Your Baby Is 3 Months Old? These Developments Await You

As your baby turns 3 months, communication and motor skills continue to develop. Many steps towards independence are taken: Your child discovers his hands as toys, he learns to hold his own head and he begins to interact more and more with his environment.

In this article, you will learn about the developmental milestones that are now upon you.

Baby 3 Months: Weight And Physical Development

Around 12 weeks, many babies gain a kilogram and grow about three centimeters – so the baby is still in the middle of its biggest growth phase. Within the first year of life, the little person’s height and weight double.

When your baby is 3 months old, he or she will probably be wearing a clothing size between 62 and 68. Do you already know the different sizes of baby clothes? The shape of your baby’s face is also changing now: the face has become softer and rounder due to the weight gain – now we talk about so-called baby fat.

Baby 3 Months: Movement And Motor Skills

In the first few weeks, your baby’s innate reflexes are still very pronounced. These newborn reflexes serve self-protection and are carried out instinctively, such as the grasping reflex. Your baby’s fingers enclose everything that its little hands come into contact with.

From the 3rd month, these reflexes gradually weaken and are replaced by practiced movement patterns. Soon your offspring will be practicing targeted grasping. His little hands are now the focus of his interest.

He has discovered that his hands are his favorite toy and will examine this newly discovered tool extensively. When your baby is 3 months old, his little hands are constantly in motion and are explored with his mouth to get to know them better. This is also known as the oral phase.

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Even if it seems like your child is playing, these actions serve to improve body awareness and as a preliminary stage to grasping. In the area of motor skills and reflexes, another important step is imminent in the 3rd month: the independent holding of the head.

After birth, the head is relatively large and heavy. The neck muscles are also still very weak. From day one, however, babies train their neck muscles. In the beginning, a lot of support is still needed.

After the 12-week growth spurt, your baby will finally be able to hold its head on its own. Put your baby in an upright position to do this. Your baby’s back muscles are still weak. Therefore, you should not let your baby sit alone yet.

Even in the prone position, your baby will now be able to lift his head and look around. In the beginning, this still requires a lot of strength. As time goes by, lifting the baby’s head will become increasingly effortless.

If your child is not yet as good at something as other babies in the crawling group, there is no need to worry. Babies develop at different rates and how your child develops in the 3rd month is only an approximate guide.

Baby 3 Months: Sensory Perception

Your baby is three months old and his senses are developing rapidly. A lot is happening in the area of vision. After birth, babies perceive their environment only blurred. They can see things that are no more than 30 centimeters away sharply. Babies are particularly attracted to faces and their mother’s breast at this time.

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Strong contrasts such as checkerboard patterns also attract the child’s attention. However, they are not yet able to recognize color nuances. In contrast to the sense of hearing, which is already fully developed after a few weeks, the ability to see is not fully developed until after about eight months.

From month three onwards, the sense of sight improves significantly. After the 12-week push, your child is able to perceive the environment more clearly and process it better. Hearing is already well developed four weeks after birth and is refined through experience.

In the 3rd month, another important maturation process takes place in the area of hearing. Your baby actively picks up and processes sound from the environment. This process affects the brain and trains both hearing and mental development.

Your 3-month-old is now constantly busy with his little hands and is always on the move. At the moment, your baby is developing a sense of body awareness, also known as the 6th sense.

Things are also getting exciting in the area of the sense of touch: Your offspring is now increasingly exploring the world playfully with its fingers. Your offspring’s sense of touch is already highly developed at birth. This helps your child to get to know the textures and shapes of its environment.

Objects are examined with the fingers, hands, and mouth. When your child is 3 months old, the mouth is still an important organ for feeling objects. In this way, your offspring can get a better picture of the objects than by simply touching them with their fingers.

Your 3-month-old has already developed very fine taste receptors. The baby takes great pleasure in exploring the many different tastes in its environment. He loves things that smell good and taste sweet. The taste of your breast milk also changes now – the milk tastes sweeter and adapts to the baby’s increased energy needs.

