Life with a baby: 4 months old baby update has been well overdue! I went back to work so life is a little more chaotic but I’ve seen so much change happening in Leo!
You’re probably starting to notice how alert and active your 4 month old baby is. Their personality is starting to come out more and more as they engage with you and your little one’s strength is getting better and better! Every baby is different and each baby moves at their own pace but these are some milestone you might start seeing at 4 months.
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4 months old
Make sure to take your baby to their 4-month check up and schedule their 6-month check up.
If your little one is getting their vaccines this month they will be fussy through out the day, might get a slight fever, or sleep it off. Make sure to give them tons of cuddles!
Expecting milestones
- Can hold his head up independently.
- Starts to chuckle.
- Easily follows moving objects with his eyes.
- Hand-eye coordination improves.
- Brings hands to his mouth.
- Imitates facial expressions and certain sounds.
- Pushes up on his elbows during tummy time.
- Might start rolling from tummy to back
- Reaches out and grabs objects of interest since their vision is getting better.
- Babbles
- Extra drool on everything they put in their mouth as teething might start
Surviving the 4-month old sleep regression
Just when you think you have a good sleep schedule down the 4 month old sleep regression occurs. Some babies have a sleep regression earlier, Leo was one of them! He had his two weeks before he turned 4 months old but a routine made the change a little easier and helped us survive the infamous sleep regression.
On average, a 4 month old should sleep about 12-16 hours a day. Leo used to wake up at 6:30AM and would go right back to sleep until 9AM but that changed shortly after he turned 4 months. We followed this sleeping schedule as close as possible but it did vary according to Leo’s mood. Some days he would have 4 naps instead of 3, and some nights he would wake up more often at night. Keep in mind that babies are not robots and their sleep schedule will vary at times specially when the sleep regression occurs but always aim for your little one to sleep 12-16 hours in a 24 hour period.
Sleeping Schedule
- 7 AM: Wake up
- 8:30 AM: Feed & 1st nap
- 9:30 AM: Wake up
- 11:30 AM: Feed & 2nd Nap
- 1 PM: Wake up
- 2:30 PM: Feed & 3rd nap
- 4 PM: Wake up
- 5 PM: Feed & maybe a power nap (30 mins)
- 6:30 PM: Bath time
- 7 PM: Feed & bed time by 7:30 PM
Leo usually woke up by 11:30 PM to feed or I would wake him up at midnight to “dream feed” him. The next time he would wake up around 4:30-5:00AM to feed and fall right back to sleep until 7 AM.
Activities you can do with your 4 month old baby!
- More tummy time!
- It not only strengthens the neck, back, and core muscles but it also helps with coordination which lead to rolling.
- Sensory play to help your baby’s hand development:
- I exposed Leo to different textures through books and toys.
- They might not be interested in the reading portion of the book but show them the sound the textured part of the book makes and bring the book close to their hand so they can touch it too.
- Expose them to different weights.
- Hand over a light object and describe the weight before and once your baby grabs it. Start with the lighter object and then introduce the heavier object.
- They’re learning about cause and effect and rattles are perfect! Hand a rattle to your little one and hold one yourself to model the action of shaking the rattle…shake softly so the rattle is not so loud and your kid doesn’t get scared before he even tries to shake it himself.
- I exposed Leo to different textures through books and toys.
- Encourage rolling.
- Hold their favorite toy over their tummy when they are laying on their back and once they start reaching for it, slowly move the toy around and over their head to initiate rolling.
- If your baby can partially roll & lay on their side, gently assist them to complete the roll and get used to the movement.
- Practice sitting
- Place your baby between your legs while you’re sitting down to support them while sitting.
- Place a toy in front of them to show them they have better range of motion and encourage this position.
- Always listen to your baby’s cues and if they look or sound too uncomfortable in this position, give them a break and try again later. Leo wasn’t too fond of this at first and we would only use it for 5 minutes at first, but as we worked at using the core muscles more and more he used to take 15 minutes just trying to taste whatever was at his level until he no longer needed me for support.
- Keep talking and reading to your baby to aid language development.
- Play peek-a-boo to help your baby learn about object permanence. Enjoy the little chuckles you get with this game!
- Favorite items:
- Mirror with crinkle pages and high contrast pictures is perfect for tummy time & sensory play!
- Seasonal interactive books are also great for tummy time.
- Textured books for sensory play.
- Textured tissues
- Different size and texture balls
- Stacking rings with different textures and weights! (Expect baby to explore the textures & not actually the action of stacking the rings)
- We’ve used this rattle set since he was able to grasp objects and this other rattle set for when he started teething more.
I used the activity table in the picture to the left to practice sitting but couldn’t find it anywhere in stock. This activity table is the closest to what we used.- You want a toy or activity table that allows your kid to be sitting down and have the toy/table support the front in case they get tired and fold forward. You can support their back by placing them in between your legs.
