Lets learn about the growth and development of children 4 months old

Children 4 months old will develop quickly, gain weight quickly, awareness also has a great development. Therefore, in addition to meeting well the child's nutritional needs, mothers should take measures to stimulate their child's development in all aspects. 

4 months of age mark the physical and cognitive changes of the child. In this article, aFamilyToday Health invites you to learn about 4-month-old child's developmental milestones and useful activities for children to be the best parent.

Growth and development of children 4 months old

The first year of a baby's life is a time when a child's brain and body develop rapidly. This will make your baby feel wiser and seem to grow bigger every day. Babies this age tend to try to imitate what you say.

4 months after birth, the baby's weight reaches twice that of birth. The baby's weight gain is just one of the indicators to evaluate the child's growth. See a pediatrician or a dietitian if you find that your baby's cheeks, thighs, arms, and butt are not full. These are warning signs that your child may become malnourished.

At first birth, babies look very poor but at 4 months of age, their eyesight improves, they can see colors. At this point, introduce toys with bright colors to stimulate your child's eyesight .

16 weeks old

At this stage, the baby may emit rhyming words like mama or papa even though they do not understand the meaning. Your baby's ability to imitate will constantly increase and your baby will respond clearly to your words or actions. This is what gives you a lot of fun, right?

17 weeks old

At this point, your baby's weight is usually twice as much as when it was born. Babies who are breastfed will usually take 6 to 8 meals a day. The amount of feed is less for babies that are fed with formula.

Sometimes at this point some mothers have begun to practice solids. You should note that the amount of food your baby eats should be about 2-3 teaspoons only.

At this time, your baby is alert to outside sounds and other stimuli. Children know how to pick up objects, can play with arms and legs alone longer than before. So, do not be too surprised if you find your baby sucking on ... toes.

18 weeks old

18-week-old babies already giggle but crying is still the main method when they want to express their needs.

Your baby will laugh if you make a funny face, make a funny sound or play peek-a-boo ... while playing with your baby. Children will love to explore and play with simple objects such as balls, rattles ... with attractive colors.

Children were able to distinguish between colors and shades, so they often pay attention to objects, toys ... with colorful colors.

19 weeks old

The spine and muscles around the spine are more developed to help your baby keep his head straight and lift his shoulders when you pick him up. Your baby's vocabulary is also increasing, you can see that your baby is constantly babbling.

Always maintain your baby's sleeping habits such as breastfeeding, taking a cool bath, reading a story to your baby or singing a lullaby or playing soothing music ... This makes it easier for your baby to fall asleep and sleep better. .

Notes on health care for children 4 months

This is the stage where mothers should get their baby vaccinated against diphtheria , tetanus, pertussis , hepatitis B and Hib pneumonia / meningitis . When you get your baby vaccinated, you should let your doctor know if your baby has had any reaction to previous immunizations.

If you intend to start feeding your baby with solids , you should be careful in introducing baby food at this stage because young children are susceptible to allergies. Make sure your baby's breastmilk or formula is your baby's main source of food and that your baby should only get used to weaning foods slowly according to eating criteria to get used to.

If your baby has diaper rash , keep the affected area dry. In addition, every day, you should let the baby "stay in the air" for a certain period of time so that the diaper area is less mysterious.

You should use a clean towel and warm water to clean your baby every time diapers change, avoid using wet paper because most wet paper on the market often contains alcohol that is not good for baby's skin.

Developmental milestones of children 4 months old

Here are the milestones that your baby will reach in the fourth month:

Respond with care and love

When you see you show love, your baby will respond with smiles or gestures that indicate that he is very happy. Although it is only 4 months, most children understand that the kisses, cuddling actions, caressing, sweet words ... of parents are to show love and children will have positive reactions. every time you are patted.

Improved memory

Your baby's ability to remember and recognize will be better when your baby is 4 months old and your baby will also respond clearly to favorite toys or acquaintances. Your baby will have reactions to show that he likes or dislikes someone, especially people he rarely sees. If you give your child a variety of toys, he or she can choose a favorite one.

Know how to show emotions

Your baby will cry, yell when you are not around or "disappear" from his or her vision and stop crying when you appear. At this point, as a mother, you should be able to differentiate the cry for the mother from the cry of hunger or discomfort.

Hold your head

When you hold your baby, the baby will be able to hold his head without any support. The neck muscles of a 4-month-old baby are much stronger than before, but you still have to pay attention to support the baby's head if you pick it up while the baby is lying on his back.

