The baby is 5 months old

A 5-month-old baby is an extremely active baby, actively exploring both his body and the world around him. The baby's grasping movements are very developed and he tries to reach everything that is within reach. The ability to take objects with two hands, to transfer a toy from one hand to the other, everything that is in the baby's hands, goes into the mouth. Therefore, a 5-month-old baby should be under the close attention and control of parents, everything that can pose a danger to a small inquisitive person should be removed as far away as possible.

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What should a five-month-old baby be able to do?

• Actively look at pictures, bright objects and new faces.
• Continue to "coo", periodically pronouncing syllables (babbling).
• Actively grab all objects nearby and throw them.
• Distinguish between relatives and strangers, react to unfamiliar faces.
• Play with rattles and play items for 10-20 minutes.
• Turn over on your stomach and vice versa – on your back, try to sit up
• Rise up on your hands from a prone position.
• React with babbling to poems and nursery rhymes told by mom.

The baby's daily routine also changes: daytime sleep is reduced to two times, and the diet becomes more varied. Iron-containing products should be added to the diet - cereals, meat purees. In a physiological sense, a 5-month-old child also changes significantly:

• The fontanelle is getting smaller and still needs to be monitored for hygienic reasons.
• Body weight increases, the gain being from 500 to 700 grams.
• The child's height increases - from 1 to 2 centimeters.

Young parents need to remember that the child really grows and gains weight every month, but this process is most intense from the day of birth to 4-5 months, then both height and weight change their indicators in the upward direction, but much more slowly. At the same time, each child grows according to his own individual plan, and not in accordance with official standards.

5 month old baby on the move

A five-month-old baby is still curious and extremely flexible. Children of this age especially love to show their parents their signature exercise - "airplane". The baby does not really like to just lie on his stomach, he arches his back and stretches his arms and legs in different directions, as if he wants to "take off". Such training is really a natural need of the body to strengthen the back muscles. A five-month-old baby is also interested in his own fingers. If a month ago the baby simply studied his little body with curiosity, then at 5 months he "tests" his legs, easily pulling them to his mouth. Such amazing flexibility, unfortunately, is inherent only to children; with age, the spine loses such an amazing property, given the sedentary lifestyle of most adults. The baby can also demonstrate to his mother a kind of "bridge", when he, resting his head on the pillow, tries to raise his body in an arc. Such a warm-up is also a natural need of a small body to strengthen the muscles surrounding the spine. In general, a five-month-old baby is very active and mobile, so leaving him alone even for a few minutes is only possible in a closed crib. Lying on a sofa or changing table, the baby can quickly roll over, fall on the floor and get injured - a few seconds are enough for this. The child can also quickly roll to the edge of the sofa, so he needs constant supervision.

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5 month old baby – speech and hearing development

Babies at this age are very sociable, they enjoy talking to others in their own language, actively attracting attention to themselves. Particular preference is given to communication with the mother, who is often very tired of everyday chores, so five months is the time when you can safely involve close relatives, perhaps a nanny, in raising the child. The sound combinations that the baby tries to pronounce are not yet formed in the articulatory sense: neither the lips nor the child's tongue are yet adapted to speech. Nevertheless, active sound production by a five-month-old child is a phenomenon that mom and dad should expect. Sometimes the sounds turn into peculiar "songs" ending with rather high and loud notes, if the parents begin to "sing along", the baby can sing for quite a long time and with pleasure. The skill of producing drawn-out sounds later greatly helps in the formation of conscious speech and pronunciation of syllables. The child also tries to pronounce some consonants, such as "k", "b", "m", vowels are added to them and whole syllables are obtained. Parents should encourage the child in this direction and also pronounce the syllables "da-da", "ma-ma", "ba-ba", "pa-pa". Young fathers should not be offended by the fact that the baby pronounces "ma" or "na" with greater pleasure, it is simply easier for the child to pronounce voiced consonants than the voiceless syllable "pa".

In addition to sound achievements, a 5-month-old child is able to respond to his name, it is advisable to choose one or two affectionate options and pronounce them as often as possible. The baby should already understand that his name is "Sasha" or "Dasha", and not just "bunny", "bird" or "fish", with the images of which he will soon become familiar. In addition, the child reacts well to all the sounds that surround him, and he shows not only positive, but also negative emotions, for example, if the sound is unpleasant or too loud. At this age, the child needs to be shown objects and named, even if he does not immediately remember their definition, but this is how the baby's understanding of the outside world is formed. It is also worth checking the sensitivity of the child's hearing. This is done in the following way: in silence, mom or dad claps his hands, moving away from the child by 5-6 meters. The child should turn his head to the clap and find the one who is clapping with his eyes. So you need to check both ears, that is, clap on the right and left sides. Such a test will help to establish the norm of hearing development or small deviations from it, which are quite easy to correct with the help of an ENT doctor. The earlier hearing impairments are detected, the more effective their treatment.

