home » Etiquette » 4 months and very. What should a baby be able to do at four months

4 months and very. What should a baby be able to do at four months

A four-month-old baby is an active, mobile and emotional baby. By four months, the newborn is trying not only to reach for a toy that lies nearby, but also to try to clumsily crawl towards it. Baby starts eating more breast milk or an adapted formula, some mothers try to feed the baby with other foods: fruit or vegetable juices. The little fidget wants to know everything, to consider, to do something, lying on his tummy. Life becomes much brighter - it's time to hone the acquired skills. What a child should be able to do at 4 months and what necessary skills to master, it is important for every parent to know in order to avoid negative consequences in future.

Core Skills

The fourth month is characterized by the transition from a reflex and unconscious life to a more volitional one. The baby tries to understand his body and learn its signals. A 4-month-old baby is actively getting to know the outside world, taking the initiative, influencing and looking at the reaction. Four months is a milestone in development, henceforth the baby will grow more conscious, grow up and delight parents.

What can a child at 4 months:

Rolls over on its own and back. When he lies on his tummy, he lifts the body, leans on his hands and holds himself in this position for a while.
When lying on its back, it tries to raise its shoulders and head.
Hand movements become accurate and confident, the baby tries to control them himself, hold the toy for about a minute, smile at it, hold mom by the finger or hug it during feeding, pick up his bottle.
When he cries, tears appear in his eyes - a sign that the lacrimal glands are fully formed.
The most pleasant news for many parents: at the end of the 3rd month (in the third or fourth week) - the beginning of the 4th, colic disappears, so the work of the gastrointestinal tract becomes normal.
Hearing is aggravated and actively developing - the baby turns towards the sound source.
The eye muscles have become sufficiently strong, which is why strabismus (if it is not caused by congenital, intrauterine pathology or is not inherited), as well as weakness of the eye muscles remain in the past.
If the baby in the supine position is pulled by the handles, he will try to sit up.

Important! The fourth month is a very early period for a purposeful sitting down of a child. The baby's spine is not yet fully strengthened, so such loads will be dangerous. As a rule, the baby tries to master this skill by the end of the fifth month or even later, which indicates readiness for such skills. Especially dangerous are early sitting down for girls - this can cause improper formation of the uterus and problems with pregnancy, gestation in the future. Boys do not have such consequences, but, nevertheless, they should not be seated either.

Differences between girls and boys

There are no significant differences between both sexes. However, Dr. Yevgeny Komarovsky, a well-known pediatrician and Ph.D. in medicine, says the difference can still be seen. If we draw parallels, we can find the following nuances.

Features of the development of boys and girls

Sphere	boys	Girls
Intrauterine development and childbirth	The embryo is subject to more stress and risk premature birth he has to fight for survival. The boy's brain is tuned for improvement and progress.	Develop faster after childbirth. They are born more mature and fit. The girl's brain is tuned for survival.
Physical	Breathing is abdominal. The lungs are larger than those of girls. Strong, mobile. See better with the left eye. Spatial vision is more developed. Recognize the blue spectrum of colors. Audials.	Breathing is chest. Harder than boys. Good response to loud sound. Better face recognition. Both eyes are equally developed, vision is peripheral. Recognize the red spectrum of colors. They begin to speak earlier, the vocabulary is more developed. Visuals.
mental	The left hemisphere matures more slowly. Visual perception.	The right hemisphere matures more slowly. "Speech" perception of the world, in view of the early skill of speaking.
emotional	More restless and sleep less. Tears react to everything new around.	Crying is usually caused by a lack of attention. Girls need more attention and conversation.

The main skills of the period that a baby should and can be able to do at 4 months:

The head is held very well, the baby can look at everything around for a long time. He begins to try to lean on his elbows, rise and stand on his hands.
Coups from the back mastered completely. The most restless little ones try to crawl, helping themselves with their legs.

Note! You can not leave the baby on the bed or sofa - at the time of the coups, he may fall.

Lying on his back, he tries to sit up, raising his head and shoulders. You can try to stimulate this process and give him a toy from your hands - this will strengthen the shoulder girdle.
Works out the "tweezer" grip. The kid tries to touch everything, hold it with his hands, control them. In the crib, the baby touches everything and stimulates the work of the fingertips.
During the moments of the game, communication begins to express emotions: joy, surprise, anxiety, or begins to cry. The range of emotions is getting wider.
The hum becomes long. Sometimes, waking up at night, he can talk for a long time, conduct “conversations” with himself. Pronouncing some sounds, he tries to listen to them.

Physical development

This month is indicative in that most of the reflexes fade away: the grasping reflex disappears, the baby chooses which toy to take. Weight and body parameters are added: body weight can grow by 750 grams, height - by 2.5 cm.

What are the manifestations in physics:

The baby stopped "blooming" - the pimples disappeared.
Increased salivation. This is due to the fact that the baby is trying to try everything on the “tooth”, pulling everything into his mouth. Some babies may start teething at 4.5 months.

Additional Information. It is worth removing small parts, toys, buttons and peas away from the baby - the baby can suffocate or swallow them.

Perception of the surrounding world

By this period, the baby begins to see well into the distance. He is able to distinguish an object at a distance of 3-3.5 meters. In view of this, while on a walk, you can take him in your arms, show everything around, talk and talk about what is happening. This exercise can be used at home, so that the baby explores the environment and trains vision.