Muscle strength is more developed

If placed on their stomach, the baby will try to raise their head while putting their hands down to push the upper body up. The muscles above the arms, back muscles and shoulders are developing stronger to help your baby do this.

You can turn on your back when placed on your back

At the present time, the baby can perform a series of motions at will such as horizontal rotation or lying on their back if they are upside down. This is a big step forward in your child's physical development. I can do this because the muscle strength in the shoulder and back is growing more and more than before.

Laugh out loud and smile

When I was 4 months old, I could smile back and have a series of cute limbs.

Behavior of infants 4 months old

4-month-old babies can connect and interact with parents and family members. Babies are gradually learning to trust someone and turn to them when needed.

During this period, it is best not to let your baby contact TV, computer, iPad ... because these devices are not intended to interact with the child. Instead, encourage everyone in the family to interact with your baby to stimulate the development of their brain .

Activities to help stimulate your child's development

To stimulate your baby's development and teach your baby how to play alone, you should:

When your baby is lying on his back, place a small soft toy on his or her chest such as a plastic duck or a cloth ball. This toy will attract your baby's attention for a while. You should stay close to see how your baby reacts and put the toy back on your baby's chest if it falls off.

When you let your baby lie down to play, let him wear colorful socks or rattle on his feet. Fold a cotton towel over your baby's buttocks to raise your butt and legs so they can see their legs and grab them easily.

Reading to your baby is a proven way to develop children's cognitive skills . Priority is given to books that are thick, hard, hard to damage, and have lots of vivid illustrations and eye-catching colors. While reading a book, your baby may want to touch, feel the pictures in the book, or even taste it. Therefore, you should let your baby touch the book and show your child the characters.

When the baby is awake, the baby will continuously move his limbs. Therefore, put toys around to encourage your baby to rotate in different directions, stimulating motor skills.

Ball is an enchanting toy for most babies. Make the ball bounce, roll, and gently toss the ball against the wall to help your child understand what they can do when playing with a ball.

Tips for mothers to care for a 4-month-old baby

Right now, your baby is 4 months old and will start waving their arms and legs around. Therefore, you should consider the safety factors around the child. Please remove any sharp objects, items that can fall, break away from where the baby lies, and clean the living space as well as toys.

Feeding

At this age, the baby's suckling and sucking skills have developed completely, so any difficulties related to breastfeeding will disappear.

For 4-month-old babies, the essential source of nutrients for the development of the baby is still breast milk or formula milk. You should only practice solids when your baby is 6 months old. At this time, your child's digestive system is working better and the risk of food allergies is also reduced.

In addition, mothers should not give babies water unless directed by a doctor. The infant drinking water can be harmful to children, such as increased risk of infection, poisoning the water ...

Sleep

If your baby's sleep time changes slightly, let your baby gradually learn to relax and sleep on her own. Your child's daytime sleep will be shorter, sleep at night is longer, many babies can sleep through the night . If your baby is still asleep at feeding time, do not wake him up to feed him.

At this stage, some babies may have protests when it is time to go to bed. This is a new thing, marking the child's cognitive development, but do not give up and continue doing all that you have done to put your baby to sleep. You can ask your husband or family member to put the baby to sleep if the child continues to "oppose".

Advice in child care

Here are a few tips for parents that will help enhance the four-month-old nurturing experience:

Have your baby sit on your lap and place the book you want to read in front of them. A book with vivid pictures, bright colors will attract children and stimulate their vision.

Name each toy, object, or person your baby sees. When someone approaches your baby, call out the person's name or, when holding a toy to your child, introduce the name of the toy. This is a great way to teach your baby about the names of a particular object and new words.

Talk to your baby as much as possible. This way, your baby will learn a few words even though he may not understand them. Simple words like papa and mama are easy to imitate if you use them frequently in daily conversation with your baby.

Encourage your baby to turn over and let them get to the toys. This helps children to move and develop muscles in the neck and back. Place toys in baby's line of sight so they can follow them by rotating their neck and head.

To help your baby better control movements, let your baby do activities of freely moving arms and elbow joints. You hold the baby's hand while reading a poem or singing a song and rock them to the beat. You can also do this by holding one end of the toy and letting the baby grab the other.

Each baby is unique and has a different body structure and level of growth. Therefore, do not worry too much if your baby reaches his milestones at a given time. Especially with premature babies , it takes longer for babies to develop properly. Talk to your pediatrician and understand what you need to watch out for in your child.