Happy four months! This is often the period when most parents are surprised at how their baby is growing so fast. If that`s not the case for you, don`t worry. Let it bloom of its own accord and become a unique person in its own right.

Baby Development

In 4-month-old baby development, the growth rate slows down a bit, but the baby takes 350-700 grams in this month. A 4-month-old baby grows by 1.25 cm per month. Head diameter also grows by 1.25 cm per month.

One of the most important signs of development you will notice in your baby is an increase in locomotion and limb control. Reaching for an object by bending the body forward and holding toys with both hands or even moving them are some of the signs of development you may notice. By this age, your little one should understand how to use its hands.

All your fears of your baby nodding its head back and forth will lessen as your baby can now hold its head properly. It will try to lift its head and look straight ahead while enjoying tummy time under your supervision. This can also give it a spur of energy and motivation to push his arms and legs and try to move forward and take the first steps of its crawling attempt.

Some babies start teething very early. If your baby is one of these, you may notice slight signs of its first tooth. This will be accompanied by an attempt to put anything and everything in its mouth and chew it.

Being able to follow objects will become a little easier for it. Your baby will also be smart enough to know what kinds of cries will get you right away and how to get what it wants. That`s why it may cry when it asks you for something and then instantly start laughing when interacting with someone else.

Returning will be a new discovery for it. This requires your baby to be supervised when in bed or on any high surface.

Milestones

1. By this age, your little one should be able to stand upright and hold its head straight. This should take about 8-10 minutes on its own.

1. It laughs loudly when it gets happy.

1. It may object to you taking the toy in its hand or near it.

1. It is able to raise its 90 degrees while prone.

1. While lying on its stomach, it can get up to its chest with support from its elbows and hands.

1. It tries to put its hands and whatever it has in its mouth.

1. Turning from one place to the other is one of the cornerstones of 4-month-old baby behaviors. This movement is towards its back, usually on its stomach.

1. Sight is completed this month. Now it sees everything in color.

1. It listens carefully to the sound it makes. Hearing is also fully developed this month.

1. It can teethe first time.

1. It tracks your movements as you walk around the house.

1. Above all, your baby should be able to sleep longer at night, which will give you the night`s sleep that is most needed.

1. Lateral movement tracking will improve and it will understand the coordination of the limbs when water splashes around during bathing.

1. When you bend its legs and help it do the cycling exercise, it will discover how its legs bend at the knees and will distract itself with this new discovery.

1. Its eyes and ears will be much sharper and more sensitive when walking around the garden or park.

1. It will use fists to hold things tightly or even use both hands to hold together and squeeze objects.

Nutrition

In general, the stomach capacity of a four-month-old baby is 150-180 ml. It should be breastfed 4-8 times a day. Research has conclusively proven that breast milk is the most nutritious and important food that a baby should receive for at least 1 year of its life. If your baby is formula-fed, you can start trying to spoon a very small portion of its food. This will help it train its mouth muscles and get used to a different diet.

During the first 6 months, your baby gets all the necessary nutrients from breast milk or formula. Still, parents are often eager to start introducing solid food to their babies. It`s true that your baby`s digestive system is now more developed and the tongue thrust reflex is starting to wane, but there are good reasons to wait.

Even a small amount of solid food that you give will replace breast milk or formula that is tried to be developed in the closest way in their already very small stomachs. If you`re hoping that solid foods will help your baby sleep through the night, research has shown that you can`t count on it as a result.

Signs that your baby may be ready for solid foods include the ability to sit up (without slumping) in a highchair or infant seat with good head control. This skill typically develops around 6 months. Another sign to look for is your baby`s interest in your food, such as trying to pick up your spoon, picking up food while you`re eating, or smacking its mouth while you`re eating.

Your baby will also begin to understand that it`s time to feed when it sees the bottle or looks at you at a certain time of the day. It may begin to assert its independence by wanting to hold the bottle for its own comfort or by holding your breast in a certain way.

Sleep

It is ideal for your baby to sleep 14 hours a day. In general, 10-11 hours of this is night sleep and 3-4 hours are daytime sleep in 3 parts. Sleepless nights can end, as your baby can start sleeping soundly for about 8 hours a night, giving you a rest and a full energized start to the day. Quality of sleep and adequate sleep is very important for your baby, as mental and physical development at this stage is always high, and most growth occurs only in deep sleep. If your baby hasn`t been fed properly during the day, it`s more likely to wake up at night for feedings. Most other babies also tend to wake up at night, but it`s not because of hunger. This is a natural rhythm that they are used to. Sometimes your baby may wake up, make simple sounds, and sleep alone. For this reason, do not intervene when the sound comes, give it the opportunity to sleep for 1-2 minutes in its own way.

