How long should a 4 month old baby live?

In the fourth month of a baby's life, important changes occur in his social, psychological and emotional development. During this period, the baby learns to interact with the people around him, consciously studies toys and objects, and begins to show an active interest in the events happening around him. Changes also occur in physical development - the proportions of the child’s body gradually approach the proportional parameters of an adult.

To assess the level of development of an infant who is already 4 months old, the features of visual perception and the formation of speech skills are of great importance. Even if the baby is a little behind his peers, this can easily be corrected with the help of special classes and educational games. It also happens that the discrepancy between the baby’s skills and existing standards is the first sign of serious neurological disorders and other serious pathologies, so parents should know the peculiarities of the child’s development at 4 months.

How much should a baby weigh at four months?

During the first year of life, the baby should undergo a monthly scheduled examination by a local pediatrician. At each appointment, the baby must be weighed, his height, head and chest circumference are measured. These are the most important anthropometric indicators that allow us to assess the state of the child’s health and the correctness of his development.

Table of height and weight indicators for boys and girls

For example, a discrepancy between the size of the chest and age norms may indicate a lack of vitamin D3 and be a sign of rickets, a progressive metabolic disorder that causes degeneration of bone tissue and pathology of the nervous system. Too large a head circumference in some cases can be a clinical manifestation of hydrocephalus, a dangerous disease in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the ventricles of the brain. For timely diagnosis of these diseases, it is necessary to monitor changes in these parameters and seek medical help in a timely manner.

It is equally important to regularly measure the child’s height and weight - this will help to suspect endocrine system pathologies in time (for example, impaired synthesis of insulin and adrenal hormones). A baby's weight at 4 months can range from 6 to 7 kg. The average increase during this period is about 700-750 g, since the infant’s motor activity is still at a low level. The average height of a four-month-old baby is 64 cm. Some children at this age grow up to 68 cm - this is also considered normal if no abnormalities are detected in blood and urine tests.

The following factors can influence the weight and height of a child at 4 months:

• type of feeding (children who receive formula milk gain weight a little faster);
• heredity;
• birth weight;
• psycho-emotional situation in the family;
• number and duration of walks.

Important! If indicators of physical development differ significantly from normal values, the baby needs a comprehensive examination, as this may be a sign of neurological, endocrine disorders, as well as diseases of the heart and vascular system.

Generally accepted weight standards for a 4-month-old baby

It is believed that boys are always slightly larger than girls, so the weight norm for them is different. How much should girls weigh at 4 months? The following table will help you understand this.

Another table will tell you how much boys should weigh at the age of 4 months.

As you can see, girls at 4 months can weigh significantly less. But that’s not all; in premature babies, the body weight norm is considered somewhat differently. Doctors are based not on specific indicators, but on monthly weight gain. Depending on the degree of prematurity, the baby should gain from 600 to 900 grams from 3 to 4 months. If we talk about how much weight such a child should gain from the moment of birth, then a baby with stage 4 prematurity should gain an average of 1.78 kg, stage 3 – 2.14 kg, degree 2 – 2.49 kg, and 1st degree – by 3.6 kg. For a child born at term, the increase from 3 to 4 months should be approximately 750 grams, or 3.5 kg from the day of birth.

What should a 4 month old baby be able to do?

During this age period, the baby’s muscular system actively develops, helping the baby become aware of his body, study it and prepare it for the main task of the first year of life - the ability to walk.

Motor skills

A child’s muscles at 4-5 months are already strong enough for him to perform many actions:

• consciously grasping objects (not to be confused with reflex actions) and transferring them from hand to hand;
• holding the head in a prone position on the stomach and raising the upper body with support on the palms of the hands;
• turning over from back to stomach and back;
• raising the shoulder body and head while lying on your back (first attempts to sit down);
• grabbing the bar or arm of an adult lying on his back with attempts to pull himself up;
• the ability to hold the mother's breast or bottle with her hands when feeding;
• lifting the buttocks and pushing off with the legs while lying on the stomach (the makings of crawling).

After the baby has mastered all the listed skills, it is better to lower him to the floor, limiting the space for movement with the help of pillows or special floor playpens. This has a positive effect on the child’s physical and intellectual development and allows him to study the world around him from a new perspective.

Important! Under no circumstances should you sit your baby down unless he makes an attempt to sit up and cannot hold his back on his own. Attempts to place the baby too early can cause spinal diseases (osteochondrosis, scoliosis). In girls, this practice can lead to disruption of the functioning of the reproductive organs and curvature of the uterus.

Physiological development

In the fourth month of life, the most important physiological changes occur in the child’s body, affecting almost all organs and systems and determining the degree of his health and development in the future.

