The world of relationships

Leap 5

From 22 weeks, your baby enters the world of relationships. Welcome to leap 5! Leap 5 is no small leap. This is a giant leap! Why? This leap enables your baby to perceive the relationships between all the earlier leaps. It is as if up until now, they have seen all the leaps as individual pieces of a puzzle and suddenly they all fall into place. Learn everything you need to know about leap 5 in The Wonder Weeks app.

The fussy phase of leap 5

The fussy phase of leap 5

From week 22, you will be able to notice the first signals of leap 5. Your baby will cry more, be clingier and crankier than usual. The clingy phase of the leap often lasts about four weeks, although it could last anything between one to five weeks. You have the greatest chance of seeing the signals in your baby around week 26. Did you know that all you have to do is fill in the due date in our app to get a personalized leap schedule that includes all the fussy phases?

The skills phase of leap 5

The skills phase of leap 5

Around week 26, your baby will have become more accustomed to the new world and the fussy phase of leap 5 will have passed. Then it is time for the best part of the leap: the skills phase! Based on their knowledge of “events” from leap 4, for the first time your baby is able to perceive and understand the “relationships” between things.

Leap 5: all about relationships

What to expect in leap 5

After leap 5, your baby can also make relationships in how things are connected to each other. For example, after this leap your baby learns the relationships between objects and that a block can be placed in, behind, on or under another block. Your baby will experiment with these relationships.

You could get a basket or box and put all kinds of things in it so that your baby can put the objects next to the basket or put them in or take them out. This enables your baby to play with the relationship of one object to another. Did you know that besides this game, our app also contains many more games to help stimulate the skills?

Leap 5: afraid of the distance between you

Around weeks 29 and 30, it could seem like another fussy phase has arrived. Some babies will cry more, be clingier and crankier than usual. But this has nothing to do with the fussy phase of the leap. During leap 5, your baby has discovered that you can leave him or her behind. That is because after this leap, your baby realizes that you can increase the distance between the two of you by walking away. As they can now grasp “distances” and what that entails, they panic and may even protest if you just go around a corner.

Tip: talk to them and let them know that you are still there. Even if you are standing around the corner just out of sight. The more you reassure them, the quicker they will get used to the fact that Mom or Dad aren’t always in sight.

 

Every baby has a unique development

The new world your baby is exploring is filled with a wide range of new skills for them to develop. Your baby will naturally gravitate towards the skills that interest them the most and that they want to focus on. Some babies will mainly show their speech and language skills while others will focus on their motor skills. This can actually give you a glimpse into your baby’s emerging personality. Our app allows you to track the specific skills associated with each leap, but it also provides you with helpful instruction videos to guide you along the way.

Baby leap chart

During our research into mental leaps, we discovered that this phase in which your baby cries more frequently and shows a different behavior than normally, can actually be predicted quite accurately based on the due date. Discover the leaps of your baby on our website, using our baby leap chart.

More about leaps
Leap 1
WEEK 4 - SENSATIONS
From week 4, your baby enters leap 1, the world of sensations. The first signals of your baby’s first leap will appear between weeks 4 to 6 after the due date.
More about leap 1
Leap 2
WEEK 7 - PATTERNS
From week 7, your baby enters leap 2: the world of patterns. Your baby could show the first signals of leap 2 between week 7 to week 10 after the due date.
More about leap 2
Leap 3
WEEK 11 - SMOOTH TRANSITIONS
Around 11 weeks, you may see signs of the next leap approaching: leap 3, the world of smooth transitions. Your baby is acquiring yet another new skill!
More about leap 3
Leap 4
WEEK 14 - EVENTS
From week 14, leap 4 starts! The first signals of leap 4 will appear between weeks 14 to 20 after the due date. During leap 3, your baby learned to see several smooth transitions, patterns, or sensations without seeing any connection.
More about leap 4
Leap 5
WEEK 22 - RELATIONSHIPS
(You are here)
From 22 weeks, your baby enters the world of relationships. Welcome to leap 5! Leap 5 is no small leap. This is a giant leap! Why? This leap enables your baby to perceive the relationships between all the earlier leaps.
More about leap 5
Leap 6
WEEK 33 - CATEGORIES
From week 33, the world of categories will be knocking at your door, leap 6. The first signals of leap 6 will appear during weeks 33 to 38. Once your baby can perceive “categories”, they will realize that they can divide the world into groups.
More about leap 6
Leap 7
WEEK 41 - SEQUENCES
Around 41 weeks, the world of sequences is just around the corner. Welcome to leap 7! Between 41 and 47 leap 7 will start. While your baby mainly studied things by taking or tearing them apart during the previous leap, they will now be rather “constructive” after this leap.
More about leap 7
Leap 8
WEEK 51 - PROGRAMS
Hip, hip, hooray! During this leap, your baby will celebrate its first birthday. Your baby will not only make a leap in their mental development but will also turn from a baby into a toddler!
More about leap 8
Leap 9
WEEK 59 - PRINCIPLES
Around 59 weeks, you may see signs of the next leap: leap 9. Welcome to the world of principles. If your toddler has taken the leap, you will notice that they are running all kinds of “programs” more smoothly, more naturally and more clearly.
More about leap 9
Leap 10
WEEK 70 - SYSTEMS
Around 70 weeks, your toddler is ready for a new leap into the world of systems: leap 10. The last leap, at least the last one we have recorded. In leap 10, you can now observe your toddler becoming aware of systems after making this leap!
More about leap 10