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Infant

From three to twelve months of age, a baby is referred to as an infant. The newborn stage is now over and a whole lot happens during this new baby phase! Your infant undergoes considerable development, both physically and emotionally. Learn about your baby’s development with our Wonder Weeks app. During these nine months, your infant will go through numerous stages and milestones. From rolling over to sitting independently and crawling, to maybe even taking the first few steps!

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Linguistic development in infants

Linguistic development in infants

Babies do not talk like we adults do, but have their own language. And they understand language before they are able to speak. From a very young age, your baby is interested in your face and speech. For example, your baby may start crying when you raise your voice or laughing if you make a funny sound.

Between six and nine months, your infant will start to understand some sentences and context. Your baby can respond to its own name and will start to make more sounds and noises and they love to repeat them! This is referred to as babbling.

The development of your infant

Physical development in infants

As mentioned earlier, your infant will undergo considerable physical developments during the first year. The physical developments start during the newborn stage, of course, but are more visible from around three months of age. For instance, your little one will be increasingly better able to hold up its head. After all, the world looks a whole lot different from that viewpoint! Your baby will start exploring everything with its mouth. In the infant stage, your child learns to roll over, first from back to tummy and later also the other way around. Most babies do not learn this at the same time, so your child may be able to roll over from back to tummy, but not yet back again. This can be very frustrating for your little one and it shows! During the first year, your child will also learn to sit independently, pull itself up along by their arms and then crawl. Some babies take their first steps before their first birthday.

Social emotional development in infants

Social emotional development takes place rapidly in babies. From three months, they start admiring themselves in mirrors: “Hey, if I stick out my tongue, the other baby does that, too!” A baby’s own hands and feet are also extremely interesting. Babies are more flexible than adults will ever be! Learn all about the development of your baby in the Wonder Weeks app.

Between five and six months, your baby will start showing more interest in other babies and enjoy watching them. Babies show a preference for familiar people, which may result in the development of clinginess and separation anxiety. Clinginess usually peaks between eight and eighteen months, but can sometimes last until the age of three years.

Infants and sleep

Newborns sleep a lot and the amount of sleep gradually decreases the older they get. Babies between three and six months sleep around 12 to 15 hours a day, while the average number of hours per day between six and twelve months is 11 to 14. Not every baby needs the same amount of sleep. Between the age of three and six months, babies start to increasingly develop a pattern in the production of melatonin at night. You’ll notice that your baby starts sleeping more often at the same time of day. Even though your baby developed a day-night rhythm at around three months, he or she may start going through sleep regressions. Your baby may also sleep more poorly during a leap. Sleep regression usually takes place in the first year during leap four (four months) and leap six (eight months).

Infants and eating

During the first months of life, your baby only drinks breast milk or formula. But your infant will also eventually start eating solids. This is always a fun and exciting moment for new parents: how will your child respond to the new tastes and textures? Apart from the first solids, milk continues to be the most important part of your child’s diet until age one. At first, most children are not thrilled about the new textures and flavors and not every baby will immediately enjoy solids in addition to milk. Have your infant get used to solids gradually and keep in mind that every baby develops at its own pace. You can start giving your baby solids at six months.

From four months, you can offer your baby some fruits and vegetables in order to get accustomed to new tastes and textures. You can then gradually start trying more types of foods from around seven or eight months. There are lots of different ways to get your child used to solids. You can puree everything, but once your child is ready, you can also offer finger food. The approach you take depends entirely on you and your baby. As your child starts eating more and more solids, they may want to drink less milk. But it’s important that your child drinks enough fluids, so offer something to drink with finger food, such as lukewarm tea or a little water. As your child gets older, he or she can start eating the same foods as the rest of the family.