Important! The child already distinguishes the faces of the parents, rejoices when he sees them. Now he's starting to smile more than just kind people who took him in their arms, and especially to dad and mom.

Hearing also contributes to the perception of the outside world. You can start listening to classical music with your child, read fairy tales, sing. The kid will not catch the meaning, but intonation, color, timbre, voice. He will remember all this and carry it through the years - in difficult life situations, he will hear the voice of his mother inside. Also, the baby reacts to the loud voice of the parents, is afraid and starts to cry, so you should not swear in front of him. Speech becomes more melodious, emotional - the baby tries to imitate his parents, uttering meaningless syllables.

social skills

The baby's brain develops quickly, social reactions to a positive stimulus appear soon enough: interest, joy.

What a baby needs to learn socially:

Smile, understand what a smile is, respond with it to the appearance of an adult.
Laugh, move arms and legs when it's fun.

Walk for a long time, make throat sounds, intonations and try to hear them.
React to your own name when it is spoken.
Rejoice at the sight of your favorite toy and the appearance of a new one.
Follow with your eyes what moves: a toy, a rattle, animals, parents.
Respond to your favorite music - it helps sometimes to calm down crying baby, he may even begin to sing along with syllables.
Clearly distinguish the voice of mom and dad, as well as those voices that he often hears.

Additional Information. The baby’s “complex of revival” brings special joy to mom and dad: when he sees his parents, he starts laughing out loud, floundering with his limbs and trying to grab the hands of his beloved loved ones.

Psycho-emotional development

Four month old baby emotions are very developed, feelings become richer, the psyche is actively developing.

Emotional development is characterized by the following factors:

Animation at the sight of familiar faces.
When he sees his mother, he happily chirps and hums.

He rejoices in his reflection.
Lots of babble in speech. Sometimes there are "ba", "ma", "pa", but they are rather not realized.
Anger, resentment, anger are added to joy and sadness, the spectrum of emotions expands.
Behavior is differentiated: like to play - rejoices, the game stops - cries. Chooses favorite toys for games.
Turns to the sound of music, highlights rhythmic, melodic music.
Listens to the pronunciation of his name.
He gets to know his body, feels it in space, looks intently at his hands and feels his legs. Everything is learned through play.
Vision becomes at the level of an adult, distinguishes colors.

What contributes to the development

In order for the baby to actively develop, you can and should deal with him:

Hang toys over the baby (buy a carousel) - he will be able to grab, feel, examine them. It is better if they are of different textures and musical.
Develop fine motor skills: give rattles of different shapes to touch, Stuffed Toys, rubber tweeters.
A game of "hide and seek": cover your face with your palms, and, opening, say "ku-ku". You can also cover the baby's eyes, and then your own. Children are very happy with such fun.
The game of "magpie-crow": on the palm there are centers that stimulate the intestines. The game will help both arm muscles and digestion.
letting go soap bubbles: the baby will watch them slowly fall.
Put a sock of bright color on the baby's leg so that he can take it off himself, reach out.
Coordination training: slowly raise the baby's arms and lower them down, then cross them on the chest and part them.
At the moments of gymnastics, sing songs to him, talk, read poems, nursery rhymes. At night you can sing lullabies.
Clearly conduct a "dialogue" with the baby, he will see facial expressions and strive to imitate.

Note! The baby learns the world through the game, therefore, in order for development to proceed successfully and without tears, it is worth turning the entire learning process into entertainment.

There is a whole range of activities that contribute to psychological development:

Regular walks in the fresh air.
Breastfeeding or a properly selected formula on a schedule.
Bathing in warm water daily, if desired - you can go to the pool for baby swimming.
Massage performed by a professional or mom (subject to knowledge of all technical issues).
Constant conversation with the baby.
Reading nursery rhymes, rhymes, singing lullabies to him.

When to Worry

Every baby develops at their own pace. What one can master in 4 months, the other has managed to learn in three, and some may be late.

There are some points to pay attention to:

If the baby does not coo, does not babble, does not show any physical activity.
There are no reactions to sound (this is the voice of the mother, music, the pronunciation of his name by the parent).
There is no reaction to the appearance of familiar people, in particular, parents.
No interest in toys and games.
The baby does not hold the head, lying on the tummy.

Doesn't roll over or try.
There is no meaningful smile and no reaction to the smile of an adult.

Additional Information. At this age, the baby shows a special interest in games, as he learns the outside world. Mom should offer him various toys shapes, textures and materials.

If parents notice three or more deviations in their child, then the baby is developing with some kind of pathology. These problems should not be attributed to chance, they are quite serious. To find out, you need to contact your pediatrician. If you get qualified advice on time, you can take a step towards a quick and successful leveling of the problem situation. A pediatrician will tell you which area needs development, help you find the source of the problem. In exceptional cases, medication may be needed.

There are no specific tables with the child's skills, where the exact data are written, because each baby develops individually. The best solution will serve to monitor your child. You should not look for any flaws in it, but simply develop it in the form of a game. Then the baby will feel the love and care of parents.

Video

In this article:

The first three months for mom and baby is a huge and very stressful job. Responsibility lies, of course, with both parents and even partly with relatives: care, upbringing, games ... However, mother is the most important character in the life of a little person. It is she who, like no one else, should know and understand her baby at any age.

