Articles Tagged ‘Three to Six Months’
Bath time can be an enjoyable time for you and your baby. At this age, you can continue to use a small baby tub or graduate into the big bathtub. Be extremely careful, though. Place a rubber mat in the bottom of the tub, and keep the water level no deeper than four inches. Test the water temperature by placing a few drops on your forearm; it should feel lukewarm. When the tub is ready, place the baby in the water on her back. Keep one arm behind the baby's head and neck, holding on to her shoulder, and use the other hand for washing. Baths should last no more than three or four minutes. Be sure to have a towel waiting and be extremely careful lifting your wet, slippery infant out of the tub. Some three-to six-month-olds do not like bathing in a tub. For these babies, a modified washup can often take the place of a full bath. With a washcloth, you can clean the baby's hands, neck, underarms, trunk, arms, and diaper area....
The end of the day, when parents return from work and siblings come home from school, can be a high-stress time for everyone, including a baby. The key to a smooth transition at this time of day is to follow a routine and keep things simple. Frequently, one parent takes over baby care while the other prepares the evening meal. If the parents haven't seen the baby all day, the reunion can be pretty exciting and, sometimes, overstimulating for the baby. General fussiness, long bouts of crying, and difficulty getting down for the night are frequent results. To avoid this unpleasantness, look for signals that your baby may be getting frazzled and try to adjust your approach accordingly. Watch for yawning, fidgeting, flushing or mottling of the skin, and reluctance to look you in the eye and smile. If the baby shows any of these signs, tone down the environment, cutting out excess noise and activity. Some babies, of course, are more adaptable than others and actually seem to thrive on e...
Parents often find this time period extremely exciting because of all the new things the baby can do when reaching out literally to grasp the world. The baby develops increasing control over body movements, and the early reflexes such as the grasp, Moro, and tonic neck, disappear. At the same time, the baby increasingly takes charge of planned, voluntary movement. Using The Muscles Babies learn to use different groups of muscles at different times. Gaining control of the body progresses from head to foot and from the center of the body to the limbs. Thus, babies can control their arms before their legs, and their shoulder muscles before their fingers. While the ability to turn the head and shoulders to follow an interesting object or sound comes almost automatically, it takes some practice to be able to grasp something with the hand. By the age of about six months, babies learn to control the muscles of the neck. This increased control is apparent when you pull the baby to a sitt...
While life with a three- to six-month-old still has its ups and downs, it's calmer and more predictable than the first few weeks. The whirlwind of activity that greets the arrival of a new baby has died down; cards and gifts have stopped arriving; and both parents (but especially the mother) are beginning to feel a bit more like themselves. Feeding, diapering, dressing, and bathing the baby have become second nature. Things are easier from the baby's point of view as well, largely because you have relaxed enough to learn the meanings of the various cries, gestures, and other signals with which she communicates. When your baby starts to fuss, you know what types of small adjustments less light, less noise, less intense interaction your baby may require to become content. As a result, you can both focus your attention on your budding social relationship. The third month marks an exciting turning point in the baby's development as a social being. Infants begin to cry less and spend ...