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Your Baby’s Mental And Emotional Development

Your baby’s cognitive development is also progressing rapidly: the cerebrum is now increasing in volume. It makes up the main part of the human brain and fulfills numerous functions. In the course of this, your child’s consciousness grows and reflex movements become less frequent.

Thus, he gains more and more control over himself and this enables him to actively participate in family life. Slowly, a certain memory develops in the infant.

At this age, you will also notice that your baby has difficulty detaching himself from an object. If you show him an interesting object, his gaze will literally stick to the object.

By the time your baby reaches 3 months, he or she is already able to express a variety of emotions. These include joy, curiosity, anger, and disappointment. Babies find faces particularly attractive. At this age, however, they not only look at faces but also begin to interpret the respective facial expression.

By now, the baby is also able to clearly distinguish familiar caregivers from other people. It prefers you as a caregiver and enjoys the special security of the family.

Unfamiliar touches, smells and communication patterns are quickly perceived by a 3-month-old child. Therefore, your baby may become restless in your arms with less familiar people or start to cry. At 3 months of age, however, your baby is not yet in the so-called stranger phase.

Social And Language Development In The 3rd Month

Your baby is several months old and awake for much longer. They are now interacting more with their environment. It prefers to communicate with you and other close caregivers. In the 3rd month, your baby encourages you to communicate by making the first spontaneous vocalizations.

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Eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, and dialogues play an important role during this time. Perhaps you have already noticed that you speak differently with your child than with adults. Your pitch becomes higher, you form simple and short sentences, the intonation is clearer and you choose child-friendly terms.

This behavior is called “baby talk” or “nurse tal” and is especially beneficial for your child. In this way, the baby understands what is being said better and you promote language development in a very intimate way.

Sleep Behavior

Between one and three months, your baby can already show the first signs of a day-night rhythm. However, “sleeping through the night” for babies at this age means sleeping through the night for a maximum of five hours because then they get hungry again.

It is not until the 3rd month that some babies sleep through up to seven hours in exceptional cases. This is because the stomach can now hold more food. Out of 24 hours, your baby will still sleep about 15 hours. However, it is now much more awake and active and wants to know what is going on during the day.

How Old Is My Baby And What Can I Do To Give Him The Best Possible Support?

When your baby is 3 months old, you have several options to support him in a meaningful way:

Baby Mobiles

You can encourage the sense of touch by placing various objects in your 3-month-old baby’s open hands and hanging baby mobiles or things dangling above his head.

Baby Talk

You are already performing the so-called nurse talk quite intuitively. Continue to emphasize the phrases, maintain eye contact with your baby, and imitate your baby’s sounds.

Soft Ribbons With Bells

In the 3rd month, babies are particularly sensitive to environmental sounds. Especially bells attract the attention of the child.

The best products for you and your baby.

Baby monitor

With a baby monitor, you can use your time flexibly, sleep peacefully at night and still know at all times that your baby is doing well.

Nursing pillow

A good breastfeeding pillow has several advantages, because it helps you not only to breastfeed, but also to fall asleep and is also suitable as a nest.

Diaper bags

A diaper bag offers you a lot of storage space, so that you have everything you need for your baby on the go - from the changing pad to the bottle.

Pucksack

A pucksack gives your baby the feeling of security, like in the womb, and thus supports a peaceful and restful sleep.

Bicycle trailer

Bicycle trailers can be used in combination with a baby seat shortly after birth. They are not only safer than child seats but also more comfortable.

Playpen

A playpen can be very practical in everyday life! Which model is suitable for your needs, you can read in my guide.

Baby bed

The first bed accompanies your child for years. Fortunately, there are beds that grow with your child. I have made for you on the search for the best baby beds.

Stroller

A stroller is a worthwhile purchase. But there are the most diverse models on the market. Find out which is the right one.

Radiant heater

Radiant heaters provide your child with the necessary warmth when changing diapers or after bathing.

Extra bed

Side beds are very practical and offer both mother and baby a lot of advantages, because for babies, especially in the first months of life, it is reassuring to be able to sleep next to their parents.

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