In the third month, your baby grows and develops no less intensively and rapidly than in the previous two.
Physical development
In the third month, your baby grows and develops no less intensively and rapidly than in the previous two. The rapid development of all organs and systems of the child does not slow down. For the third month of life, the toddler will gain about 800 grams of weight, its growth will increase by about three centimeters.
The development of the respiratory system of the baby can be judged by the following indicators. The minute breathing volume in a three-month baby is twice as large as that in a newborn.
The digestive system is not lagging behind in its anatomical and functional progress. The surface area of the gastric mucosa increased by three times by the third month.
Central nervous system affects the speed of cellular and tissue development at this stage, which is directly reflected in the features mental development, which we will talk about later. The development of cells of various analytical and regulatory centers of the child’s brain, which are now rapidly generating connections between themselves, is influenced in many ways by the nature of the nutrition of the little ones.
It should be noted the great importance of breastfeeding for the successful development of the nervous centers of the little man. A number of maternal milk ingredients (the amino acid taurine or the long-chain omega fatty acids) are extremely important for the rapidly developing infant's brain.
Indicators of the child from 3 to 4 months
Growth chart and
And weight chart
Growth
60.25-61.30 cm
6.075-6.265 kg
Head circumference
Chest girth
Many pediatricians are convinced that in the third month of life Breast milk is practically all that a baby needs for full provision with chemicals necessary for productive growth and development. In other words, a three-month-old baby doesn’t need any vegetable, fruit or other complementary foods. The only thing that can be added to breast milk, as noted by pediatricians, is vitamin D, which prevents the occurrence of rickets in a baby. Therefore, additional supplementation of vitamin D is often recommended by doctors as a daily supplement to the diet of the crumbs. In summary, do not rush to change the diet - breastfeeding is now optimal.
At this stage the toddler begins to play with his own hands., the movements of his hands become free and expedient - he brings objects to his face (mouth), reaches for toys, rattles with a rattle, slaps his palms and pulls them into his mouth. Lying on his stomach, the baby can rise, leaning on his elbows and forearm, trying to sit, if he is supported for his ass. The child turns from back to side, trying to keep his head. At the stage of the third month, it is good to hang the mobile over the crib. A child plays with spinning objects and listens to music. Thus, the interrelationship between vision and hearing is formed.
If the baby does not learn to look at the legs, then in the future the correct coordination of movements in the sitting position will take longer to form. During pulling up the head of the toddler should be pulled up to his chest, there should be tension in the muscles of the arms. Many pediatricians note that an important stage in the psychophysical development in the third month is the formation of trunk reactions and the vertical axis of the body.
The listed skills are necessary for the “self-awareness” of a small person.. The kid, able to break away from the surface, feels the boundary of his own body, begins to understand that a table or bed is not its continuation. Therefore, children who do not roll over have difficulty in forming the concept of "I". At this stage of the child’s development, the first attempts at reassessing spatial representations occur. What was behind was from below; what was on the right, became on the left.
The very first attempt will be considered a head to the side. You can watch the contraction of the muscles of the body. The head is turned in one direction, and the tension in the muscles of the body should arise from the opposite side. Now, neither legs nor hands are consciously supported, but their interaction becomes the basis for a coup from back to stomach and back. This momentous event usually occurs at the age of three or four months.
The kid at this stage can already be awake for one and a half to two hours in a row.
Visits to the pediatrician and other medical professionals at this age are required.
Firstly, because at this vital stage a small person will have a serious vaccination - a vaccination complex. Secondly, the probability of diathesis, rickets or colic is not excluded. If the kid gives you to understand that he is worried about any ailment, be sure to contact a specialist.
Mental development
How to understand what the baby is crying from? What actions should parents take to make the child calm down? This will help to understand the nature and characteristics of the crying. You just need to listen to him carefully.
- Hungry crying is usually louder than the rest. It often begins with small sobs and dramatically grows, becoming piercing. Such crying means that the pea is ripe for feeding.
- Drowsy crying, as a rule, is accompanied by rubbing the pens of the eyes, twisting his head. Parents should help the little one fall asleep, rocking and keeping quiet.
- Painful crying begins suddenly, often on a very high note. Children at this age often have a stomach ache or ears.
- Crying with increased intracranial pressure, as a rule, begins in the evening at the same time, on the same note.