At 4 months, the development of the child reaches new barriers, and you will have to overcome the difficulties of further education in other ways than before. From birth to three months you learned to live according to the schedule: feed, change diapers, walk, bathe, massage, cope with colic, stay up at night because of the first teeth, smile, talk to someone who cannot answer you yet. At 4 months, these joyful and exciting everyday life fade into the background: a new period begins. You are raising a son, and this is really important to realize. Until the 4th month, you had a baby in your arms - now it's time to communicate with a small, but a man.

What can a 4 month old baby do?

Regardless of who was born to you - a boy or a girl, a child
at 4 months should have in stock a huge range of large and small skills. This is what is characteristic of a four-month-old child.

Can play with his body parts - fingers and toes. Including pulling the legs to the mouth.
Knows how to distinguish between favorite toys, pull them towards him, play on his own.
All items must be sent to the mouth.
Abundant salivation portends the imminent appearance of the first teeth.
The baby can roll from side to side and roll over on the tummy.
He knows how not only to hold his head and raise his body, but he also reaches out to toys, lying on his side or on his stomach.
Knows his name, mother's and father's voice, remembers the best friends of the family.
The child hums, “sings along” to familiar melodies, interrupts parents in a conversation.
At night, the child sleeps, and during the day he wants to play and communicate.
Often asks to pick him up with gestures and shouts. He likes to be upright more.
The child is trying with all his might to start sitting as quickly as possible.

Now let's talk about sons. You can safely add masculine strength and perseverance to the above skills. Nature has decreed that the boys begin to run away from the sheets much more lively and diligently than the girls. Fortunately, the baby boy is easier to soothe, if only by the fact that he can be positioned in pillows in an approximately sitting position,
"on the rise". This will distract the boy from thoughts of escaping for a few minutes. Girls are strictly forbidden to plant because of the development internal organs and not just because of weak bones.

Boys at 4 months willingly play with their genitals. This is a normal reaction of the baby to his body. Now he studies himself and remembers what's what.

Some children, and more often boys, require their first solids at this time. It takes much more strength to develop than when they were in diapers, and mother's milk is not enough to get enough energy, as well as to fortify a growing organism.

Typical day for a 4 month old baby

Mom with a four-month-old baby is not bored. Caring for him is very different from caring for a baby. From the very morning, the child is drawn to communication and games. The best way out for parents will now be to turn any action into a game: go to the bathroom - “hike”, sit down to eat - “refueling the helicopter”, listen to music - “play musicians”. Accompany each action with a detailed verbal transcript. So
the kid both remembers actions, and plays with you. Accordingly, he gets tired, absorbing information.

Oddly enough, to tire the child in the morning is your direct responsibility. Healthy daytime sleep boosts the immune system, gives strength for further development, stimulates digestion and, most importantly, does not allow the baby to think about whether this family needs him or not.

How can a child think that he is not needed? Very simple! Boys and girls of 4 months are well versed in emotions and capture the mood of their parents. In families where there is no time to play with children (and it happens), babies develop more slowly and experience stress from the cradle, feeling useless. And this will greatly affect their further development.

Boys are usually allocated to this moment mom. With girls, the issue of communication is somewhat different: they communicate with everyone, are interested in their father's affairs - in their own way, in a childish way. A boy needs a mother and her inner world.

A walk with a four-month-old baby turns into an excursion. This is how communication with the outside world and the development of its perception as a whole proceeds. First you study the yard, then the nearest parks and alleys. You meet animals and talk about them, show how to feed the birds... Passers-by are also interested in a small child. It is necessary to tell that, in addition to his family, there are other uncles and aunts, and there are also the same little boys and even girls. In fact, the child can only understand
part of your speech, but he will immediately catch the intonation and perceive the conversation as a pleasant communication with his parents.

As before, personal hygiene remains a necessary item in the life of a child. Boys don't always need powder. Sometimes it is enough to take a baby bath and leave your little naughty one to lie on a towel so that the body is ventilated and dried. Also try to overshadow "grandma" stereotypes and do not wrap your child too much in warm down jackets, diapers, blankets and cotton pants. If you cause the body to overheat, you can get problems with the genitals, or rather, with the son's testicles. Dress your child for the weather and temperature. If the baby has a temperature of 36.6, then he feels the cold no more than you do. Excess clothing is a thermos without oxygen.

Height, weight, nutrition

As a rule, boy heroes are more impressive than little ladies - this is a normal development. By four months, their weight can reach 8-9 kg with a height of up to 68 cm. If your baby weighs 10 kg, but his height has crossed the 70 cm mark, this may be a genetic highlight, and not at all an alarming sign that he is developing wrong. But a visit to the doctor does not cancel even the most excellent indicators.

The pediatrician should examine the baby monthly, not counting your visits to him with individual questions.

It measures height, weight, checks the skills of the child. He prescribes vitamins and complementary foods if height and weight are not up to the norm, or advises a diet if the weight exceeds the norm. The height and weight of boys and girls, of course, is different, but these parameters are determined by standards that are not prescribed in the books. If mom and dad have an impressive height, then the child will not be small. If the weight of a neighbor's boy is one kilogram more than yours, and they were born in the same month and year, then for sure initially, after giving birth, they were already in different weight categories. Not worth it

fatten the child on purpose and worry too much about growth if your parameters do not match the table in the textbook a little.

