At the moment when the child is 4 months old, parents are relieved to understand: the most difficult period is already over. By this time, the kid becomes more active, amusing and less helpless, and parents begin to get real pleasure from communicating with the crumbs. The baby is less worried about the tummy. The time of his active wakefulness increases during the day, the sleep mode is adjusted at night. The child is still rapidly and actively developing, every day surprising parents with their new achievements and skills.
- Physical development
- Intellectual development
- Emotional and social development
Physical development
In the first year of a baby's life, the main indicator of his normal development is a certain weight gain. Thus, at the age of four months it is normal to consider an increase in weight from 20 to 25 g per day, respectively, from 600 to 750 g per month, so that by the four months the baby weighs from 5.9 to 6.8 kg. In this case, the growth of the baby for the fourth month of his life increases in norm by 2-2.5 cm, and amounts to 59-64 cm at this age. The head volume for the fourth month of life in children increases by approximately 1 cm and averages 40-42see Well, if the volume of the chest of a four-month-old baby coincides with the volume of its head or even slightly exceeds it and is 40-43 cm.
An important factor in the physical development of a child in 4 months, which will not go unnoticedthe disappearance of the infantry gun on its head and the gradual replacement of it with real hairs. Gradually, at this age, the color of the baby's eyes also changes. If up to four months almost all babies are blue-eyed, then after reaching the age of four months, the color of the eyes varies with each kid individually, depending on the color of the eyes of his parents.
No less important indicators of the normal development of a four-month-old baby are his motor skills.
So, normally a child in 4 months should:
- lying on the tummy to raise the head by 90 ° and confidently hold it in this position, leaning on the hangers and pens;
- to turn the head to the sides in the position lying on the back and on the tummy;
- lying on the tummy, trying to reach out with the handle to the toy, leaning on the forearms and lifting the chest;
- in a vertical position to carry part of its weight on the legs;
- lying on the back, raise the head and slightly pull up the chin to the breast;
- try to roll over from the tummy to the barrel;
- to carry a toy or a rattle, grabbing it with a pen and keeping an eye on its movement;
- to pull on small objects with two handles;
- bend and unbend legs, as if dancing, touching the feet of a hard surface;
- periodically straighten and bend the knees at rest;
- focus on the subject that moves before his face in a range of 180 ° in different directions( up, down, left, right) and see off;
- to translate the view from one subject to another;
- to study its hands, squeeze and unclench fingers;
- is happy to swim;
- try to "swim" on the tummy while swimming.
Undoubtedly, for a four-month-old baby physical exercises and activities are important, but parents should remain very attentive to the developmental features of the baby and not overload him with unnecessary movements. So, in spite of the fact that the child at this age makes attempts to sit, it is not recommended to leave it for a long time in this position. You can only sit for a little while the baby is in a semi-sitting position, becausethe muscles of his back are not sufficiently developed yet.
to contents ^Mental development of
A four-month-old child is actively studying the world around him, his mental development is taking place at a fast pace.
So, at 4 months the child must:
- to take an interest in unfamiliar subjects, focusing on the related activities;
- stretch the handle and independently take the toy that interests him, without waiting until it is given;
- recognize familiar toys;
- engage in one toy for several( 3-4) minutes;
- navigate in a familiar room, know the location of the main objects in it;
- simulates speech and sounds it hears;
- try to "babble", making sounds "ha", "gu", "e", "and", "a".
- to react with walking with elements of babbling, a smile or a laugh to address it;
- strive to communicate and provoke an adult dialogue;
- listen carefully to the speech addressed to it;
- respond differently to different sounds and noises;
- accessible ways to ask for it on hand;
- to recognize my mother and look at her eyes in response to the question "Where is your mother?";
- tapping one toy about another;
- to show interest in a particular object and focus on it.
During this period the baby begins to babble with pleasure and enjoy the pleasure of own voice. He likes to listen to music and speech sounds. With interest he views the world around him while he walks. It is interesting that for certain sounds a four-month-old baby can understand what is waiting for him, for example, by a splash of water, he guessed about the impending bathing.
to the table of contents ^Emotional and social development
At the age of four months the child becomes more and more emotional and socially adapted. His reaction to reality becomes more and more meaningful. He is sensitive to the mood and emotional state of his mother and can even cry in response to a heightened tone or negative emotion. At the same time, cheerful and calm music causes the baby positive emotions, which he expresses by walking and smiling. The same emotional state causes the baby to have a calm and benevolent communication with adults, especially with mom. The child also reacts actively to other pleasant activities: bathing, feeding, walking, traveling with mom on pens and even dressing in clean and dry clothes. In especially pleasant moments for him, the baby is able to burst into a funny contagious laugh.
At the same time, he is able to express with sounds or cry disagreement with some actions that he makes.