Baby development month by month

We can observe the stages of a baby's development in several important areas. We can track the progress of his movement, sensory organs, cognitive abilities, changes in social, emotional and communication skills from birth. In addition, mothers are interested in the growth of their child's weight and length.

In this article, we will briefly discuss these areas, touching on the different stages of your baby's development. If your child was born prematurely, you can use the corrected age calculation to determine the optimal pace of their development.

Let's see the individual stages of development!

Baby development in the first month

The baby's first month is mainly about adapting to his new environment. He is helped by a number of reflexive controls. His limbs are still bent, but he can stretch them out. He does not yet move his body parts independently, but his hands and feet move at the same time. He can turn his head to both sides.

He observes lights, sounds, facial expressions. He learns through his innate imitation method, which is not yet voluntary. His communication is mainly characterized by crying. We can evoke the feeling of the womb that gives him security if we often hold him in our arms and talk to him. He also needs a sense of security, and physical contact is extremely important for his healthy mental development. From this security, he will slowly begin to look curiously towards the outside world.

Newborns easily recognize their mother's voice, and later they can distinguish other commonly heard human sounds. Their vision is not yet sharp, and the ability to distinguish colors and details only begins to develop.

1-2 month old baby

During this period, the little one is still awake for a short time, but at times he tries to move, mainly in response to the outside world. He lifts his head for a moment. He often reacts to stimuli with his whole body, his fingers are still bent. With his grasping reflex, he can grab objects that touch his palm. 

The baby's sense of skin, body, and balance was already working well in the womb. That's why touch, caressing, hugging, and rocking are so important to him, which is also a channel of communication with his parents. He will soon respond to them with sounds.

 At the end of the 2nd month, the first charming social smile appears, which is no longer an imitation but is specifically aimed at the parent. The baby feels happy during interactions.

 He loves bright, moving objects, and especially human voices.

2-4 month old baby

After two months of age, he has more and more voluntary movements and begins to explore his own hands. Symmetrical movement is already characteristic, his muscles are getting stronger. At 4 months, he supports himself on his arms while lying on his stomach. Eye-hand coordination is an important stage in being able to reach for toys purposefully.

He is paying more and more attention to his own voice and is beginning to realize that he does not want to listen to every sound at any given moment. His eyes are mostly moving in a parallel position by the end of the 4th month. Objects placed next to the baby that he can look at, turn towards and grasp are important.

The teasing continues, he tries every sound. He imitates adults and himself. He responds, smiles back. He tries to get their attention with sound effects.

4-6 month old baby

At this age, primitive reflexes – grasping, searching, walking reflex – disappear, and as a novelty, he grasps his feet and puts them in his mouth. He supports himself stably while lying on his stomach, and soon also with his elbows extended. At 4 months, he rolls from his back to his side, and at 6 months, from his stomach to his back and back again.

He begins to learn the permanence of objects. That they don't disappear just because he can't see them. He figures out what to do with objects, passes them from one hand to the other.

When listening to speech, he already recognizes the intonation of sentences. At six months old, he mainly uses the sound sets of his own native language, and babbling slowly appears, which no longer involves just sounds, but sound relationships. It is important for him to hear several human voices and be able to distinguish between them.

He develops a relationship with his parents: they turn their attention towards an object together, he reacts and even guides them with his signals.

6-9 month old baby

This is an exciting time, as the little one moves more and more consciously, gains a lot of experience, and begins to become independent. He sits up or assumes a semi-sitting position, gets on all fours. A stable sitting position will be an important milestone, because this way both of his hands are finally freed. He crawls, climbs. Motivation appears. He can pinch toys together with his hands. He discovers distance, depth, and details. He makes noises with joy, recognizes his name among the sounds of the environment.

Begins to imitate simple movements of adults.

He/She coos and is increasingly consciously arranging sounds (papapa, tötötö). During this period, playing together is of particular importance, in which the baby can already control himself/herself.

Around the age of six months, it becomes important for your baby to start learning the techniques of chewing, biting, eating with a spoon, and drinking from a cup, in addition to sucking movements. At this point, he will recognize and expect meals.

9-12 month old baby

The baby's motor development brings spectacular changes during this period. He crawls, climbs, tries to straighten up, and at the end of the stage he climbs up and stands up. He often kneels, then stands up and puts his body weight on one leg or the other. This is where the sideways walking will start. He no longer just plays with one toy at a time, but with several, and even wants to connect them with each other, for example, knocking them together. He is definitely reaching for objects with his hands.

Standing up straight gives you a different perspective on the world. You move boldly and observe details.

He likes to throw, unpack, and look for objects. He increasingly expresses his emotions with facial expressions or with his arms. He becomes withdrawn from strangers, this is the first appearance of anxiety. The separation from and return to his parents also causes him uncertainty.

Forms words that are not yet meaningful, but uses them frequently. Understands and responds to simple questions.

12-18 month old baby

Walking alone is preceded by independent stopping. This is a balancing exercise, usually between two seemingly stable people, objects, or furniture. During independent walking, you must learn to start, turn, stop, and avoid obstacles.

He takes everything off the shelves, gets to know the objects. He learns what each one is for. He starts stacking them on top of each other and putting smaller toys into larger hollow objects. This way he gets to know sizes and shapes. It's so cute when he notices a small stain on the carpet or familiar objects in photographs.

In his communication, babbling means increasingly recognizable words, his vocabulary is constantly growing. He also expresses his emotions while playing, for example, hugging his teddy bear. He is already able to recognize and learn body parts.

He loves music and hums, so it's important to give him the joy of singing and reciting rhymes together.

Independence is at the forefront. Changing diapers can be difficult, as he doesn't like lying down and being tortured. He likes to spoon alone while eating, but this is not yet effective enough for him to eat well, so additional help from the parent is definitely necessary.

He really likes to swing, which is also particularly developmental. He likes to look at and observe moving things. His speech may be gibberish, with a few meaningful words. It is important that we form the words nicely and clearly, from which he also learns.

Source: Early Childhood Program

Baby's weight gain

One of the most important home monitoring methods with a significant value is to regularly measure the weight of your baby, initially weekly, then biweekly and monthly. The “physiological weight loss” observed after birth is a natural weight loss of 100-150 grams, which will be regained within 10-15 days. The reason is the adaptation after birth, the initial low milk intake.

General values 

• At 1 month old, he gained 800-1000 grams over his birth weight, progressing by 150-200 grams per week.
• 5100-7900 grams at 3 months
• 6300-9800 grams at 6 months
• 12 months 7800-11800 grams
• At 2 years of age, it is 10.3-15.3 kg. At this age, the average weight of girls and boys begins to show differences.

Growth can vary from child to child, and general values ​​cannot be given. However, we may notice striking phenomena, for example, if there is no growth within two weeks, or if we measure weight loss. In such cases, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

Source: Dr. Czeizel , Babafalva

Baby's development in terms of length growth

The length of a newborn baby is around 50-51 cm. During infancy, your midwife or pediatrician will measure a greater amount of growth. Length growth is influenced by genetic factors and negative effects on growth during the fetal period (smoking, alcohol consumption, placental insufficiency). Therefore, it is mainly the rate of growth that can be monitored and noticed if it is not appropriate.

The baby grows an average of 2 cm per month, reaching an average height of 75 cm by the time he is 1 year old in the first 3 months.

 Source: Healthline , Physiological data

Data and developmental milestones may vary from individual to individual, but they are still worth using as a basis, as they can help us notice sooner if something is different from normal and help us contact a specialist in a timely manner.