If you or your doctor think your child is malnourished, supplemental foods can be introduced to help keep development going. Currently, this is not a problem, since the children's departments are full of a variety of complementary foods for children. There is no need to empty your wallet for foreign colored jars. Institute baby food The Russian Federation takes great care of the health of children and develops an excellent menu for the smallest. If the time for complementary foods has come in the summer, everything is even easier. With the advice of a leading physician, you can prepare your own food from vegetables and fruits, making safe steamed purees, without salt and sugar.

Do not give your child everything at once. Complementary foods must be introduced very carefully: an allergic reaction to any product can appear suddenly.

In boys, rashes form on the cheeks and on the inside of the legs, in the inguinal region. Red spots that look like sweatshirts are a signal that the boy is allergic to a new product. Don't panic - just don't give it to your child again. It is enough to try complementary foods once a day to pay attention to changes. Do the same with liquid porridge and fruit puree. If your child plays calmly, sleeps, continues to amuse others and tries a new portion of interesting products with pleasure, you are a happy mother.

Games with a boy at 4 months

Do I need to immediately switch to the "military education" of the child if you have a son? Everyone has the right to a childhood, and the boy should be brought up according to his age. Now he is 4 months old - he is hardly interested in the exchange rate, the war in
neighboring countries or how to properly fold clothes in a closet. A smiling mother, an active dad in games and 5-7 minutes a day of "Masha and the Bear" on TV are important to him, which also cannot be excluded from education.

If you are adherents of the "Spartan" system, when children are deprived of the opportunity to get acquainted with the phone, tablet and other modern technology - you can try to do without a diaper, a pacifier, a mashed potato mixer, and even without this article written on the Internet. Understand that our children are a new generation, obliged to know what world they came to.

Protecting them from harmful information is a noble cause, but familiarity with the modern world is necessary, and your prohibitions will only briefly push back the inevitable.

No one says that children should have modern toys in their hands almost from birth, but the knowledge of the world cannot be canceled and separated from how the development of a new person is progressing. The kid will be happy with anything, he's just starting to learn huge world. A TV with a children's channel turned on for 5 minutes will not harm the child.

Physiological games with boys

Boys at four months always imitate their parents. Take this into account and start the exercises: spread the blanket on the floor and start building funny faces to each other, roll from side to side, pull the handles towards each other. Boys love these games. Fathers are especially fond of crawling, rightfully getting a chance to return to childhood to play scouts. The son will be delighted, laughing out loud and pronouncing incomprehensible, but cheerful sounds.

Of course, you can also throw the baby up - only low. It is better to pass this lesson on to dad, because he has strong and reliable hands. In the game, the baby wakes up attachment and trust in the father, motor skills develop, the concept of balance appears.

Take a bright toy and pull it towards you. The kid should crawl to it or grab it with its handles and pull it. Take another one and place it so that it barely reaches out, and put a glass jar between your son and the toy. The kid must understand that the toy must be obtained by moving the barrier. This is the development of logical thinking and physical education for the whole body of the baby.

Proper care of the child, attention to him and, most importantly, the love of parents help the little person grow up as a happy and full member of society.

At 4 months, the development of the child reaches a new level: serious changes occur in the psyche and physiology of the crumbs. It is convenient to get acquainted on the video with the features of the development of a four-month-old baby or listen to lectures by pediatrician Komarovsky. He explains in detail what a mother should do when caring for a baby on this day, and what should be avoided.

Physiological indicators of a four-month-old baby

In modern pediatric practice, there are two types of tables and standards - domestic and international. The main parameters on which these standards are based are reduced to the measurement of several physical indicators:

growth;
weight;
head circumference;
chest circumference.

These indicators depend on the height and weight that the baby had at birth. According to the national pediatric school, the threshold levels of these indicators in a 4-month-old baby are as follows:

weight for boys - 6-7.6 kg, for girls 5.7-7.1 kg, permissible deviation up to 0.7 kg (if the child is not born on time);
height in boys is 58.7-64.5 cm, in girls these figures are 58.5-64 cm;
head circumference 39-43.5 cm;
chest circumference 38.6-44.6 cm.

At the age of one year, the child should regularly visit the pediatrician so that the doctor can track the compliance of the child's development with generally accepted standards. Of course, you should not focus on these indicators extremely strictly, but they will give an approximate idea to parents and the district doctor

International Standards different from those we have. Errors by gender coincide, but the indicators of international standards themselves have a deviation upwards:

weight - 6.2-7.6 kg
height - 57.8-68 cm;
head circumference - 38.1-44 cm;
chest circumference 37.3-45.2 cm.

Deviations of height and weight indicators from the standards

A 4-month-old baby is gaining weight in direct connection with factors such as:

diet;
heredity;
the course of pregnancy;
physiological development.

If the birth took place before the term, the baby may lag behind the normal values in terms of height and weight. At 4 months, he may not catch up with his peers born on time and “level off” only by the 2nd year of life. The same applies to overterm children or babies who were born very large for hereditary reasons. Their indicators differ from the age norm, however, in a big way.

