After reviewing the early milestones of a newborn’s development, today we will be talking about the development milestones of a 3-6-month-old baby 😊 You might get fed up of hearing this, “Kemm qed tikber” (She’s growing), my reply “Iva, tikber qedha bil-minuti” (Yes, she’s growing every minute). At this age, babies tend to grow at a faster rate and you might see a difference every few days that her hair starts to grow, she starts trying to communicate with you and obviously the best one is when she smiles at you with that cute chubby face 😁
So today, I will be asking Lara-Marie to have her expert advice on this topic!
MalteseDaddy: Lara, 3-6 month development… This, in my opinion, were the fun part starts, as she starts smiling, communicating and observing, what can you tell us about this age?
Lara: Yes, David this is the most fun part compared with the first 3 months where it was a bit hectic, at this age (3-6 months) they start to settle down and are easier to deal with, they are not that fragile as they were. So keeping up with the same structure, I will be splitting the development into 4 areas as last week:
- Physical
- Social and Emotional
- Thinking
- Communication
MalteseDaddy: Yes better, less confusing so let’s start with the physical aspect.
Lara: As I mentioned, at this age infants start getting control over their body and even start noticing how their body functions, but I will simplify in point form which is easier to read:
Physical
- They start to roll-over, but some babies take time to do this but most of the time you might be amazed. Once you see them on one side and in a few minutes you see them in a whole complete position, so please be careful not to leave them unattended.
- Push body forward and pull the body up by grabbing the edge of a crib
- Reach for and touch objects
- Reach, grasp, and put objects in the mouth (Maltesedaddy tip – Clean toys all the time and make sure they are not sharp or any small pieces that might choke your child)
- Discover objects (For example a rattle makes a noise when it is moved)
MalteseDaddy: Yes, readers be careful at this age as they are very adventurous and never leave your child unattended. Last week, I read an interesting article about child development and at this age a good thing to do is to leave some coloured toys next to her like rattles, blocks etc and in order to explore she puts them in her mouth and in that way she is exploring the texture and shape of the object… Amazing. Moving on to the Social and Emotional, what can you tell us?
Lara: Yes, all true and do not leave them unattended not even for a minute as that minute can be fatal, if you need to go to the toilet or shower make sure they are in a secure position, either on the bouncer or cot, moving on:
Social and Emotional
- Play games with her, like peek-a-boo or sing to her any nursery rhymes or songs you know
- They start reacting when you mention their name
- Smile spontaneously
- Laugh aloud, rather than that she squeals
MalteseDaddy: At this age, they might even sometimes mimic your emotions, so if you’re sad they are not smiling and if you’re smiling at them, they smile back… It’s cuteness overrated 😍 The thinking aspect, this might be interesting, what might be cooking in their brains at such a young age?
Lara: You might be amazed, how well they are developing, as at this age they are starting to become more interesting since a lot of their senses start to work and even start getting more familiar with faces:
Thinking
- Recognises familiar faces
- Differentiate between different people based on the way they look, sound or feel
- React to and imitate the facial expressions of others
- Respond to familiar sounds
MalteseDaddy: Sophia (my daughter) as soon as I arrive home, she looks at me and gives me such a beautiful and happy smile that I am home. A curious thing, speaking about my daughter I noticed that sometimes she babbles on her own and even when she’s trying to sleep it’s like she is fighting with herself to sleep 😂 What can you tell us about communication:
Lara: She starts listening to your vowels and sounds you make and she tries to mimic them, so at this age, it is very good to teach her, for example, saying “dada” or “mama”
Communication
- Exchange sounds, facial expressions, or gestures with a parent or caregiver
- Listen to conversations
- Repeat some vowel and consonant sounds
MalteseDaddy Tip – Start playing a communication game were you grab objects like apple and say to her “Aaaappplleee” so she can hear the sounds and see how your mouth is moving, this is a great way to interact with your child and also start reading books to her as when they hear words it will be easier for her to start speaking at an early age and also might love books 😉
To conclude today’s blog post, I would like to thank Lara-Marie for finding the time and educating us on how to take care of our children’s health and development. Thank you, Lara, and see you next week to talk about the milestones of 6-9 months 😊
