Milestones: 1-3 Months
Welcome to part 2 of our Milestone series. If you missed the newborn edition, then you can check it out here . Now we are going to be exploring the 1-3 month milestones.
The first three months of your baby’s life are such an exciting time (well let’s be honest, all parts of their life are exciting) as you will start to see the first signs that they are growing up. By conquering that newborn stage, you and your baby have a pretty good feel for each other. So now they will decide to start learning some other new things.
Feeding
By now you should have been able to establish a regular feeding schedule with your little one. They should be feeding well and increasing in weight. If they are off their food, or not putting on weight then it is time to visit the doctor.
The awesome thing about feeing at this stage is you need very little to make it work. If you are breastfeeding, then you are all set. Or if you are formula feeding, you will just need your set of bottles. There are many fancy gadgets around to make bottle feeding easier like self-warming bottles, and ways to take bottles on the go if you are out and about a lot.
Sleeping
By 3 months, your baby will be starting to recognise their own internal body clock. So will be learning the difference between day and night. Unfortunately, that doesn’t automatically mean they want to sleep at night, but you can begin to establish gentle sleep routines.
Have a process you follow at night time to help your little one recognise that it is time for bed. A nice warm bath, a feed, a snuggle, maybe even a story. And then into bed. Don’t expect your baby to sleep through the night at this age, they will still wake during the night for a feed and comfort.
One of the major panics at sleeptime is loose blankets, and if baby will be warm enough at night. Both of these fears can be solved by a sleeping bag!
Cognitive
You have just welcomed a little mimic to your family. Your baby will be fascinated by human faces, and will stare a lot. They will love the real thing, but also enjoy pictures of faces on toys, books and posters. All kinds of hilarity will happen when your baby tries to mimic your facial expressions.
Sound is an area of great interest for your little one, as it is something they can take in easily before they have control of their own limbs. That is why they will love the sound of your voice, and establish different sounding cries for their different needs – whether they are tired, hungry, sick, or upset.
Because of this interest in sound, your little one will love toys with gentle melodies and movement also. They will hold far more interest than ones that stay still. Couple that with high contrast items, and bright colours as they are easiest for your baby to see in the early months.
Hand-held toys that you can move in and out of their vision will captivate them, even though they will not really be able to play with the toy themselves yet. A mobile can also provide great interest as it adds a vertical dimension to your baby’s very horizontal world.
They will also fall in love with their own reflections (they are so cute you can see why!), so an unbreakable mirror can be a great investment. They won’t be able to recognise it is themselves in the mirror, but they will strike up conversation with their reflection and smile at it a lot!
Development
Get ready to have your heart melt when you see that first smile from your baby. This usually happens between 2 and 3 months old. They will also couple the smiling with cooing and gurgling.
Because they are starting to gain control over their own limbs, they will be working on grasping toys and bringing them to their mouths. They will also swipe at objects that are dangling down, well the ones that interest them anyway!
Soft toys that make a noise when they are touched will fascinate your little one for months. Having the toy make noises when they don’t expect it will help them become aware of what their own hand is doing.
That is quite an impressive list of achievements for a tiny little baby! Do remember that children develop at their own rate, and just because another baby is doing it, doesn’t mean that yours should be. If you have any concerns about the development of your child, then please consult your doctor.
Stay tuned for out next milestone edition when we look at the 3-6 month age bracket.