This situation is not a reason for panic. In this case, the analysis of the general condition of the crumbs will be more significant, but if the weight indicators change up or down by 1 kg, you should pay attention to this. Both cases are a reason to go to a specialist and change the diet of the crumbs, as they are fraught with:

obesity (weight gain);
rickets and hypoxia (weight loss).

Mode for a 4-month-old baby: necessary or not?

At the fifth month, significant changes should occur in the life of the child. It's time to instill in him the habits of following the daily routine. By 4 months, the baby should clearly distinguish day from night. At this age, your child needs:

in daily long walks in the fresh air;
thorough massage, they especially need a massage of the hand and foot (it is better to do exercises before taking an evening bath) (more in the article:);
everyday bathing (preferably before bedtime, if the baby responds well to water procedures);
active developing games during wakefulness.

At 3-4 months, the child is already able to receive from water procedures maximum pleasure, if only the parents gradually accustomed him to them. It is best to use a special baby bath for bathing.

In the fifth month of life, babies spend more time communicating with adults and learning about the world. However, you should not overdo it with this. A child should not spend more than 4 hours in a row without sleep, such wakefulness can overload his nervous system, which will lead to sleep disturbance and nervous disorders.

At four months, parents should take the time to teach your child to fall asleep and sleep on their own ensure a quality night's sleep. It's time to spread sleep and food at different intervals, you should not feed the baby in the crib.

Physiology of the child and its features

4-5 months is the time when the child stops wearing scratches, even if in more early age I managed to put them on, so you need to follow the length of the nails. The nails of children, although soft, form sharp surfaces when broken off, with which the baby can easily scratch both himself and his mother.

By this age, the intestines stop bothering the baby, his work stabilizes, but one problem is replaced by another. The child is actively teething. This causes severe itching, salivation and even pain in the gums. An experienced doctor will advise the most suitable remedy for the baby.

At this stage of life, special attention should be paid to the development muscle corset 4 month old baby. Some babies can bring their body into a sitting position. If they only make attempts to sit down, it is impossible to help them and seat them. As soon as the muscles and skeletal system are ready, the baby will be able to sit down on his own. Games for the baby are of great importance, as they help strengthen muscles and develop the cognitive sphere.

Of great importance at 4 months are simple educational toys that help the baby touch the world around him, get to know him

The mental development of the baby

active contact with the outside world;
craving for bright colored objects;
improvement of the speech apparatus;
enrichment of the emotional sphere.

These are the main points in the baby's psyche that adults should pay attention to. The tendency to talk about topics that children do not need or to express negative judgments in a displeased tone in their presence should be forgotten. This should not be done in the earlier period either. But at 4 months, it is not worth thinking that the child is small and does not understand words or intonations.

He's fine understands the emotional coloring of speech responds to it both emotionally and behaviorally. May cry. The nervous system of a four-month-old baby is very sensitive, he reacts violently to stimuli, both positive (for example, addressing him by name) and negative (for example, he pulls his hands to his mother, and she passes by without paying attention to it ).

At 4 months old, the baby will really like songs and nursery rhymes, musical games that are combined with massage (we recommend reading:). When addressing a child by name and with a smile, he happily responds with a smile and coo(may try to pronounce individual syllables), i.e. already clearly recognizes his name. Some children, out of love for pronouncing sounds, can overstrain and turn pink, there is nothing to worry about, they just got carried away with the process.

At this age, the attention of children is no longer completely absorbed by the satisfaction of natural needs (hunger, thirst, the need for security and sleep), they are able to be surprised, admired, offended, upset. They need to be considered as individuals, to develop the emotional component of this personality in the proper way. Yet at this age, basic needs are essential.

A baby at 4 months already openly shows his emotions, can rejoice and be sad. Therefore, parents should reckon with his presence when discussing negative or unpleasant topics, if possible, protect the baby from the arrival of aggressive or critical people.

Summary table of skills and abilities

Development area	What's happening?
Physical activity	The "revitalization complex" occurs easily and often: upon contact with the baby, he smiles broadly, moves his arms and legs. From a prone position, he leans on the handles, lifting the upper body. Easily flips to the side. May attempt to crawl on the crib. It holds the head well in a vertical plane, turns it in different directions. With support under the armpits, the feet rest on a hard surface (the legs are bent at the hip joints).
Handle movements	Tactile sensitivity develops: toys hanging low above the crib are touched, grabbed, pulled into the mouth with both handles. Holds rattles well, shakes them. From 4 months, purposeful actions with objects develop: he learns to move toys, move them, make sounds.
Skills	In the process of feeding, she holds her mother's breast or bottle. At the sight of a breast, he reaches for it, tries to grab it.
Vision	Understands which image is three-dimensional and which is flat. Keeps a good eye on the toy for 3 minutes. Recognizes himself in the mirror. Recognizes and rejoices with loved ones, looks at strangers calmly and wary.
Hearing	With bated breath, he listens to the voice, sounds, turns his head in their direction. Distinguishes the voice loved one from a stranger.
Emotions	Laughs out loud. Begins to respond to tickling. Interested in everything that happens around. Up to 20 minutes can play with itself, touching and moving toys. Then it demands attention.
Speech	Gulit, repeating vowels in a chant. The first syllables appear.
Intelligence	Learn to take action. Begins to understand cause and effect relationships: if you press the switch, the light will go out.

