How does a baby develop at the age of 2-4 months?
In our previous article, you could read about babies' vision, hearing, movement, communication, socialization and learning abilities from birth to 2 months of age. We will continue to track the development of these areas so that you can read them in progress as your child develops and see the changes.
In the 2nd-4th months, an exciting period begins in the child's life. He begins to realize that what he does can affect his environment. He spends more and more time awake, so we have more opportunities to be with him and communicate. He realizes that he can influence his parents through communication, for example, he can call them to him. He finds and understands connections, and then acts consciously. This is a strong motivation for him, which drives him towards development. If we pay attention to a few things, we can support the process properly.
He looks at objects and people for longer periods of time.
He follows objects passing in front of him by moving his head. The period of “hand-looking” has arrived, from here he will connect the function of his hands with the objects he wants to grasp. He can now see closer and more sharply, and he can also change focus more quickly. Contrasting objects are still striking to him. Now he is happy to look at the figurine carousel that can be placed above the bed. In fact, he wants to touch it.
His eyes are slowly moving in parallel. If you notice anything unusual, be sure to check with a specialist. For example, if his eyes are still not parallel even at 4 months of age, or if he is not looking at his hands, or if his eyes are moving erratically from time to time.
It already filters out neutral and scary sounds
He learns what each sound means and excludes those that are insignificant to him, but pays attention to the interesting ones. That's why it's good to sing to him and talk to him at this age. The human voice is the most important for him. Let's tell him what we're doing, react to his smile and voice. We can also give certain signals that he will learn and understand. This is how the connections are put together in his head, which is a learning process.
They can be very cute when they make sounds: they scream, they try to pronounce vowels, strange syllables. They don't yet know that these sounds are made by themselves, but they enjoy playing. If we respond attentively to these signals and try to figure out what they want to ask of us, we will strengthen the effectiveness of their communication.
If the baby does not respond to its mother's voice at the age of 3 months and is not frightened by louder noises, it should be taken to a specialist. It is important to act in time because if the child has hearing loss, this can be corrected with the help of a hearing aid and a special education teacher (a special education teacher specializing in the education of the hearing impaired), thus preventing speech delay.
Source: TritonLife Special Education Center , Early Childhood
How does the baby's movement develop during this period?
The bent position of the limbs ceases. Their movement becomes symmetrical and voluntary. He can pull his knees up when lying on his back, but when lying on his stomach he no longer pulls them under him. Along with raising his head, leaning on his hands also develops. At first he leans sideways and wide, but at 4 months he manages to bring his arms closer to shoulder width. At this time he also lifts his chest slightly.
If you put your baby on his stomach for a short time every day when he is awake, he will be happy to stay in this position by the time he is 4 months old. This is good because he will reach for toys at that time. He will often need to be accustomed to this position, as not everyone likes it.
At 3-4 months, he can reach for toys even while lying down. Connecting his gaze and hand movements is an important stage, developing eye-hand coordination. With this, he can reach for toys, grab them, and hold them. However, he cannot yet let go of them voluntarily, he must learn this after sufficient practice.
When he touches something, he observes it. He feels it. This is how he gets to know different surfaces, his blanket, the harder rattle, his soft clothes, his mother's skin. It's good if we give him small toys with different sensations, he will be happy to discover them. We can also safely choose safe everyday objects from the kitchen, for example: a small plastic cup, a metal mug.
The social smile appears
At the end of 2 months, a real communication signal comes from the baby to its parents, the social smile. This is a signal of joy, conscious and direct, and has important content. It is very capable of attracting the mother's attention and initiating joint communication.
The baby starts to gurgle, which plays an important role in the development of later speech. He is already practicing the movements, sounds, and pronunciations from which speech will be built. At first, he uses the easiest to pronounce, so-called basic sounds. For this, his sound-forming organs have already become sufficiently strong during sucking. He imitates the sounds of adults, and even himself. The often heard human - He can distinguish between voices - mother, father, grandmother, little sister. When spoken to, he coos back.
Source: University of Pécs
Where is socialization at this age?
Around 3 months of age, he already signals his parents with sounds and screams to come to him because he wants to be with them. Smiling is also a great tool, because who could resist him? He also smiles when they talk to him or look at him kindly. He is already controlling his communication.
He doesn't understand our words yet, but he hears the pronunciation of the sentences, feels the melody and rhythm, the emotional elements in them, the attention, the attention. That's why it's important to always talk to him.
While the presence of people is very important, babies also need to be alone sometimes. Everyone's needs are different, so it's good to get to know your own child from this perspective.
We can help your learning by making conscious game choices
Incoming stimuli are becoming increasingly important to your little one, and their attention is becoming more and more alert. They love lights, sounds, and movement. Surround them with as many natural toys as possible, and avoid toys that make too loud, sharp sounds, or flash in multiple colors. They will also pay attention to certain household appliances, but only until they get used to their sounds.
Don't surround him with too many toys. It's ideal if he finds something interesting on both sides, he usually likes a spinning top hanging above the crib. However, he already wants to touch it, so it can be frustrating for him if he can't reach the toys hanging from above. Play mats eliminate this problem, as we can put the baby down in the way that he can most easily grab the figures. Always put his small toys close enough to him so that he can touch them if he wants to, and he has enough motivation to want to reach for them.
Let's also teach him that each activity has a different location. For example, diapering takes place on the changing table, breastfeeding in the armchair, playing on the play mat, sleeping in the small bed. This can be a great help in a situation when the child is more fussy, for example. Because as soon as he recognizes the place, he will know what is coming next. This way he will calm down faster.
If you would like to read about your baby's development month by month , check out our previous blog article!