1. Hearing. The baby is able to determine the source of the sound. It is considered normal at this age if the baby shows responses to speech addressed to him from a distance of 2-2.5 meters.
2. Vision. The ability of the organ of vision to perceive and differentiate various shades and colors expands, and visual acuity improves. Many children at this age may experience a change in eye color. The baby sees well not only close up, but also like an adult, at a distance of 20-30 cm. At 4 months, the baby should be able to focus his gaze on toys and other objects, as well as people who talk to him. Many children are born with mild forms of strabismus, which occurs due to weakness of the visual muscles. This condition should go away by 4 months. If this does not happen, it is necessary to show the baby to a doctor to rule out pathologies of the visual organs and various forms of neurological disorders, for example, cerebral palsy.
3. Lacrimal glands. In the fourth month of life, the baby’s crying is already accompanied by tears, and not just loud sounds with a negative connotation.
4. Hair and nails. Hair also begins to actively grow at the age of 4-5 months. The nail plates also grow faster, and the skin of the periungual ridges thickens. This is due to the normalization of digestive processes and improved absorption of beneficial elements, which directly affect the nutrition of hair follicles and epidermal cells.
5. Digestive system. By 4 months, the baby’s body normalizes the production of digestive enzymes necessary for digesting and breaking down food. This is manifested by the following signs: elimination of intestinal colic, compaction of stool (stool formation), regularity of bowel movements, relaxation of the abdominal muscles. The baby becomes calmer. Appetite improves, sleep quality improves. Some babies at this age can transition to eight hours of sleep a night with one feeding at night.
6. Typical reflexes of newborns are almost no longer visible. Only a few reflexes remain: sucking, crawling reflex, Moro reflex. The search reflex may be partially preserved, which over time is replaced by a reaction to a visual stimulus (the baby’s revival at the sight of a bottle of formula, a breast prepared for feeding), the grasping reflex, the Galant reflex. If the proboscis reflex, Babkin reflex, and automatic walking reflex are still present in the child by the fourth month of life, this may indicate damage to the central nervous system.

Mental and emotional development

The baby’s actions become more persistent and purposeful, the character is balanced, and the possibility of unexpected crying without any obvious reason gradually disappears. At this age, the child is interested in being alone, exploring his body, so some children can devote up to 30 minutes to activities without the participation of adults

1. Booming . At 4 months, the baby actively vocalizes while awake and tries to pronounce the first syllables using consonants.
2. Emotionality. A four-month-old baby clearly expresses his emotions: he laughs, shows joy, and puts on airs. He likes to communicate with adults.
3. The child learns to respond to the words of his mother or another person who is with him most of the time. Many children at this age react not only to the speech of a loved one, but also to his presence. This can be manifested by active humming, smiling, stretching of consonant sounds (most often “a”, “o” and “u”).
4. In the fourth or fifth month of life, the child recognizes the voice of people he knows. The reaction can be manifested by turning the head, smiling, active movements of the arms and legs. Positive emotions can arise while listening to familiar music, songs, or favorite fairy tales.
5. The beginnings of communication using gestures appear. The baby can stretch out his arms, thereby showing his desire to be in his mother’s arms.
6. The baby shows signs of interest in the things around him. If he wants to take some object or take a better look at it, then his lips stretch out with a “proboscis”, breathing quickens and the baby reaches for the object.
7. Active knowledge of one's own body. The baby feels his feet with his hands, thereby, as if fixing in his mind the fact of their presence, studies them, sucks his toes.

Important! A sign of healthy social and emotional development is the division of people around us into “us” and “strangers”. When a baby sees a stranger, he becomes anxious, starts screaming and crying, and tries to turn away in the other direction. In the presence of the mother or other close people, the baby smiles, actively walks and shows signs of interest in communication.

“Singing” in infants 4-5 months old is a sign of healthy emotional development and social adaptation. During this period, it is important to talk more with the baby, play games, while explaining all the actions and naming the surrounding objects. Reading fairy tales and singing calm songs, such as lullabies, has a positive effect on emotional and speech development. Even if the mother does not work with the baby, but is in the same room with him at this time, she should communicate with the baby more often in order to improve psycho-emotional perception, which largely determines the character and personal qualities of the baby in preschool and school age.

Video calendar of child development from 4 to 5 months

Physical development

The child's growth rate is high, but not as rapid as the first three months. During the fourth month, the baby gains approximately 750-800 grams in weight, the head circumference becomes larger by approximately 15 millimeters, and the chest circumference by 20 millimeters; the baby usually gains another 2–2.5 centimeters in height. The weight of the lungs during this period is almost twice that of newborns, and accordingly the lung surface area doubles. The size of the pancreas increased one and a half times compared to the first month. The liver added 40-50 grams to this stage. The baby's success in digesting food is obvious, and now the baby can sleep almost all night, early in the morning calling on his mother to feed him. By this age, the baby has practically formed ideas about the time of day - this is noticeable by the rise and fall of activity, respectively, at night and during the day.

