Month 3
Welcome to the exciting journey of your 3-month-old’s development! This stage is full of exciting discoveries and heartwarming milestones as your baby becomes more aware of their surroundings.
Your little one is starting to communicate with a variety of sounds and gestures, showing excitement for familiar situations like feeding time. They are also beginning to focus on faces, recognise familiar people, and use their hands and eyes together.
Understanding what to expect during these precious months will help you support and celebrate your baby’s growth and achievements. Let’s explore this magical phase of development together!
Physical Development
At 3 months, your baby is growing rapidly! Girls typically weigh around 5.8 kg and are about 59.8 cm tall, while boys usually weigh about 6.4 kg and stand around 61.4 cm tall. Enjoy watching your little one thrive and grow!
Cognitive Development
At 3 months, your baby becomes more aware of their surroundings and starts to interact with the world in meaningful ways. One of the key 3 month milestones is showing excitement in familiar situations like feeding time, recognising that these activities bring comfort and joy. Your baby is beginning to explore their environment with curiosity and interest, making connections between their actions and the responses they receive.
- Showing Excitement: Your baby starts to show excitement during familiar routines, such as feeding time, indicating their growing awareness and anticipation.
- Recognising Patterns: They begin to recognise patterns and anticipate what comes next, demonstrating early cognitive processing.
- Exploring with Curiosity: Your little one is keen to explore their surroundings, using their senses to learn about the world.
- Interacting with Environment: They start to understand that their actions can elicit responses, like shaking a rattle to produce sound.
- Focus and Attention: Your baby can focus on faces and objects, showing prolonged attention and interest in their environment.
Suggested Activities
Promote cognitive development by engaging in games that stimulate sound recognition and response, such as making different sounds and observing your baby’s reaction. Interactive play, like using different gestures and facial expressions, helps stimulate excitement and communication, encouraging your baby to respond and engage with you!
Emotional & Social Development
At 3 months, your baby’s emotional and social development continues to develop, bringing some heartwarming new interactions. Here are some key emotional and social milestones:
- Smiling at Parent’s Voice: Your baby will start to smile at the sound of your voice, showing their growing attachment and recognition.
- Developing a Social Smile: They begin to develop a social smile, which is a warm response to familiar faces, fostering bonding.
- Enjoying Meeting People: Your baby enjoys meeting new people and will show interest in social interactions.
- Expressive Responses: They display more expressive responses, indicating their increasing emotional awareness and engagement.
- Imitating Movements and Facial Expressions: Your little one starts to imitate some movements and facial expressions, which is an early form of communication and learning.
Suggested Activities
Encourage social smiles and interactions by maintaining eye contact and smiling back at your baby. Play games that involve imitating movements and facial expressions. You can also show your little one their own expressions in a mirror!
Language & Communication
Your 3 month old is beginning to develop early communication skills, which are foundational for language development. Here are some key language and communication milestones:
- Babbling: Your baby will start to babble, producing a variety of sounds as they experiment with their vocal cords.
- Imitating Sounds: They begin to imitate some sounds they hear, such as coos and simple vowel sounds, indicating their attempt to mimic and learn from you.
- Using Sounds and Gestures: Your little one communicates using a variety of sounds and gestures, expressing excitement, discomfort, or curiosity through vocalisations and body language.
- Responding to Voices: They show a response to different voices and sounds, demonstrating their growing auditory skills and interest in communication.
Suggested Activities
Promote language development by talking and singing to your baby regularly, which helps them become familiar with different sounds and rhythms. Read books with simple pictures, narrate what you’re doing as you do it, or sing a lullaby. Encouraging your baby’s attempts to communicate helps them feel heard and nurtures their desire to engage with you!
Sensory & Motor Skills
Your 3 month old’s sensory and motor skills are developing rapidly, bringing new ways to explore their world. Here are some key milestones:
- Distinguishing Colours: They can distinguish between different colours, adding to their sensory experiences and improved visual development.
- Holding Head Steady: Baby can hold their head almost steady with little or no head lag when pulled to a sitting position. Yay!
- Raising Head and Chest: During tummy time, they raise their head and chest, perhaps supporting their upper body with arms.
- Opening and Closing Hands: Your baby opens and closes their hands, exploring their grasp.
- Pushing Down with Legs: When their feet are placed on a firm surface, they push down with their legs.
- Bringing Hands to Mouth: They bring their hands to their mouth, an important developmental skill. Just be careful they aren’t snacking on anything!
- Gripping a Toy: Your little one is able to grip a toy, demonstrating an improvement in their fine motor skills!
Suggested Activities
Encourage motor skill development with activities like tummy time, reaching for toys, and providing safe spaces for practising pushing down with legs. Engage in games that involve hand-eye coordination, such as grasping toys and bringing hands to their mouth, to nurture their sensory and motor development!
Feeding & Nutrition
At three months, your baby’s primary source of nutrition should be breast milk or formula. These provide all the essential nutrients needed for growth and development at this stage.
Your baby will likely feed every 3-4 hours, but it’s important to follow their hunger cues and establish a feeding routine that suits both of you. Watch for signs of readiness for feeding, such as rooting, sucking on their hands, or becoming more alert and active.
Creating a comfortable feeding routine is key to ensuring your baby is well-nourished and content. Find a quiet, cosy spot where you can both relax during feeding times. Make sure your baby is positioned correctly to promote effective feeding and prevent discomfort. Wind your baby during and after feeds to help reduce gas and ensure they’re comfy!
Sleep Patterns
At three months, your baby’s sleep patterns are starting to become more predictable. Typically, a three-month-old needs around 14-16 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, including several naps during the day and longer stretches of sleep at night. Nighttime sleep may begin to consolidate into longer periods, though it is still common for babies to wake up for feedings every couple of hours or so.
You may experience common sleep challenges such as frequent waking and difficulty establishing a consistent sleep routine. These challenges can be due to developmental changes, growth spurts, or simply adjusting to a sleep schedule. It’s important to be patient and flexible as your baby’s sleep patterns evolve!
To create a soothing sleep environment and promote healthy sleep habits, ensure your baby’s sleep area is calm and quiet, with dim lighting to signal that it’s time to rest.
Establish a consistent bedtime routine, such as a warm bath, gentle rocking, or reading a quiet story, to help your baby wind down. Swaddling or using a sleep sack can provide a sense of security and comfort.
Health & Safety
Baby-proofing your home is essential for your 3 month old: secure furniture, cover electrical outlets, cover sharp corners. Be mindful of small toys and objects that could pose a choking risk, especially now that they’re likely putting their hands to their mouth constantly!
Prevent common accidents and injuries by never leaving your baby unattended and always using a safety harness in high chairs and strollers.
Regular health check-ups are important to monitor your baby’s growth and development and to address any concerns promptly.
Immunisation Schedule
There are no immunisations for 3 month olds, but be sure you are caught up on your 2 month vaccines. There will be more immunisations at 4 months per the Australian National Immunisation Program Schedule.
When to Speak to Your Paediatrician
While every baby develops at their own pace, it’s important to be aware of signs that may indicate developmental delays or health concerns. If your baby isn’t meeting milestones such as holding their head steady, smiling at familiar faces, or showing interest in their surroundings, it may be time to consult your paediatrician. Other signs to watch for include feeding difficulties, unusual muscle tone, or a lack of response to sounds and voices.
Seek advice from your paediatrician if you notice any of these concerns or if your baby shows persistent symptoms that worry you. Remember, babies develop at different rates, so slight variations in milestone achievement are normal, but don’t hesitate to seek professional guidance if you have concerns!
Maybe we can help you ease your mind? Our Careline is always here for support, just a phone call away.
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