You had sleepless nights and did everything possible to take care of it and help it reach its milestones. By now, your little one should have discovered its feet and toes and if it hasn`t already, it will start to turn every day.

Baby Development

Your baby will continue to gain weight, but the weight gain will decrease slightly compared to previous months. From now on, its emotional and mental development will accelerate. However, there are many changes that will happen in the physical behavior of its body and parts of its motor coordination. Your baby will now fall in love with the concept of motion while it is already starting to roll or on the verge of doing so. Your baby is constantly fidgeting if you hold or hug it. As the movements increase, you should increase your security measures.

Now the color differences are clearer and your baby is starting to distinguish between similar hues (like red and orange; different shades of the same color). Your baby is also starting to develop depth perception. Until now, it had been difficult for it to find the position, size, and shape of an object, then convey a message from its brain to its hand to reach out and grasp it. It now has both the motor development to perform the task and the maturity of the brain circuits to coordinate all the movements needed to accomplish it. You can help it practice by offering easy-to-grip toys like rattles - otherwise it`ll probably prefer your easy-to-grip hair, glasses, or earrings.

One day you may suddenly think the nursery is pretty quiet and look inside, but discover that until now your baby, who needs your attention at nearly every waking moment, is amused in its crib. You might have time for that second cup of coffee!

Milestones

1. Your baby will find everything interesting. Even its own body parts will interest it, it will explore its hands and legs. It will observe its fingers and toes, see how they move, and try to put them in its mouth. It will soon learn how to best use them. This may mean that it can put its legs on the rails of the crib and push itself to move in that space. Make sure you use a safe crib. Don`t be surprised to find your baby in an awkward position moment after leaving it there on its own.

1. If your baby has early teething tendencies, there is a good chance that the front teeth of the lower gum will begin to appear near the surface.

1. Your baby will now learn about its individuality and will understand that the sounds it makes will be different from yours.

1. Gradually it will begin to interact with familiar faces around it - and it will begin to trust them as well. This also means that strangers can make it wary and cry while looking for you among stranger faces. But the more time your baby spends with them, the more it will begin to trust them.

1. By this time, the perception of space, depth and coordination will be highly developed. It will become a normal task for it to be able to look at more than one object and follow it with its eyes, to catch what it wants.

1. Its communication skills will improve much more as it will try to imitate the sounds you make and communicate with you. This skill gets better as you repeat the sounds it makes in a louder or different tone. It acts as validation and encourages it to communicate more often. Using different objects to make sounds will help as well.

Nutrition

Your baby now has a bigger tummy and won`t need to be stuffed as often. Your little one may be satisfied with four or five bottles a day, or four to eight breastfeeding sessions. Your baby may have doubled its birth weight by now.

Most moms tend to go back to work, or at least take some time off to follow work-related activities from home. This may require bottle-feeding your baby, especially if it`s only been breastfed the entire time. Many babies quickly accept the bottle as the increased flow and comfort work in their favor. Some babies may want to breastfeed and may not accept the bottle right away.

One way to work around this is to keep a bottle with you while you breastfeed your baby. If you give slowly and over and over again, your baby will believe the bottle is a part of you and will start drinking from the bottle. It is recommended that you start bottle training training with one nutritional meal a day at least 15 days before starting work. If someone else will be taking care of feeding in your absence, make sure it has a proper understanding of how much feeding is required and an approximate schedule your baby is used to.

If possible, express and store breastmilk so that it can be bottled, and only resort to formula feeding if this is not a possibility. Your parents or previous generation relatives may care for your baby and may find it appropriate to introduce solid foods, as this was the norm for their time. It is important to make it clear to avoid introducing any solids. Your baby may want to taste things when it sees other people eating their food, but don`t introduce it to solid foods just yet. For the first 6 months, only breast milk or formula should be given.

Sleep

For an 18-week-old baby, sleep still remains the most important aspect of its growth. Anything that distracts it can disrupt its sleep and make it cranky. If others are taking care of it, inform them of any technique or any music that will help it fall asleep quickly. Cuddling for a while or taking a little stroll in the pram, reading fairy tales, humming lullabies, patting its head, and other similar activities can cause him to fall asleep. Do not swaddle your baby while sleeping this week and beyond. Make sure there are no hard toys or objects in its bed while your baby is sleeping.

Care Tips

1. A few tips for expressing at work if you`re going back to work; Practice at home. Get used to your pump and pumping before returning to work. Consider also how to keep your expressed milk cold while you`re at work. If your workplace doesn`t have a refrigerator you can use, you will need a freezer bag and cold packs. To keep your milk, supply high, try expressing every three hours if possible. Remember to drink plenty of water between sessions. If expressing is stressing you out, try looking at a photo of your baby, imagining it on your lap, listening to music. Finally, confirm the milking location in your workplace.

1. If possible, try to minimize distractions by feeding it in a quiet, dimly lit room.

1. Your baby may love to play with toys that creak or rattle, and have an activity table, a play mat and lighted musical toys or hanging toys to kick and grab.

1. Babies can leave the swaddle when they are 3-4 months old on average. In the event that the baby starts to turn, at least the arms should be saddled with open arms or the swaddle should be left completely.

1. Your little one has started to roll, so you should protect it from all surfaces with sharp edges.

1. Try hanging fun objects over your baby to keep it occupied when it wakes up.

1. If you are the primary caregiver, it may feel like a reflex to intervene when your baby starts crying by now. But it`s a good idea to give your partner a chance to be a pacifier too. This not only gives you a break (which is very important!), it increases your partner`s level of trust and provides opportunities for bonding.

Tests and Vaccines

If the previous vaccinations and controls have been completed, there is no special routine for this week.

Plays and Activities

Silence is just as important as sounds. You can introduce the concept of being quiet by whispering or speaking softly (or by not speaking for a while and just observing). These little movements and games will help it recognize sounds better. Like saying “Shhh” and then gently talking to your baby, then speaking in a louder tone, then shutting up. Talking to your baby through a baby monitor, recording your voice on the phone and playing the sound from another corner of the room also entertains it. The mere presence of your voice will bring a smile and recognition to your face.

When to Apply to The Doctor?

Babies are inquisitive, you must have figured that out by now! Your little one will be curious about everything too. But if your baby doesn`t seem to be involved in any way, a doctor should be consulted.

This also applies to new toys and games. If your baby shows no interest in interacting with others and seems sedentary, it may be due to some health issues. That`s why you should take it to a pediatrician right away.