How Your Baby is Growing?
This week your little one has come a month closer to his half birthday. As the six month mark gets nearer, your baby is making some serious progress. You too have fallen into a baby oriented routine by now and are managing things more efficiently than you could with your month old baby. There are a lot of new things happening this month compared to the previous months. Your baby 5 months old is beginning to make the first attempts to speak with cute short babbles like da-da or ma-ma. These two letter sounds are not yet associated with any person but soon the words will get faces and you will hear the magical word “mom” with those two little eyes looking straight at you. It is sure to be a heart melting moment. It is round the corner and will come soon.
Your 5 month old baby is beginning to move now. Most babies begin to roll somewhere around this time from back to front or the other way around. You need to be cautious and avoid keeping the baby 5 months old alone on the bed or a high changing table because one fine day they will turn and can hurt themselves. You will also see him doing mini pushups and rocking at one place, all in preparation for the first crawl. These are the best exercises for 5 month old baby.
Baby 5 Months Old – Growth and Development
- Feeding: It is interesting to learn the feeding schedule for 5 month old baby. By now you and your baby have settled in a routine as far as breast feeding is concerned. The feeding sessions are shorter and more efficient. As your little one gets more and more aware of his surroundings, he will tend to get distracted easily while feeding. So, try and feed him in a quiet place. Your baby 5 months old is now strong enough to hold the milk bottle on her own and feed herself with a few misses here and there. Never leave the baby with the bottle unattended. Also, you need to take care that the baby doesn’t feed to sleep. This is the time the tooth buds are forming or the first two teeth may have come. If there are small amounts of milk in the baby’s mouth while he sleeps, the teeth can begin to decay. So, ensure he sleeps with a clean mouth. By month five, your little one will begin showing interest in what you are eating. Sitting upright, opening the mouth at the site of an approaching spoon are some of the signs that your baby is ready to start eating. You may be wondering what to feed my 5 month old baby. It’s good to wait till your baby is 6 months old to start solids and water. It is said that introducing the baby early to foods increases the risk of food allergies in the baby. For this month, only breast milk or formula should be the baby’s diet.
- Sleep: The first few months of sleepless nights are about to end. Most babies this age begin to sleep through the night. That means a good 4-5 hour nap for you which was only a dream till now. During the day, your baby 5 months old still needs two to three short naps. He is getting more aware of his surroundings so there are many distractions in sounds and sights. He might be so interested in them that he might even resist sleeping. Have a bedtime routine which you follow everyday at the same time. The trick to help your baby sleep better is to put him down when he is drowsy rather than fully asleep. By doing this you help the baby to fall asleep on his own.
- Vision: Your little ones vision is improving each day. He can now see you across the room and flash that gummy smile at you. Colors that are bright attract him and he loves to look and hold toys before his face. Your journey to the toy store begins now that your baby in 5 months.
- Rolling Over: Gone are the days when you could leave your little one on the bed and be sure that he is safe. By now your baby has started rolling over and day by day his back and neck muscles are getting stronger and he will soon show you those mini pushups and the one fine day he will start crawling. The 5 month old development, will now ensure that you keep your baby either on a play mat or in the crib. Never leave him unattended on the bed or changing table even for a minute. Your baby’s back muscles are getting stronger so he can sit propped up with pillows. Sitting all alone is still a few weeks away.
- Grasp and Grip: Your baby’s grip is getting stronger and he can hold on to that tether for a longer time now. Keep a colorful toy in front of him and see him grasp it and bring it to his mouth! Yes everything will go straight into the mouth because that is a reflex. He feels everything through his mouth now. You will need to take care that you do not hang the crib mobile too low as your acrobat can pull it down if it is within his reach.
How is Your Life Changing?
By now your life’s routine has well formed around your baby 5 months old and you are more confident and faster at doing things. The scars of LSCS are almost healed and you can go back to exercise.
In case you are planning to go back to work, you may think of switching the baby to formula or pump breast milk and store it so that your care taker can give it.
Important for This Month
- Stranger Anxiety: Somewhere around this time many babies begin to show signs of insecurity when they are in the arms of strangers. This is because he well recognizes you and your touch by now. Take him in your arms and calm him down. He is sure to get quite as soon as he feels reassured.
- Eye Examination: By the month 6 all babies should be tested for eye movements. This is normally done by the pediatrician as part of a routine checkup. The movement of the eyeball with a moving object and fixing of the gaze should be checked.
- Cause and Effect: With each passing day your baby is getting more and more reactive and is learning by his keen observation. If something falls down, he loves to see it go down and then you picking it up. Gradually this will be replaced by more complex movements. At their eye level they find things to be most interesting so if you happen to sneeze or cough in front of him, you could hear a burst of giggling. You baby 5 months old will be doing new experiments each minute by touching, throwing and mouthing everything that he can. Safety is a concern at this stage and you need to make sure to let the baby have things that have rounded edges and will not hurt him.
- Stimulation: At this age babies are very curious about their surroundings and they respond to every sight and sound encountered by them. It is a good idea to put them in the play gym and let them explore sounds and sights on their own. Read a book with bright pictures and let them touch it. They will take it to the mouth as that is the only way they feel things. Keep a toy and watch your baby make that little push up to try and reach it. These are best activities to do with a 5 month old.
All babies are individuals and they grow at their own pace, some fast some little slower. These are general guidelines on baby development by month milestones. Watching your baby growing each day is a very cherished experience.
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