Nutrition and its features

By this age, you can go to 5 meals a day, in this case, the last feeding will occur at about 20 hours. At the same time, the baby should sleep for about 10 hours in a row, which is why the breastfeeding diet should be adjusted. However, not all babies at 4 months old can withstand a long hungry pause, some babies still ask for food - you can try to give them baby tea or diluted juice. Perhaps the baby wakes up because she is thirsty, but if this is not enough, of course, you should not starve the baby. Gradually, you still need to wean him from breastfeeding at night - for example, by feeding him tightly at the last evening meal.

If the baby is breastfed, complementary foods can be omitted. If the baby is artificial, or the diet is mixed, you need to gradually accustom your child to "adult" food. You can start with vegetable purees. Some children eat well from a spoon from the first samples, some do not perceive this way of eating. The baby can be given to play with a children's plastic spoon so that he gets used to it. This will make it easier to feed him later.

Between feedings (if the baby is healthy and born on time) should be at least four hours, a deviation of up to half an hour is acceptable, but it is best to avoid it by fully feeding at each meal. If the baby is lagging behind in weight gain, try switching to a 6-time meal plan.

The first 4 months of a child's development are the most significant in life. During this period, the most active development of the child's body takes place - in a short period of time the body adapts to the world around it and begins to actively learn it. The importance of the fourth month of a child's life lies in the fact that many uncomfortable stages of development, in particular those associated with the work of the stomach, are left behind, and the baby has much more strength, time and desire to explore the world around him.

Weight and height indicators at 4 months

By four months, under normal conditions, the weight of the child can reach from five to eight kilograms, and growth can range from 55 to 65 centimeters. Weight and height indicators may vary depending on the conditions of development and hereditary characteristics. Small deviations may disappear over time, but with significant differences in indicators from the average age, it is worth starting to worry.

Reflex changes

A four-month-old child loses a significant part of innate reflexes. These reflexes were created by nature as stereotyped reactions of a defenseless organism to external stimuli and will only interfere with the further development of the baby. Among the reflexes that disappear by four months are:

Moro reflex. It consists in the movement of the hands for the purpose of grasping. You can call it in several ways, including by sharply hitting the table on which the baby is located, in the part of the table that is about twenty centimeters away from the child's head. It is worth calling a reflex only for the sake of diagnostic purposes.
Bauer's crawling reflex. It can be seen if you put the baby on the stomach. The baby will raise its head for a while and make spontaneous crawling movements. If there are obstacles near the child's legs, then hands will be added to the process of spontaneous crawling, and all movements will be much more active. If you constantly work with this reflex and develop it, then the child will be able to learn to crawl much earlier and please his parents with a new skill by the fifth month of life.
Robinson reflex. It is a grasping reflex, manifested in the fact that the baby grabs with force any object that falls into his hand. This reflex is clearly visible in the case when the child tightly squeezes the fingers of an adult, and even if you raise your hand, the baby will not let go.
Reflex Galant. Its essence lies in the fact that if you touch the child's spine, he will bend his back in the form of a hollow arch and straighten the leg in the knee and hip joints. In no case should you check the presence of this reflex in your child yourself - there is a risk of causing irreparable damage to the health of the baby.
Peres reflex. It manifests itself when the spinous processes of the spine are irritated, causing a cry and movements of the arms, legs and body of the child as a whole. Also, the Perez reflex responds with an acute emotionally negative reaction of the baby. As with the Galant reflex, testing for this reflex should be left to pediatricians.

If one or more of the above reflexes continue to have a significant effect on the behavior of the child at 4 months, then this is a sign of impaired development of the nervous system. In this case, you need to contact a pediatric neurologist.

The emergence of new skills at 4 months

The growth and development of the child is invariably accompanied by the emergence of new skills. By four months, a child should have successfully mastered the following skills:

Be able to control the horizontal position of your own body and independently roll over on your stomach, side and back;
Being in a horizontal position on the stomach, be able to rise on his hands and stay in this position for a long period of time;
Hold with the help of an adult. But it must be remembered that by four months the baby's spine is still not strong enough to maintain this position without outside help;
Independently support the mother's breasts during feeding;
Deliberately perform a number of new actions, including putting your fingers in your mouth;
Learn to interact with objects and toys longer. By the fourth month, a baby can usually hold something small in their hands for thirty seconds or more. It will also be easier for him to find cause-and-effect relationships in the environment, for example, he will understand what needs to be done with a rattle so that it starts making sounds;
Clap objects with your hands. As a rule, at a four-month-old baby most of the time he holds the palms of his hands in an open position and folds them with pleasure;
Excessive overstrain of the muscles of the upper limbs disappears. However, it may persist in the lower extremities;
If you hold the child by the armpits in a horizontal position, he will have to actively try to push off the floor with his toes and feet.

