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Four to Six Months

The First Nine Months of Motherhood Survival Guide
The Fourth Month
During the Fourth month, your baby should be able to:
- Laugh out loud.
- On stomach, lift head up 90 degrees.
- Follow an object in an arc about 6 inches above the face for 180 degrees (from one side to the other).

Your baby will be able to keep their head level with their body when they are pulled to a sitting position by the end of this month (their bodies usually fall backward). Some four-month-old can even rise up on their arms when lying on their stomachs. It is also god to prop you baby up against pillows (i.e. on a couch) and give them toys to play with. This will help strengthen their muscles so that they can learn to sit on their own. At this month, babies may also get their first teeth!!

The Fifth Month
During the fifth month, Babies should be able to:
- Hold head steady when upright
- On stomach, raise chest, supported by arms.
- Pay attention to an object as small as a raisin (but keep such objects out of baby’s reach).
- Squeal in delight.
- Reach for an object. - Smile spontaneously.
- Smile back when you smile.
- Grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers.
- Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting position.

This is a very busy month for babies. If you haven’t started you baby on baby food yet, I would suggest starting it now.

Feeding-Babies can now move on to Stage 2 fruits and vegetables. Their menu should consist of cereal (made with about 2ozs, of formula) and fruit for breakfast, fruit and vegetables for lunch, and fruit and vegetables for dinner. Doctors suggest that babies should receive cereal at every feeding, but that was too much food for my daughter so I just gave the cereal to her for breakfast every morning. Sippy cups can also be introduced at this age, you can give your baby juice or just plain old water. Make sure that when you give your baby juice it is mixed 50/50 with water. Concentrated juice is too much for them to handle so make sure your water all of their juice down.

The Sixth Month
During the sixth month, your baby should be able to:
- Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting.
- Say 'ah-goo' or similar vowel-consonant combinations.

At this age, your baby may also be able to bear some weight on their legs when held upright, sit without support, turn in the direction of a voice, and make razzing sounds. Babies at this age may also be saying mama and dada (even if they really dont understand what they are saying it is great to hear). It is beginning to get fun because they are preparing themselves for crawling if they are not already, and they are more active and fun to play with.

Feeding- Now you can begin to give your child Stage 2 foods. They are a little thicker then stage one, and there are a lot more choices. Once you baby is able to pick object up between their thumb and forefinger, baby snacks such as cherios and fruit or veggie puffs (found in baby sections at markets) are okay, just make sure you keep an eye on them when they are eating.

Click on one of these helpful links:

Home Page
Note from the Editor
Swaddling 101
Newborn
The First Three Months
Seven to Nine Months