes even imitate them. Give your newborn a chance to imitate your facial expressions by putting your face close to his and sticking out your tongue or raising your eyebrows a few times. Repeat it. Then give him some time to mimic your gesture. Even if he doesn't copy you yet, he's keeping close tabs — and learning.

Newborn play
Mobiles with high-contrast patterns and books with photos of babies' faces will captivate your newborn. So will his own reflection, so you may want to prop an unbreakable mirror next to him, or sit him in front of your mirror with you when you do your hair. A play gym with plenty of compelling things to watch, swipe at, and listen to will give your baby practice with arm, hand, and finger coordination skills — and make lying down less boring. In the first few months, he won't move his arms purposefully to reach for particular objects — this sort of movement comes later, in a couple of months.

Remember, your baby is an individual
Each baby is unique and meets physical milestones at his own pace. Developmental guidelines are just yardsticks of what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then soon.

If your baby was born prematurely, keep in mind that he'll almost always need a bit more time before he can do the same things as other children his chronological age. That's why most preemies are given two ages by their pediatricians — their chronological age (calculated from their birthday) and their adjusted age (calculated from their due date). Doctors generally assess a preterm child's development from the time he should have been born and evaluate his skills accordingly.

If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, check with your practitioner.