In the fifth month of life, the baby actively “improves” her conversational and communicative skills, masters more and more sounds and continues to “taste” everything that falls into her hands. A mirror becomes an interesting child at this age – the baby does not yet recognize himself in the reflection, but he already remembers what he sees.
Physical development
In the fifth month, the baby is no longer gaining weight so intensively compared to the previous ones. On average, a child should increase by 650-700 grams, gaining about 150 grams weekly. In general, you can focus on the fact that the weight of a five-month-old is twice that of the one that was at birth. We emphasize that this is only a guideline and if the doubling of the “newborn” mass did not occur at five months or occurred a little earlier, this is by no means a cause for alarm. Doubling usually occurs later in children who were born large, and rather, respectively, in children who weighed less than 3 kg at birth.
The rate of increase in the growth of the baby also slows down. The total increase from birth to the fifth month is usually 13-15 cm. Often you can notice a certain phasing – the growth rate of the child can be very fast and intense, after which it slows down for a while. You should not make any conclusions or interpretations if you notice this for your child – usually these are individual characteristics of physiological development. And to relieve excessive excitement because of this, it is better to consult a pediatrician.
Movement and activity
The body of a five-month-old baby is already noticeably more flexible. The baby can pull the head up, lying on his stomach, spreading his arms to the sides and bringing his legs up. During such an “airplane”, the back is straight and tense – this exercise helps strengthen the muscles of the back and neck.
Very interesting for children of this age and almost unattainable for most adults is the ability to get to the mouth with their toes. The “bridge” can scare mom and dad a little – another exercise that the baby begins to perform on his own, but you should not be afraid: resting his head and feet on the support, the child arches, lifting the body and pelvis.
At five months, the baby is already more adept at turning from the tummy to the back and vice versa, so it is worth increasing attention when the child is lying on the couch or medicine. It is from this age that the traumatic period begins, since the risk of falling increases. New skills that help to move, the child is very interesting and he tries to actively manipulate his hands, knees, feet in order to improve his “skill”. In general, most of the active time the child begins to spend on improving his movements, developing motor skills.
Increased activity can cause irritation of the skin, especially in places where it bends – on the joints and neck. Also, redness and various rashes can appear where a seam, clasp, button or other part of clothing rubs against the skin. Therefore, it is worth dressing your baby comfortably, in size, choosing natural fabrics and avoiding clothes with a lot of decoration – this is good for a photo, but not at all practically every day.
Expedition with your own body
After examining his pens, legs and face, the baby at five months old continues to explore his own body. Often at this age, parents are worried about the attention of the baby to the genitals, but you should not attach much importance to this. They are interesting to the child no more and no less than other parts of the body.
The best reaction of adults to children’s viewing and touching their genitals is to help the baby examine his body by naming all the parts that are being studied. It is not necessary to emphasize intonation, tone or in any other way the peculiarities of these places – it is better to speak in the usual calm voice so that the child understands that the genitals are the same part of the body as the rest.
Language and Attention
The child continues to actively study the world around him and needs to help him in this. To move at this age, you can already use a walking cart with a semi-sitting position. It is not yet worth keeping the child fully sitting at this age, however, it will no longer lie for a long time, because the interest in the surrounding images is already very strong.
The attention of a five-month-old baby can attract literally everything – from a, a dog, a bird, a flower to a bag that rustles or any other trinket. Such an interesting thing should be supported by daily showing your son or daughter something new – knowing the world, the child develops.
During this period, the “sound stock” of children is diversified. The child squeaks, growls, aukes, and in general, the facial expressions of the mouth are very active. The baby no longer just studies and remembers her sounds, but can also use it to attract attention. They are still laryngeal, lips and tongue are not involved in their formation, however, over time, the child will more easily pronounce words that have its first sounds.
Hearing and vision
At five months, the baby can already recognize the direction of the sound and begins to react to the surrounding sounds – turn, scream, smile, shudder or cry. The baby is still very fond of human voices, so it is worth talking a lot, calling objects, telling stories in simple sentences, reading children’s books aloud.
This is a good time to check the child’s hearing. In the active period of the day, when the baby is calm and in a good mood, you need to ensure complete silence in the room, move away from the child by 5-6 meters and clap your hands or say something of medium strength in your voice. Having noticed the reaction of the child, you need to repeat your actions, moving to the other side of the room. If the hearing is normal, then the child will turn his head in the direction from which the sound is heard and will try to find the source with his eyes. If there are concerns about the hearing of the child, then you should contact the pediatric otorhinolaryngologist (LAURA).
If strabismus has not disappeared by the fifth month, then you should consult with a pediatric optometrist. In general, during this period, the child’s vision is already focused on a specific object, the baby follows the objects with his eyes and turns his head to them. For training the muscles that move the eye, you can hold a bright or shiny object at a distance of 30-40 cm from the child’s eyes in different directions. Usually such an exercise quickly bothers the child, so it is better to spend it for a short time, but regularly.
Interaction with the environment
This month, there is a high probability of seeing a child’s reaction to a stranger. The child reacts violently to people whom he does not see every day, even, a visit from his grandparents can cause crying. Often, loved ones are surprised, even outraged, that they were classified as “strangers”, but over time this reaction disappears. It is due to the fact that at five months the child can remember well the faces of mom, dad and those whom he sees every day, so he still reacts to others as strangers.
You should not provoke anxiety in a child, deliberately leaving with “strangers” in the hope that the baby will get used to the person. This will add anxiety, scare and provoke general anxiety of the child, even for several days.
At the same time, it is necessary to actively socialize the baby, not to leave it unless absolutely necessary at home, but to take it with you as much as possible. Next to one of the parents, the child feels safe and actively gets to know other people and observes the process of communication.
Among daily walks and chores, it is important not to miss the monthly examination by a pediatrician. You can consult your doctor about your daily routine, nutrition, gymnastic exercises and massage for your child.
Natalia Kuzio
