Babies

Baby Care at Wellstar

At four months, your baby’s eyesight will start to improve—as well as their hand-eye coordination, allowing the grasping of objects. By one year, even a mobile over the crib could be a choking hazard.

Wellstar can help you keep your baby’s first year healthy with well baby checkups and screenings.

4 to 12 Month Milestones

General Milestones

Around four months, your baby will discover the principle of cause and effect: that some things, such as bells and keys, make interesting sounds when moved or shaken.

Finds partially hidden object
Explores with hands and mouth
Struggles to get objects that are out of reach
Rolls both ways
Sits with and without support of hands
Supports whole weight on legs
Reaches with one hand
Transfers object from hand to hand
Uses raking grasps
Enjoys social play
Interested in mirror images
Responds to expressions of emotion
Often appears joyful

Soon your baby will make another major discovery: that objects continue to exist when they’re out of sight—a principle called object permanence. Infants assume that the world consisted only of things that she could see: when you left the room, you vanished; when you returned, you were a whole new person.

But sometime after four months, your baby begins to realize that the world is more permanent. The block that you hid under the can did not actually vanish after all. By playing hiding games like peek-a-boo and observing the comings and goings of people and things around them, your baby will continue to learn about object permanence for many months to come.

8 to 12 month Milestones

Gets into sitting position without help
Crawls forward on belly
Assumes hands-and-knees position
Gets from sitting to crawling position
Pulls self up to stand
Shy or anxious with strangers
Cries when parents leave
Enjoys imitating people in play
Prefers certain people and toys
Tests parental response
Finger-feeds himself
Walks holding on to furniture
Explores objects in different ways
Finds hidden objects easily
Looks at correct picture when the image is named
Imitates gestures
Begins to use objects correctly

Nutrition Milestones

Solid Foods

When your infant is able to sit independently and grab for things to put in their mouth, it’s time to begin introducing solid foods. Start with simple, basic foods such as rice cereal. You should add breast milk or warm formula to the cereal, mixing about a tablespoon of cereal with every four to five tablespoons of breast milk. Look for infant cereals that are fortified with iron, which can provide about 30-45% of your infant’s daily iron needs. About midway through the first year, their inborn stores of iron will have become depleted, so extra iron is a good idea.

Additional Recommendations

Introduce your baby to other solid foods gradually. Good initial choices are other simple cereals, such as oatmeal, as well as vegetables and fruits. Most pediatricians recommend offering vegetables before offering fruits.
Start these new foods one at a time, at intervals of every two to three days. This approach will allow your infant to become used to the taste and texture of each new food. It can also help you identify any food sensitivities or allergies that may develop as each new food is started. Some pediatricians advise introducing wheat and mixed cereals last because babies could have allergic reactions to them. Contact your doctor if symptoms (for example, diarrhea, vomiting, rash) develop that appear to be related to particular foods.
In the beginning, feed your infant small serving sizes—even just one or two small spoonfuls to start.

Source: Getting Started with Solid Foods

Activeness Milestones

Three to Four Months

Let the games begin. Your baby will begin to babble and imitate sounds, as well as smile at the sound of your voice. With their head held higher than in months past, they should now be developing a better grasp not only of what you’re reading to them (or at least the expressions on your face), but also at the books themselves as they learn to swipe at objects and attempt to bring them to their mouth.

Six to 12 Months

Taking an active interest. Between six and 12 months, your baby will develop many new skills, including the ability to sit up tall with their head steady and grab at pages. Don’t be surprised if books all end up in your baby’s mouth, as this is not only to be expected, but a good sign that they are interested in books and wants to explore them further. This is the time to invest in some board and bath books, if you haven’t already, as they stand up the best to new teeth and baby drool, and also contain plenty of color, simple objects, and the photographs of faces that babies prefer.

12 to 18 Months

A hands-on experience. Not only will your baby be able to sit without support, allowing them both hands free for holding books and turning board pages (albeit several at a time), but they're likely to demonstrate their already well-developed love of reading by carrying their books around, eagerly handing them to you to read, and answering your questions of “where is the?” by pointing to pictures with one finger.