The easiest way to calm a screaming toddler is to give him a pacifier.. Sometimes you can unwrap a crumb and give his own finger to suck him. Such an alternative method has its advantages - the finger will never fall to the floor, it should not be boiled, the baby’s hand can be found even in pitch darkness.
How do the organs of vision and hearing in a baby develop during this period?
In the third month, a child may focus your eyes and follow the bright object for five to six minutes. Previously, the crumb could only fix objects on its back, and now in an upright position on the hands of adults. Now the baby clearly catches the direction of the sound and turns his head in the direction from which it is heard. A crumb is no longer looking for a breast, but opens his mouth when it comes close. Now the child learns mom, willingly smiles at parents and familiar people. The little man laughs if he is satisfied, and screams if in some way he is uncomfortable. The walking of a child is enhanced, manifested more often. With each passing week, the baby’s vocal manifestations become more diverse - the pronounced sounds of both vowels and consonants often merge with each other, forming simple combinations like “a-a-a-s-s” or “yy-y." Such speech manifestations indicate significant progress in the development of the emotional sphere of the child. For kids of this age are walking when they arrive in a great mood.
The Karapuz listens to music with joy. Now it is better to delight the baby's ear with calm melodic compositions. Optimally - from classical academic music. Mimic movements of the baby become more expressive and informative for mom and dad. Just as in previous months, the child is in dire need of constant attention from parents and long and gentle intercourse. The kid really likes it when his mom or dad takes him in his arms, talks to him, talks about what is happening around, reads books or praises a baby.
In the third month, being upright on someone's hands, the baby focuses on the face of an adult talking to him, listens to his voice, answers the conversation with a smile, animated movements of his arms and legs, sounds. Such manifestations of joy in the dialogue, characteristic of this age, are called the “revitalization complex”. Your child - is almost a complete interlocutor. The baby's olfactory perception is actualized - along with the recognition of the face and voice of the mother, the baby feels the smell of the parents. Such recognition of a loved one may be accompanied by a smile, a walk (agucan), a general revival.
And by the twelfth and thirteenth week will learn to fix the subject, moving in an arc in front of his face at a distance of 15 cm in the range of 180 ° - from one side to the other, will be able to pay attention to a very small object.
The indicators described above and the achievement of this age should not be taken as absolute standards. Do not panic and do not be alarmed if your child does not correspond to these descriptions in some way. In rare cases, a delay may indicate a problem, but often this does not mean anything, and your baby will be fine.
Everything is quite individual
For example, premature babies usually reach key indicators later than their peers, closer to their biological age, that is, the age they would have if they were born on time. Mom at this stage of development of the baby enough trouble and problems. Chances are that she does not get enough sleep and gets very tired. Undue anxiety or panic. Keep an emotionally positive microclimate around your child. Everything goes on as usual, and your baby will surprise you more than once with his abilities.
In this article:
Not only young parents, but also pediatricians are interested in the physical development of infants. Every month, during a visit to the children's clinic, the baby undergoes a control weighing and measurement of height. According to pediatricians, the child's weight at 3 months depends on the proper organization of feeding and caring for them, as well as the physical health of the baby.
The average weight and height for children who have reached the age of three months are determined according to a schedule drawn up by WHO specialists. It is easy to find out if a child has deviations in or everything goes well, it is easy to compare his weight with the criteria specified in the table.
Normal weight and height of the baby in 3 months
In the first 3 months of weight gain in infants should be 200-250 grams weekly. That is, by the first month of life the baby should weigh about 800 grams more than on the day of his birth. At 2 months, this figure should be about 1.6 kg. And, accordingly, at 3 months the average weight of the child should be more by 2.4 kg compared with his birth weight. If the newborn was born with a weight of 3 kg, then at 3 months the baby weighs more than 5 kg.
Sometimes the kids do not fit into the "average schedule" and recruit more or less marked norms. There is nothing wrong with that, since the indicators of height and weight given in the table can be called conditional.
Body weight of infants should not have strict limits or criteria, because each child is individual.
After weighing, the pediatrician compares the weight of the child with the norm of 3 months according to the table. This allows the doctor to determine the level of physical development of the baby. Indicators of height and weight "less than the average" and "more than the norm", in harmony with each other, may indicate that the child is simply small by nature or, on the contrary, large. If growth rates are not combined with body mass indicators, attention should be paid to this.
Comparative analysis of key parameters
The average parameters of height and weight of the child in 3 months according to the table are:
- 55-62 cm tall;
- 5200-6000 gr weight.