You can start sleep training slowly; you can start creating routines before sleep. The ideal sleep routine for this period would be to massage it. You can make it fall asleep more easily by making massages that will relax it with small movements.

Routine Tips

Babies love order and routine. If you haven`t created a routine by the 4th month, the train still hasn`t run! A 4-month-old baby definitely needs a regulated routine. From 4 months onwards, a 4-hour routine is appropriate. If your baby is close to the lower limit of the month in weight, a 3.5-hour routine may be more appropriate. The way to establish a routine is to follow your baby`s signs, needs, and the feeding-sleep rhythm it creates. If you haven`t created any routines yet, you can start with the following; Take a pen and paper in your hand and write down the time your baby is hungry, the time it is fed, the time he/she sleeps and wakes up, and how much time it spends with activity for 1 week. Then you can create a program suitable for your baby`s schedule and hours.

If your baby has no feeding and sleep patterns, it is constantly feeding, sleeping and waking up at different times, you will need to guide it. Because this will cause constant snacking instead of feeding, short unhealthy sleeps instead of long restful sleeps, and sleepiness in the middle of the most enjoyable activity. Remember, parenting is guidance! The activity period may take 1.5 hours for a 4-month-old baby and 2 hours for a 6-month-old baby. During this time, the baby may become overtired, making it difficult to calm down and fall asleep. Sleep is critical in establishing a 4-hour routine. Creating a routine is a tiring process that takes patience and effort and can take an average of 2 weeks. If you don`t feel ready and you can`t make it to the end, you should never start. (***The method of every school, even every mother is different, this method is just one of the universally accepted schools, it can bring disadvantages as well as advantages; you can develop your own care system if you want, the important thing is the health and happiness of you and your baby! And its development must necessarily be appropriate.)

EASY example:

1. 07.00: Feed (Eat)

1. 07.30: Diaper change and play (Activity)

1. 09.00: Sleep (Sleep)

1. 09.20: Your time.

1. 11.00: Feed (Eat).

How can I switch from a 3-hour routine to a 4-hour routine?

1. The first 3 days: You monitor your baby`s current routine, note when it feeds and how much it sleeps.

1. 4-7 days: By extending the activity time by 15 minutes, you will move the feeding times forward by 15 minutes.

1. 8-11 days: By extending the activity time by another 15 minutes, you will advance the feeding time by a total of 30 minutes. In order to extend the duration of daytime naps, you should not allow the short nap in the evening, but you can put your baby to bed earlier, who is tired in the evening.

1. 12-15 days: By extending the activity time by 30 minutes, you have the feeding time forward by 1 hour.

1. After the 15th day, you complete the transition to the 4-hour routine.

Care Tips

1. Most mothers choose to introduce solid foods at this age. However, we do not recommend switching to solid food until the 6th month unless your doctor recommends it for its development. If the weight gain is sufficient in breastfed babies, only breast milk should be continued for the first 6 months.

1. Most babies wake up habitually between 04.00 and 06.00 at night, although they are not hungry. If you don`t go to the baby in a hurry, your baby may fall back to sleep on its own.

1. If your baby wakes up frequently and at different times during the night, it may be waking up because it is hungry. It is beneficial to feed more during the day.

1. It is a false myth that a baby who sleeps less during the day will sleep better at night. The more your baby rests during the day, the better it will sleep at night. Of course, this does not include more daytime sleep than it needs, then it does not sleep and the nighttime sleep time is reduced, that is, both nighttime and daytime sleeps should be according to the needs of the baby.

1. The ideal time for your baby to go to sleep is between 19.00 and 21.00.

1. Babies tend to get up early in the morning. 6 o`clock and later is already the most accurate wake-up time. However, if your baby wakes up before this time, you should put it back to sleep, if you don`t interact with it until 6 o`clock except to meet its needs, it will recover after a while. It may take up to 4 weeks for this order to settle. You don`t need to try to put your baby to sleep, who starts the day with joy at 6 o`clock, just keep up with its rhythm, this is healthy.

1. It is recommended to put your baby back to sleep after daytime naps that do not exceed 30-45 minutes. It may take up to 4 weeks to establish this order. However, if you try to prolong the short naps with determination, you will have made a healthy investment in your baby`s daytime naps for years to come.

1. Sometimes the baby`s teething may hurt a little and he may want to chew something constantly. Keep a sterile chew toy with it for this.

1. Your baby is trying to explore with great passion. Start babysitting everywhere in the house; keep the environment safe and secure to ensure it grows properly and is not damaged. Make a habit of checking the entire house every morning when you start your day. In the long run, this will be a reflex that you should show in childhood as well.

