Your baby will likely be a great source of laughter and fun for everyone in the house. Once it discovers its hands, it will try to do everything with them and fail in hilarious ways. During these weeks, their crying increases, but so does their activity and interaction level. Make the most of these times and save these memories, because as your baby grows fast, these will all be history.

Baby Development

You may find that your baby is beginning to notice the differences between different sounds and react accordingly. If you start playing its favorite song, it will actively kick its legs and listen intently. It may even cry if you turn it off.

Your baby is exploring its hands and trying to grasp. Now is the best time to give it a rattle. By decoding the sound and doing its best to imitate it, it will begin to develop coordination between hands much better. This coordination learning begins to develop faster than ever before, primarily because its eyes are now able to perceive 3D depth.

You may notice that your baby has started drooling this week and puts everything it can reach into its mouth. Drooling coats toys and other objects with disease-preventing proteins. It`s a chance - because it`ll keep putting it in its mouth to explore anything it gets its hands on. Drooling doesn`t mean your baby is teething yet. The vast majority of babies get their first teeth at 4 to 7 months of age. If your baby is an early developer, you can see its first white pearl - usually one of its bottom two middle teeth - as early as 3 months.

Milestones

After discovering the existence of hands and legs and understanding how they work, your baby begins to understand how to bend its arms and legs and becomes more active. Punches and kicks become stronger. All these action-packed moves will be filled with more hums and cheers as it tries to show you everything new it`s learned.

To try and perceive everything better, your baby will reach out to touch your face or hold your hair. It will also interact with other people and other babies. Although there is no conversation, it is quite helpful to have a social life at this stage.

Nutrition

The trend of feeding from both breasts will be stronger than it has ever been. Many mothers constantly worry about whether their baby is getting enough and needs supplements. This is not true. As long as your baby is happily nursing, gaining weight and sleeping well, there is no need for supplements or formula milk at this age.

Sleep

If your baby isn`t used to having a pacifier in its mouth while it sleeps, this is the best decision of all time. Generally, babies get used to these pacifiers when they are 2 months old, and if they fall during sleep, they will not sleep properly. If your baby is used to it, you can start weaning off the pacifier gradually to break the relationship between sleep and pacifier so that it can sleep without it. It may take a few days but is beneficial in the long run.

Behavior

Your baby`s purrs start to turn into a gargle-like laugh when it gets a little excited. You can experience this more especially when it wakes up, bathes, plays, and after feeding.

With supervised tummy time resumed, it will be able to properly lift its head and looks straight ahead by this week. Using its arms to support its head will now be more possible, but not for long. It will keep falling over and over and trying again. All natural as long as it doesn`t hurt itself on a hard surface.

Crying

These first months are one of the times when babies cry a lot. Even the slightest disturbance in sleep patterns can be a cause for prolonged crying.

Sure, sometimes the reason for crying is pain or illness, but most of the time you may think it is crying for no reason, out of pain. In such a scenario, take your baby in your arms and give it a little hug. Your compassion can calm it. Crying that seems to adults for no reason can be quite essential for your baby.

Care Tips

1. Try using a sling to hold your baby and continue your business at the same time.

1. A baby may cry or make noises when it wants to play or just to see your face. Note certain sounds and see if they match the need.

1. Take your baby outside for fresh air and have good conversations with it. It will love new landscapes, even falling asleep in its calm.

1. Your baby`s increased mobility means you need to reach out for it during diaper changes. Never leave your baby unattended on the bed or other high surface as it can move around now.

1. Make sure to remove the bib while your baby is sleeping as there is a risk of suffocation.

Tests and Vaccines

There are no specific tests to be performed at your baby`s 9th week as long as all previous vaccinations and checkups have been fully completed.

Plays and Activities

This is a great time to further develop your baby`s auditory senses. You can collect various items that make all kinds of sounds from the house. Squeaky toys, bags, bubble wrap, steel ware, etc. Avoid electronic sounds for now. Then start making one sound at a time while looking at your baby. Don`t show it the object right away. When it begins to understand the sound, point to the object and make the sound in front of it. Then give it to it and let it try to do it on its own. It`ll be happy to see you make funny noises.

Use several pillows to get your baby to sleep in a slightly inclined position. Then slowly pull in its arms and let it sit upright. Make sure it has enough time to keep its neck straight in line with its shoulders. Lower it back onto the pillows. Make funny sounds that rise and fall with the movement.

When to Apply to The Doctor?

There are times when your baby`s eyes are a little more watery than usual at this stage. If this has been present since birth, it`s fine. But if you suddenly notice it, it is possible that your baby has conjunctivitis. It is important that you report this to your doctor, who will prescribe the use of a baby-friendly eye drop solution. In this case, keep all clothing and hands hygienic.

Rash problem is not very common in breastfed babies, but in case of a rash problem that gets worse even though you take the necessary care, there may be a skin-related condition that needs to be examined by a doctor.

If your baby has severe and very frequent vomiting, consult a doctor as it may have infant reflux.

Reflux Tips

Reflux is the backflow of food and acid from the stomach into the esophagus. It`s normal for all babies to experience some level of reflux - they spit up or vomit some milk after a little feeding. It is estimated that 50 percent of babies spit up and vomit every day. Especially right after feeding, they may vomit the milk that is too much in their stomach. However, if your baby is vomiting more than a few times a day, is hungry but does not want to feed, or is restless during or after feeding, it may have a problem called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In severe cases, babies with GERD gag, cough, wheeze, or do not gain enough weight. Be sure to report any reflux symptoms to your baby`s doctor. Usually, babies get rid of this problem by their first birthday as their sphincter muscles get stronger. Here`s what you can do for your baby with reflux:

1. The prone position reduces reflux complaints, but this position also triggers sudden infant death syndrome. Likewise, laying the baby on the left side is also beneficial for reflux. Both positions require your supervision.

1. It would be best to lay your baby down with its head about 30 degrees up. In this way, the liquid accumulated in the baby`s stomach cannot escape upwards. Therefore, problems such as vomiting and sore throat are reduced.

1. If your baby is formula-fed, its doctor may recommend switching to a hypoallergenic formula.

1. If you are feeding your baby with formula rather than breast milk, you may prefer some special formulas with a thicker consistency and which are produced to reduce leakage.

1. If you`re bottle feeding your baby, make sure the hole in the pacifier is the right size. If it`s too big, the milk will flow too fast. If it`s too small, the baby will swallow air. These trigger reflux.

1. If you are breastfeeding your baby, you may need to exclude cow`s milk from your feeding schedule. If you are formula feeding, your doctor may suggest that you switch to a different formula that does not contain cow`s milk.

1. Try smaller and more frequent feedings to prevent your baby from filling up too much or too often.

1. Keeping your baby in a semi-rotated position with their head elevated about 30 degrees during and after feeding may help prevent the reflux of milk.

1. Burping your baby frequently during and after each feeding can reduce reflux symptoms.

1. The doctor may prescribe an acid-blocking medicine for your baby to take daily (but do not give your baby any medicine without the doctor`s advice). It may also suggest further evaluation of your baby`s symptoms with a pH probe placed in the esophagus to measure reflux episodes and acid levels.