For 3 months of life, the baby should score about 2400 grams and grow by 8.5 cm. Of course, these are average indicators, and they can vary.
The main thing is to not violate the proportions of the torso, head and limbs in infants.
These parameters make it possible to follow the normal physical development of the child.
Does the weight of babies differ in breastfeeding?
The weight of the baby on the pediatrician tracks from birth. Many mothers are completely groundlessly worried about the child’s seeming thinness compared to. These alarms are completely in vain.
When receiving breast milk as the main food, babies always gain more slowly and less, and this is normal. In the case of breastfeeding, there is no need to strictly rely on how much a baby should weigh at 3 months according to the WHO table. It is more important to evaluate criteria such as the baby’s body weight at birth, the quality of breastfeeding, how the baby takes the breast, etc.
On average, children receiving breast milk in the third month of life, add from 170 to 245 grams per week. As a result, the total increase per month can be only 600 grams.
Most pediatricians insist that if a baby takes 10-12 times a day, it readily sucks milk for at least 20 minutes, writes at least 12 times during the day, its fecal mass has a normal consistency and color, and the baby is active and cheerful. nothing to worry about.
Many mothers make a mistake starting a baby from the age of three months. Nowadays, pediatricians advise not to rush into this and give new products from 6 months of a baby's life. At 3 months, for the normal weight of the baby, there are enough nutrients and trace elements that are found in breast milk. If it is not enough, the baby is prescribed a complex of vitamins and minerals additionally.
If the baby is 3 months old or overweight
Most young parents point out that just by the age of three months the baby becomes more rounded. Plump cheeks, folds on the arms and legs, decorated tummy - all this is an indication of the formation of metabolism. But in some cases, a child of 3 months gains little weight or, on the contrary, adds very quickly, not complying with the norm criteria. Why does this happen?
Causes of insufficient weight gain of the child:
- Undernourishment . The most common reason for the shortage breast milk in a nursing mother. The daily volume of breast milk for babies 2-4 months should be at least 1/6 of his body weight. To find out if the baby has enough milk before and after feeding for 24 hours, it is necessary to calculate the amount of food that is fed into the body. If the problem of underfeeding is found, you should consult with the pediatrician about the choice of the adapted mixture, which will replace the missing amount of nutrition.
- Pathologies . A child at 3 months may not gain weight due to illness. For example, the usual causes nasal congestion, as a result of which the baby can only breathe through the mouth. This significantly interferes with feeding - it becomes difficult to take a breast or a bottle of crumbs. In addition, the baby can persistently refuse food, if candidosis develops on the mucous of his mouth. In such cases, it is necessary to engage in the treatment of major diseases and not to try to feed the baby by force.
- Zinc deficiency . The lack of this trace element in the body of a woman during pregnancy can lead to the birth of a child with a lack of body weight, even if the birth was on time. During lactation, each mother should continue taking multivitamin complexes. Babies-artificials drugs based on zinc are introduced into the diet.
- Individual complexion child . The scatter of weight values among newborns can vary by half! There are both record breakers with a weight of more than 5 kg and miniature crumbs with a body weight of 2.5 kg. If one of the parents of a child is naturally slim in stature, the insufficient weight of the infant is not a pathology, provided that otherwise his physical development corresponds to the norm.
Causes of overweight baby:
- overfeeding with artificial mixtures;
- adding to the mix or drinks for the kid sugar;
- violation of the rules of feeding;
- genetic predisposition to completeness;
- endocrine diseases.
You can see in the table above how much a baby weighs at 3 months. If the baby has gained 15% more than the average values, most likely, we are talking about overweight or obesity. In this case, the baby has pronounced deposits of fat in the abdomen and hips. Sometimes this specific fullness is an individual hereditary feature and subsequently disappears. But to consult a pediatrician is necessary in any case.
Effects of obesity in infancy insidious. In the future, the child may experience chronic problems with digestion and cardiovascular system, arterial hypertension, tendency to cholelithiasis and urolithiasis, type 2 diabetes, sexual dysfunction, flat feet and much more.
If a child quickly gains weight as a result of overfeeding, it is recommended to offer him a less concentrated formula and reduce the frequency of breastfeeding, replacing them partially by feeding the baby with boiled water. Of course, such actions should be discussed with a doctor.