1. Your body is ready for exercise unless your doctor tells you otherwise. Don`t worry if you`re breastfeeding - exercise doesn`t affect your ability to breastfeed or the composition of your breast milk. If you stress too much about your appearance, you will throw away all the mental benefits of exercise. Your body has done something amazing - give it credit, give it time!

1. If you want to follow the weekly change of your baby, who laughs loudly, plays with its feet, and may object to buying its toy, you can embalm these days with photos.

1. Your baby may suck its thumbs; most babies do it to calm themselves or to fall asleep more easily. This behavior usually fades as the sucking reflex diminishes.

1. Baby massage and exercises are the best treatments you can do for your baby this month.

Tests and Vaccines

It`s time for your baby`s vaccinations! If you had combination, pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines when your baby was 2 months old, you should have its second dose this month. If you started the rotavirus vaccine, also called diarrhea vaccine, in the 3rd month, you do not need to have it this month. Although each doctor`s approach to controls may be different, we can generally say that it will pay attention to the following in this month`s control.

1. Asking questions about whether you, your baby and the rest of the family are having trouble at home, and about your baby`s feeding, sleeping and general development.

1. Measuring your baby`s height, weight, head circumference and adding them to the development chart from birth.

1. Performing a general physical examination in which previous problems were checked.

1. Evaluation of the baby`s development. The examiner evaluates the infant`s head control, dexterity, vision, hearing, and social interaction.

1. If your baby is in good health and there is no disability, second-period vaccines are administered. (DTB: diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis; OPV: oral poliovirus vaccine; Hib: hemophilus influenza; Hepatitis-B: jaundice)

1. If your baby is breastfed, information is given about vitamin D supplementation and fluoride support.

1. Information is given about the transition to solid foods.

Plays and Activities

Make sure your little one is seated in a chair or bed with adequate support. Then start blowing bubbles and let them fly around. The mere sight of flying bubbles will excite it. Pop the bubbles with your fingers or stop and move them in your hand. After this activity, your baby will want to pop it itself next time.

Your baby will also enjoy listening to music. At this age, it can also remember certain sounds. So start pointing and saying "mom" to yourself, pointing to dad and saying "daddy" or even trying to make up a special song for it. These simple words will help it relate different people accordingly.

You can talk to it about the toys it plays, the parts of its body, your actions in your daily life, what you see around you, and your feelings. In addition to this language-sense-social-emotional development, it will strengthen the bond between you and enable you to raise a sharing child.

You can let it stay in the bath a little longer and play with bath toys while bathing. By never lowering the temperature of the water, of course.

Another way to help your baby develop is to get it to exercise. Especially when you move your body, you will support both physical and muscle development. For example, you can put your hands above your head and lower them while lying down, or you can bend your legs to bring them closer to your stomach and pull them back.

Toy Tips

1. The toy you buy should not be easily broken and shattered. If it breaks down, your little one may be able to swallow it.

1. You should try to choose toys and items that your baby can practice holding, rocking and moving.

1. You should choose toys that can be cleaned easily.

1. You should choose toys that are bigger than your baby`s fist.

1. The toy should not have a string against the risk of suffocation.

1. Since very loud toys can disturb the hearing, you should pay attention to the soft sound when buying toys with sound.

When to Apply to The Doctor?

If your baby seems restless, isn`t sleeping enough, isn`t feeding properly, or isn`t responding to sounds, you should consult a doctor.

If your baby is restless and constantly puts its hands on its ears, tries to pull, or has fever, diarrhea, ear discharge, you should consult a doctor against the risk of ear infection.

Ear Infection Tips

Ear infections usually disappear on their own when given enough time. However, many doctors will prescribe an antibiotic to prevent worsening ear infection and to get the baby comfortable sooner. Your baby`s doctor may recommend infant acetaminophen to relieve pain and fever, which usually disappears within two days of starting the medication. To prevent ear infections:

1. Keep your baby away from tobacco smoke, which can weaken the immune system.

1. Do not feed your baby in the supine position.

1. Continue to breastfeed if you are already doing so. Research shows that breastfed babies are less likely to get ear infections.

1. Make sure your baby gets all its vaccinations, especially the pneumococcal vaccine, which has been shown to reduce ear infections.

1. Limit your baby`s use of pacifiers only to sleep time, preferably no pacifier at all, as some researchers suggest that more use of it may increase the risk of ear infections.

1. Keep your baby away from crowded and stuffy environments. This will reduce its exposure to germs that can trigger ear infections.