Emotional and mental changes

These changes can be traced in the following behavioral features:

At the age of four months, the baby notices a big leap in the development of visual perception of the world around him. The child begins to follow objects, to note their movement. If the kids suddenly stop seeing the object, then they forget it, but if after some time the object is returned to the child, he will understand what kind of object it is and will continue to follow it with interest again.
The complex of revival is very brightly shown. It is a special motor-emotional reaction of the baby, addressed to the parent or another familiar adult. The complex consists of three main parts: an attentive and prolonged look at an adult, a joyful emotion expressed in a smile, motor activity manifested in the movement of the limbs and head, and a low cry. In addition, the revitalization complex can begin to be called not only by parents, but also on interesting to the child items.
A four-month-old baby is able to recognize his name and begins to respond to it. Moreover, he will try to pronounce separate sounds, reminiscent of "o", "p", "a" and "m".
The child will begin to vividly show individual feelings, especially fear, joy, curiosity and interest.
Building logical chains of cause and effect will not be a problem for a child. This can be clearly seen during feeding: noticing certain actions from an adult, whether it is interaction with a bottle for powdered formula or preparation by the mother of the breast, the child will calm down and wait for her feed.
Studying the features of your own body becomes an exciting activity and can take a lot of time from the baby. It will be especially interesting for him to look at himself in the mirror.
At 4 months, the child establishes a strong psycho-emotional connection with his mother. He begins to demand constant contact. Other close relatives who spend enough time with him, the baby begins to remember and behave openly with them. However, in the presence of new and unfamiliar people, the child will behave very carefully and cautiously.

Changes in eye function

A baby's eyes at 4 months become more receptive to light. The child begins to perceive much more diverse colors. Most of all he will like rich, clean and simple flowers. Excessive brightness or the concentration of several colors in a small area can irritate the child. The optimal colors for filling the baby's environment, his clothes and toys will be red, blue, yellow and green.

Ears and hearing at 4 months

During this period of development, the child begins to actively use his ears to explore the world around him. The baby is able to recognize the voices of his relatives and he will react especially brightly to the voice of his mother. At four months, you need to constantly communicate with the child. You need to speak slowly, clearly and emotionally so that the child gets used to speech and tries to repeat individual sounds on his own. You can read fairy tales or poems, folk works are especially relevant, since they were originally created for the purpose of teaching children and have a good chant. good option there will be a constant description for the child of the surrounding world. You need to describe in detail, but do not use complex words.

Music for a child at 4 months should not have many tones and more than one instrument, since at this age the baby simply will not be able to perceive it. Ideally, the child should imitate music by making sounds on their own or with the help of toys.

Breastfeeding a baby

When breastfeeding at 4 months, you should not worry about excess nutrition if the baby continues to gain weight normally, and the mother has no problems with lactation. The baby must be fed at his first desire and until he is full.

Feeding a baby with dry formulas

As in the case with breastfeeding When feeding dry formulas, the baby should be fed at his first call. This means that there will be approximately seven feedings per day. It is worth remembering that the volume of the mixture should be equal to 70% of the total weight of the baby.

Need for food

Most modern pediatricians believe that up to six months the child receives all the vitamins and minerals necessary for development from milk and dry mixes and there is no need for complementary foods. Complementary foods with the help of juices can lead to the manifestation of allergies and excess acidity in the stomach.

Help your baby develop

At four months of age, one of the best ways to help your baby develop is through constant communication. Talk to him constantly and listen carefully to him. Comment on your every action, describe every object in the house, talk about everything that happens on the street.

It is good for the child to read books. Read slowly, clearly and expressively. The reading process at certain intervals should be interrupted by viewing illustrations. It is necessary to colorfully describe the objects and objects depicted on it.

It is very important to conduct a thorough acquaintance of the child with the outside world. As often as possible, take him out for walks on the street, playgrounds and parks. Let the child play with objects that do not pose a danger to him.

A child's set of home toys can be gradually updated, but be careful and accidentally throw away his favorites. Most of all, a four-month-old baby likes toys that can be crushed, left and beaten. He may also be interested musical toys and any squeakers-whistles.

Games with a 4 month old baby

At 4 months old, you can spend time with the baby playing “Ku-ku”, “Ladushki”, “Horned Goat”, “Magpie-Crow” and others. They not only cause various positive emotions in the baby, but also bring him closer to his parents, which is very important at this age.

A four-month-old baby is transitioning to new stage development. He rapidly develops sense organs, increases the level of awareness and tactile sensations. He begins to react vividly to close people and the world. Parents understand that the time has come to develop the baby and are interested in what a child should be able to do at 4 months and how to properly form his games and daily routine.

At the age of 4 months, the baby becomes animated both emotionally and physically. His back muscles are already strong enough to try to roll over, he waves his arms in all directions and joyfully hums at the sight of familiar faces.

The reflex smile of a newborn becomes meaningful and appears at the sight of favorite rattles and pleasant people. Telling what a child of 4 months should be able to do, doctors highlight several points. Taking into account these data, parents can understand in which direction the baby is developing well, and which needs to be corrected.

Physical activity

Sometimes children try to sit up from a prone position, but this position is too dangerous for the spine in the fourth month of life. It is better to divert the baby to other exercises, for example, coups, and at the same time check whether he is able to:

The average weight gain at this age is 700 grams, and height increases by 2.5 cm.

Physiology and emotions

At 4 months they are actively developing nervous system, vision and hearing. The baby shows what he likes and what causes antipathy. He can listen to music for a long time, preferring rhythmic low tones and showing facial expressions of experienced feelings.

He is able to respond with a smile or a laugh to sweet words and the hugs of the parents and to make a frightened grimace in the event of the approach of strangers. If an older child abruptly takes a toy from the baby, he may be offended, showing this with facial expressions. The set of feelings also includes fear and disappointment. All this shows the normal development of the body's sensory system. In addition, the following abilities can be attributed to physiological changes:

Emotionally, the baby is very closely attached to the mother, which is why it is she who will have to develop his skills in the future.