How to develop a four-month-old baby

1. Hanging toys. These can be mobiles, toys attached to a crossbar, or simply objects of different sizes, shapes, colors, textures that make sounds, suspended with clothespins on a string or elastic band across the crib. Over time, old, boring toys are replaced with new ones, and the old ones are hidden and used again after a while.
2. Rattles. At the age of four months, your baby will be interested in light rattles. It is desirable that they be different. Just like hanging toys, they contribute to the development of the child due to tactile sensations, sound, and color. It is best if these are plastic or wooden rattles that are easy to wash. The baby will definitely taste the toy. The mouth at this age is the most important organ of cognition of the world around us, so preventing children from putting everything into their mouth means hindering the child’s normal development. The main concern of the mother is to ensure the cleanliness of all objects that are in close proximity to the baby.

   

3. Hide and seek. Playing hide and seek with your baby will surely cause a storm of delight. You can play using different options: hide behind a diaper or cover your eyes with your hands, and then “be there” again with the exclamation “peek-a-boo.” It will be interesting for the baby to watch the soft toy, which then hides and then returns again. At the end of the game, let him touch it with his hands.
4. White-sided magpie. Remember this game from your childhood and your baby will like it just as much as you do. Also, don’t forget about finger games while saying funny nursery rhymes.
5. Pull-up. A four-month-old baby can easily pull himself up by clinging to a support, and if he doesn’t do this well, train him. Let your hands hook onto your thumbs, and use your index fingers to secure your palms and pull lightly. The baby will certainly try to pull himself up. This exercise helps develop muscles and gradually the baby will be able to almost sit. At the same time, it is still undesirable to leave him in a sitting position, so it is necessary to return the baby to a lying position.
6. Jumping. Since the muscles of the baby’s neck and back are already quite strong, you can try, supporting the baby under the arms, to teach the child to jump. While sitting, lift the baby above your knees and lower him onto his legs, but so that he does not have time to completely transfer his entire weight to them. At this moment, lift the baby again. Be sure to communicate with the baby at the same time. When saying some rhythmic rhyme, smile so that the baby does not get scared.
7. Talkers. Try to talk to your baby in the form of a dialogue. Tell him something, and then pause and you will probably hear the answer. Talk more, describing and telling the surrounding objects. When communicating, do not forget to express your emotions so that your face is clearly visible to the baby. Of course, he won’t understand the meaning of the words, but your emotions will tell him everything.

What are the baby’s motor skills during this period?

The baby purposefully reaches out to hanging toys and grabs them, improving the ability to turn from back to stomach. The child is able to turn his head in the direction from which he hears the voice of his mother or father. Now you can play “hide and seek” with the baby, covering your face with a scarf or hiding behind the back of the bed. Such games bring great joy to the little person and contribute to his physical activity.

If this is not your first child and there are already children in the family, be sure to involve them in caring for the baby and activities with him.

This allows you to save the older child from possible jealousy associated with the fact that with the appearance of the little one he experiences a shortage of parental attention.

As we have already said, at the turn of the third and fourth months the child receives a set of vaccinations. The baby is carefully prepared for this event by his parents, and visits are made to medical specialists. And when vaccination is over, it is recommended to measure the baby’s temperature in the evenings during the week in order to track the successful course of post-vaccination reactions. If a child’s temperature rises to more than 37.3 °C, his behavior changes, a rash and vomiting appear, consult a doctor.

Typically, the baby sleeps four times during the day for approximately two hours and is awake four times for one and a half hours.

Toys for the development of a four-month-old baby

Toys are of great importance in the proper development of a 4-5 month old baby. Pediatricians advise purchasing the following toys for babies of this age:

• bright rattles, bells and other toys to attract attention and stimulate crawling skills;
• fabric toys and scraps for the development of tactile perception;
• fabric bags filled with various cereals to develop tactile sensations;
• rag bracelets and toys with pendants to develop fine motor skills.

All toys must be bright and made from safe materials. Preference should be given to products painted in natural colors: yellow, green, red, blue or orange.

Video recommendations on the development of a 3-6 month old child from neurologist M. A. Krasnova.

What games and exercises with a baby are useful at this age?

When the mother rests the baby's head against her cheek, he feels vibration when talking to him. This helps the baby better understand how speech sounds sound and remember them. Change your intonation when talking to your baby, speak loud and quiet, fast and slow, smile and laugh, be silent for a few seconds. Such stops and changes in the pitch, strength of the voice and tempo of speech better attract the child's attention. When your baby makes noises, wait a moment and listen to him, then repeat the sounds he made. This is how the little one learns to take turns speaking.

