You have made through the toughest first two months of parenting a Newborn! By now, you should be beginning to feel a little more normal and your baby’s progress should be showing. Let’s take a look at where your Baby should be at with their milestones.
Language and Communication
- Your baby should be making cooing sounds at this point
- Your baby should have different cries for different needs/wants
- Your baby should be responding to different sounds with either large limb movements with their hands or legs or by facial expressions or turning their head towards the noise. Crying is also communication
Contact Your Provider If:
- Your baby does not cry for wants/needs
Social and Emotional
- Your baby should be smiling
- Your baby should be keeping eye contact with you or others, especially when bottle feeding or breastfeeding
Contact Your Provider If:
- Your baby avoids eye contact with you and everybody else
- Your baby does not attempt to smile back at you or anyone else
Sensory
- Your baby should be able to be held by different people in different positions like side lying
- Your baby should have no difficulty soothing when being picked up, rocked or being sung to
- While lying on their back, your baby should be tracking objects from side to side or up and down
- Your baby should be okay with going from a lying down position to a sitting up position (slowly and by having their head and neck supported).
Contact Your Provider If:
- Your baby cries when moved to various positions
- Is not tracking movement of any kind, even at close range
- Your baby does not like being held and cannot be soothed with gentle movement
Motor Development
- Your baby should be trying to reach for an object while lying on their back
- Your baby should be able to extend their arms and legs out and bring them back in
- Your baby should be able to open their fist up to attempt to touch or hold an object
Contact Your Provider If:
- Your baby does not willingly extend their arms and legs and mainly keeps them drawn in
- Your baby only keeps their fists in a closed position
- Cannot lift head, while doing tummy time
- Pushes their head back, while on their back
- Seems to be stiff and has little movement with their limbs
Eating:
- Your baby should be able to suck, swallow and breath while eating
- Your baby should be able to be taking in 2-4 ounces of formula or breast milk per feeding
- Your baby should have no trouble latching on to a bottle nipple or your breast
Contact Your Provider If:
- You notice that your baby is choking while swallowing
- Your baby’s intake is under 2 ounces per feeding, at this point
- Your baby cannot latch on or makes a clicking sound while drinking and is constantly frustrated with latching and just gives up