Sociability is a sign of health

The new neural connections in the brain show up in conscious social responses. The child strives to communicate, looks for his mother with his eyes, walks and tries to express his emotions with the first sounds: “a”, “boo”, “gu”, “mu”, “ma”. Some babies are already beginning to say “aha”.

During this period, it is very important to talk to them, give an open emotional response and actively support the conversation with repeated repetition. simple words seeking an answer. In addition, a baby at 4 months should be able to:

fix your eyes on the interlocutor and follow the people passing by;
respond to your name and the call of an adult;
to recognize the mother's voice among other people talking to him;
come alive at the sounds of your favorite melody;
sing along to mom's singing;
attract attention with movements, sounds and cries;
be indignant at the absence of an adult reaction;
smile at your own reflection in the mirror;
"support" the conversation with a variety of cooing;
"talk" alone or when waking up at night.

The baby receives information about the world around him through taste sensations, so right now he is trying to put any new object in his mouth. Parents need to be very careful not to leave him alone with small objects.

Your baby loves to play with paper and sensory toys.

This is how he develops skills. fine motor skills which will have a positive effect on his further mental development.

The main directions of home development

Even if the child is physically active and sociable, one should not think that he will develop and improve new skills on his own. The best way to support him on this path - a variety of joint games, gymnastics and communication. You need to do it daily, when the baby is full, dry and slept.

As a basis, it is necessary to have morning and evening massage, bathing and walking in the daily routine. To improve motor activity, you need to expand the space for movement and put the baby on the floor or in a wide playpen so that he has room to roll over and prepare to crawl.

Early PE

It is best to develop physical fitness with different games, which are also useful for the emotional sphere, as they cause positive emotions. To make them more interesting Additional items needed:

Developing gymnastics for a child at 4 months old should be done by mom, because she will do the exercises softer and more carefully than dad. Morning and evening exercises should take place in game form and accompanied by funny songs, rhymes and nursery rhymes. The exercises are pretty easy. when performed daily 5-10 times, their benefits will be obvious:

The familiar game of "Magpie-crow" is useful not only for getting to know the fingers, but also for the development of the digestive system. On the palms there are projections of all the internal organs of a person. Circular massage during the game has a beneficial effect on the intestines, contributing to a soft bowel movement.

Fine motor skills and sense organs

A variety of tactile sensations is vital for the correct worldview of a four-month-old baby. A sensory cube, each wall of which is made of fabrics of different textures with rustling inserts and applications, bells and short ropes, can be bought or made independently by pasting a milk carton with the necessary materials.

Toddlers like to crush small bags in their hands with various fillers - cereals of different sizes and rustling hard paper. This gives the brain the necessary impressions for the formation of logical and sensory chains of perception. There are many simple and exciting for the baby games that develop the senses:

Hide and Seek. Mom hides her face in her hands, while asking: “Where am I?” or "Where's Mom?" Then she opens her hands and smiles. You can also hide under the diaper or cover the baby's face for a split second. Despite the simplicity, this game builds trust in the world around, because the child understands that even after the disappearance, the mother will appear again.
Introduction to music. It will take a large number of simple musical instruments: bell, drum, tambourine, xylophone, pipe. You can also use a tumbler and rattles. It is necessary to show the baby what sounds each instrument makes, and then try to repeat them with verbal interjections.
Animal books. The baby will definitely be interested bright pictures and will listen to mom's story about each character.
Bubble. While walking or bathing in the bath, you can let them go one by one or several at once, showing the child how beautifully they fly and fall on his arms. He will watch with interest as bubbles appear and burst.
Body parts. It is already possible to show the baby different parts of the body, touching his nose, ears, mouth with his pen and naming them. It is also good to duplicate the actions on yourself or any relative.

The main condition for successful classes is a loving atmosphere. Many parents are too persistent in their desire to teach everything that a child should be able to do at 4 months. The development of boys and girls cannot follow the same algorithm. Girls are more receptive and start making sounds earlier, while boys need more training to develop their sensory system. Do not worry if the child does not perform all the exercises with the same success.

Reasons for worry

With regular exercises and exercises, even babies premature for a couple of months begin to meet the average developmental standards. There is no need to think that if the child is only a few months old, then he still will not understand poems and songs. Toddlers perceive them on a non-verbal level as a whole, and the benefits of such activities will come a little later.

Very effective small speech therapy gymnastics, in which an adult changes the position of the lips, as if pronouncing vowel sounds in turn, shows the tongue and turns its tip in different directions. The kid will watch this with interest, and then, perhaps, try to repeat, which is very useful for his speech apparatus.

However, there are obvious inconsistencies with the norms of four months of age, which will require enhanced training or medical correction. You should be concerned if your child:

cannot hold head upright;
does not revive when parents appear;
does not respond to strangers;
not interested in toys;
does not fix the gaze on the interlocutor;
does not hum and does not smile;
lies motionless and does not turn his head.

Even one of these symptoms is a reason for an immediate appeal to a neurologist and pediatrician. Specialists will help to exclude serious diseases or prescribe a treatment that will be more effective the sooner it is started.