Try to call your child by name.

It will be better for him if he is Sasha or Mashenka, and not a bunny, baby or someone else. Sing him different songs. The kids really like this. After some time, the baby will learn to calm down when you sing to him in a quiet and drawn-out voice.

Now the child recognizes his parents not only by touch and smell, but also visually.

When talking to your baby, stand so that the light falls on your face. Fill your eyebrows and apply bright lipstick. It attracts attention better. The baby will watch with interest the changes in the movements of the eyebrows and especially the mouth when you talk to him. Change your facial expression, smile and then frown, raise your eyebrows in surprise and open your mouth wide. Probably, soon the child will try to imitate your movements and surprise you with this.

Take several bright toys (but no more than three at once). Slowly pass one after another in front of the baby, attracting attention. The little one will follow the movements of the toys with his eyes. Take your child in your arms, go to the window and choose a place from where it will be more convenient to watch. The baby gets a lot of impressions by watching birds, cars driving along the street or yard, people passing by the house, swaying tree branches and trembling leaves. In the evening, the baby's attention is attracted by bright street lights. Don’t forget to tell your baby about what’s happening outside the window, for example: “Look, a car is driving. The car hums: beep. And there the bird flew away. The bird croaks: caw-caw.” Do not leave your child alone by the window; an unexpected loud sound may frighten him. The baby feels confident and safe only when you hold him in your arms or are close to him.

Features of care

1. Massage and gymnastics. The basis of the baby’s physical development during this period is massage and special gymnastics for babies. Exercises are best performed in the first half of the day, when the child is most active, and massage gives the maximum therapeutic effect after an evening bath before getting ready for bed. For massage, you can buy special baby oil with lavender extract - it perfectly softens the skin and has a calming effect, helping you get ready for sleep.
2. Bathing. It is recommended to bathe the baby every day during this period, since the sweat glands are active, and the sweat released can irritate sensitive skin. For bathing, you can use decoctions of medicinal herbs, sea salt or pine extracts, but before using them you must consult a specialist. For example, pine extract (concentrate) is not suitable for hyperactive infants and children with increased excitability.
3. Walks. Walks should be regular and long. The total duration of walks in warm weather should be 3-4 hours. During the cold season, staying outside should be limited to 2 hours, but walking should not be completely avoided, as it strengthens the immune system and contributes to better adaptation to different weather conditions. If weather conditions permit, it is better to take the child in your arms so that he can explore the world around him, colors, shapes.

The development of a baby at 4 months rarely corresponds to ideal values ​​in all respects, but this should not be a cause for concern if the doctor does not see any disturbances in the functioning of the most important systems of the child’s body. If serious deviations in anthropometric and other indicators are detected, the child will be assigned a specialized examination.

Child nutrition

A four-month-old baby is still happily breastfed if the mother had and still has the opportunity to organize it correctly. If there is a lack or absence of breast milk, an artificial formula is enough for the baby.

Breast milk standards

The main type of food remains breast milk. How much should a 4 month old baby eat? The baby eats at least 6 times and consumes 130-140 g of mother's milk at a time.

This amount is sufficient for normal growth and development. If there is not enough breast milk and your little one is not getting enough to eat, consult your doctor about stimulating lactation or introducing complementary foods.

Introduction of complementary foods

Complementary feeding should be introduced only if there are compelling indications.
According to the norms, the first complementary feeding is introduced at 6 months, but for medical reasons this can be done earlier.

A four-month-old baby is already ready to try new foods; food should be liquid. Because there is a risk that the child will choke on solid food, since he does not yet have teeth and the necessary chewing reflex.

What can you give a baby at 4 months:

• fruit and vegetable puree;
• milk formula;
• porridge;
• cottage cheese;
• juice.

You should start complementary feeding with vegetable puree, without adding salt or spices. If you first feed your baby fruit puree, he will get used to its sweet taste and refuse to try other foods. Vegetable puree is made from zucchini, cauliflower, and broccoli.

Give 1 tsp at first, and then gradually increase the amount of food. It takes 6-7 days to adapt to an unfamiliar dish.

After this, give your little gourmet fruit puree from peach, apple, banana or pear. Porridge can be buckwheat, corn or rice.

After the porridge, the baby is given juice. It must be apple juice. Cottage cheese is introduced last, since it is the “heaviest” of the listed products. Dilute the cottage cheese with boiled water to form a liquid mass.

Norms of artificial mixture

Instead of introducing complementary foods, you can look for a good artificial formula on the recommendation of your doctor. The norms for artificial mixture depend on the manufacturer and his recommendations.

• The number of feedings per day is 6-7.
• The ratio of formula volume to child body weight is 1 to 6.
• The volume of the mixture is 810 ml.