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Baby 5 months – vision development

The child's vision is also actively developing, the baby not only follows objects with his eyes, but is also able to track their movement, look for them with his eyes. At five months, natural infantile "squint" finally disappears, if by the end of the fifth month the baby still has signs of "running" eyes, it is worth showing him to a pediatric ophthalmologist and pediatrician. The eye muscles, which develop independently, can be additionally developed with the help of games and exercises. Any bright object, toy, picture should be moved smoothly to the right, then to the left, tracking the child's reaction. This technique should be repeated 2-3 times a day, varying it by "hiding" the toy or moving it up and down.

How to test the skills and abilities of a five-month-old baby?

• Give your baby a bright, multi-colored toy, and then a single-color or pale one. The baby will look at the bright rattle much longer.
• Check the tenacity and strength of the grasping reflex with a small ball. The baby should be able to grab a round object with both hands, hold it, squeezing the fingers.
• Cover the baby, who is lying on his back and looking at the rattles, with a light blanket or diaper. If the baby is not sleeping, he will try to throw off the blanket with his feet or hands.
• Supporting the upper body, stimulate the baby's desire to rise from a position lying on his back.
• Give a toy, a rattle to the child and try to "take it away". The baby should hold the toy very tightly and tenaciously.
• Introduce your child to distant relatives or friends in order to determine whether the child can distinguish between “friends” and “strangers.”
• A 5-month-old child should be able to support himself on his forearms or palms while lying on his stomach.
• The child should be able to rest his feet on a flat surface (floor, bed), of course, with the support of his parents.
• The child should be able to roll over from his back to his stomach and vice versa.
• The child should try to sit up, sit with the support of the parents (no more than 3-5 minutes), keep the head straight, without tilting or hanging it.
• The child must pronounce sounds, both vowels and consonants, and often syllables.

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Baby 5 months - nutrition

At this age, the baby's diet becomes more varied and nutritious. Meals are taken every 3-3.5 hours, 5-6 times a day. Gradually, by the end of the fifth month, you need to switch to a five-time regimen. The amount of food should not exceed one liter in total, including water, juices or compote. At five months, it is worth introducing complementary foods into the baby's menu, consisting of dietary porridge or mashed vegetable puree. Of course, these recommendations are general, each baby may have his own individual diet. However, you should adhere to the basic framework of the daily routine of a five-month-old baby, which are as follows:

Time	Diet	Number of products, volume
Morning, 6.00	Breastfeeding or formula feeding	200 ml
Morning, 10.00	Vegetable puree / porridge	200 g
Day, 13 - 14.00	Breast milk or formula	200 ml
Evening, 18.00	Breast milk or formula	200 ml
Night, 21 - 22.00	Breast milk or formula	200 ml

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Baby 5 months - teeth and skin

A five-month-old baby may well already have his first teeth. How can you tell that the first milk tooth is ready to come into the world? The baby's gums begin to turn red, a small swelling or white plaque may appear at the site of the future tooth. You should not interfere with the natural process, previously used methods in the form of rubber rings, sucking spoons, bagels, and so on, are considered not only outdated, but also harmful, dangerous to the baby's health. Any object that the child will suck intensively, irritating the itchy gum, can damage the mucous membrane and provoke an infection of the jaw bone. In addition, both bagels and crackers are dangerous because of their crumbs, which can get into the child's respiratory tract. At the age of five months, the lower (medial) incisors begin to erupt, the process of their appearance can stretch until the age of nine months, which is considered normal.

The skin of a five-month-old baby does not lose its sensitivity and tenderness, but becomes much more resistant to environmental influences. In addition to the allergic rashes typical for today, the baby may develop abrasions caused by its active movements. In addition, physical activity can provoke diaper rash in the folds of the skin, where most sweat glands are located - under the arms, in the groin, neck folds. "Prickly heat" is quite easily eliminated by following these rules:

• If the room temperature allows, undress the child as much as possible, allowing the child’s skin to breathe.
• Make sure that there are no thick or rough seams on your clothes.
• Change diapers more often, preferably every three hours.
• Change the bed linen in the baby's crib more often, periodically remove the oilcloth, especially if the baby is in diapers.
• Bathe and wipe your child more often, preferably without using soap.
• Treat diaper rash and heat rash with special creams - Desitin, baby cream, Bubchen cream, powders.

A 5-month-old baby is a real little miracle who already knows how to communicate with the world around him, though in a language that only the baby understands. However, loving and attentive parents will understand their child from the first sound or syllable, the main thing is that the baby grows up healthy and develops within pediatric norms.

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