- Model playing with the activity table and get excited while “playing” so your child can engage more with it since sitting might not be as comfortable for them at this point.
- We also used this activity triangle when we practiced sitting
Remember that each child develops at their own pace. If your little one is not ready or they are just not interested in the activities, try again another time. The key is to expose them to different kinds of play to engage their little muscles and make them stronger at their own pace.
Leo's journey at 4 months old
It’s amazing to see how much growth and changes my 4 month old baby has gone through since he was born. He was so tiny! I remember how baby Leo wanted to constantly be held and soothed because this world was a little too chaotic for him. Now we have little “chats” instead of feeling like I’m just talking to myself. He actually responds by adding little babbles here and there and I can tell he even waits a little after he says something to see if I understood. Its the cutest thing!
He LOVES bath time! Whenever we ask him if he’s ready to take a bath, his face lights up and we get the biggest smile. We get the biggest smiles and loudest chuckles during bath time too!
Leo spoiled us the second month when he was sleeping like he knew we were not morning people but that was quickly taken away when the infamous 4 month sleep regression occurred a little earlier than I thought. He was 3.5 months when his sleep regression started and it was three exhausting weeks. Right when I thought we had a good sleeping routine going, he woke up one day and decided to change that routine completely. Leo definitely keeps me on my toes! We got through it with the new sleep schedule I wrote above. We tried to follow it as close as possible and made it our new routine.
At his 4-month check up Leo got his vaccines, he screamed so loud I almost cried. After calming him by providing some comfort feeding he was fussy on the way home. I fed him once we got home and he was once again a happy boy and completely forgot about the shots he got. When we got home we ended up cuddling majority of the day which is exactly what he and I needed.
Leo begun rolling over onto his back during tummy time a week after turning 3 months and by the time he turned 4 months he had already master it completely and began rolling back to his tummy but he only favored one side. I don’t know how he didn’t get dizzy but he would roll around the entire living room and would get really upset when he ran into the couch or any big furniture that prevented him from rolling.
Since he favored one side, I would purposely lay him close to the couch so he would be forced to try to roll in the opposite direction. He had multiple frustration cries but he learned to roll the opposite way within a couple of days of constant rolling.
At the time we didn’t have a play pen and it was a struggle for us because we had to constantly pick Leo up and set him back to the start of the mat or flip him so he would go the opposite direction and continue to roll around in the living room. There was no stopping him! I didn’t think he would be so mobile when he started rolling so I figured I had time to buy a play pen…learn from my mistake and get one as soon as your little one has good head control! I ended up getting this play pen in the largest size as soon as possible so he could practice non stop if he wanted to.
Since Leo was rolling all over the place at this point, he started to sleep on his tummy. At first this was terrifying to me and I would constantly check in on him. I had anxiety this entire month because his face looked like it was buried in the mattress every time I would watch him through the baby monitor making me think he was not breathing but he was fine.
We also started working on sitting a lot more! We started by playing with his activity board while I supported him by sitting behind him. At first he was only able to handle that position for a little bit at a time so we we took breaks…a lot of breaks, but would continue practicing throughout the day. Eventually he was able to handle more and I started to notice his abdominal and back muscles getting stronger to the point where we started practicing sitting unassisted and by almost 5 months he was sitting unassisted!
At the beginning of October he was able to sit for short periods of time but you could tell sitting was not his favorite thing to do and he was not in the mindset to master it at that point. He was more invested in trying to roll in the opposite direction and reaching for his toes! Once he mastered the art of rolling in both directions and putting those toes in his mouth while in the sited position, he began reaching for his toes when he was on his back to put them in his mouth whenever he would take a break from rolling but he was not able to reach them just yet so he would just lay there grunting in frustration.
Leo’s vision was getting better, he started to stare at his hands more often instead of just putting them in his mouth. He would twist his hand back and forth and would even open and close the hand he was staring at very slowly. It was so cute to see how amazed he looked sometimes just staring at his hand.
Halloween, one of my favorites holiday was just around the corner when Leo turned 4 months. He dressed up as a little skeleton and we walked around the neighborhood watching all the decorated houses while his older cousins were going trick or treating. He was amazed by all the lights and would let a out tiny laughs and chuckle every now and then with his cousins.
Little by little I’m able to see that Leo’s legs are getting physically stronger too. When I hold him in an assisted standing position he gets excited and starts to bend his little knees and pushes up to make a “jumping” movement. I simply help him make that little “jump” movement when I feel him pushing up and he lights up when we do that over and over again in front of the mirror. oh the mirror! He loves “jumping,” sitting, and talking to himself in front of the mirror!