Young mothers should more simply relate to possible discrepancies between the basic parameters of the child - height and weight - with average figures. If the baby develops according to age, is physically active, eats with appetite and sleeps well, is interested in the environment, does not suffer from problems of defecation and urination, and the doctors do not find any pathologies in it, it means everything is in order.
Useful video about growth and weight in children
At three months, your son or daughter is already much more mature, and we can say with confidence that in caring for him, the days of mothers pass very quickly. Children at this age are characterized by sucking hands and examining them, grabbing toys and turning their heads, walking and smiling. What else distinguishes a three-month baby from a newborn, and what are the physiological features of such babies?
What does a baby look like at 3 months
The three-month baby is lying confidently and straight on the back. His hands are raised, the baby can play with them, suck their fingers, look at them. The hands and feet of the baby in the period of wakefulness learn to grab.
A baby at 3 months can also lie on the tummy, turn left and right. Usually the legs of the baby are set apart and the knees are turned outwards.
A healthy three-month baby lays the head equally well on the left and right sides. He has the same folds on the arms and legs.
How much should a baby weigh in 3 months
According to domestic pediatricians, in three months the boys weigh from 4.9 to 7 kilograms, girls - from 4.8 to 6.3 kilograms.
The minimum height of boys is 56.5 cm, the maximum is 62 cm. For girls, these figures are 56.2 cm and 61.8 cm, respectively.
WHO data are somewhat different. So, boys weigh from 5 to 8 kilograms. Girls - from 4.5 to 7.5 kilograms.
How much should a baby sleep in 3 months
A three-month-old baby’s night sleep lasts about 10 hours. In the afternoon, a child of this age sleeps several times. These are usually two long periods of sleep (one-two hours) and two short day periods of sleep (30-40 minutes). A kid at this age can fall asleep for a long time, sucking his chest. Falling asleep lasts for 20 minutes. It should be noted that in this age period children can already react sleep deterioration to change the weather and the full moon. This may be a longer fall asleep, and restless, intermittent sleep at night.
How much should a baby eat at 3 months
At three months of age, 9-10 feedings per day and 2-3 feedings at night are considered normal. The number of short-term attachments of the baby to the breast is significantly reduced. And during feeding the child can often break away from the breast. In this age period, the intervals between feedings are 2.5-3.5 hours.
If we talk about children on bottle feedingthen they eat up to one liter per day infant formula.
At this age, pediatricians are advised to gradually introduce in the child's diet fruit juice. However, it will be better if this is done after vaccination in a few days. Juice can be given, starting with 2-3 drops, and within a month this dose is increased to 2-3 teaspoons. Sometimes it is recommended to dilute the juice with water. In 3.5 months in the absence of contraindications can be entered into the diet. fruit puree. This should be done gradually, after consulting your pediatrician.
How often should a baby be at 3 months old?
In three months, the baby's chair on breastfeeding already becoming uniform and more regular. Moreover, its frequency is different. A child can crap every day at about the same time. Stool frequency - 5 times a day.
But it happens that a child poops only once a day or once every two days. For children 3-4 months this is not a deviation from the norm. If the baby is only breastfed, then with such a periodicity no enemas and laxatives are required, provided that he feels good and does not act up.
What sounds should a baby make at 3 months
Three months is a period of active walking. Vowels are already turning into syllables. By repeating the syllables “gu” and “agu”, a child can even “hold” a conversation with his mother or another companion who is pleasant to him for even a few minutes.
In general, at this age, the child requires more attention in the form of communication, talk mom. The child's speech develops, other intonations appear. These can be sounds combined with emotions in response to what they have seen, heard. The kid is much more willing to communicate.
When a mom, dad or other relative speaks to him, he listens carefully or listens. Yes, as long as he does not understand the meaning of your messages, but he already reciprocates - with a smile or aging at the gentle words of his mother, with a whimper at the speech of a stranger and an unfamiliar timbre of his voice. Many kids enjoy listening to music at this age. Some like a quiet and calm, others - dance.
Often babies in 3 months talk to themselves. Playing with hands, they make some sounds, considering a rattle, - others. Scientists have proven that children who lacked communication up to a year will become noisy and restless in the future. Thus, they seem to compensate for the lack of communication with them at the age of 12 months.
Psychologists advise moms to voice all their actions and often talk with the baby. When dressing a child, name the objects with which you interact, body parts. The child will quickly delve into the names of body parts, clothing, drawings, it depicted. Thus, already at this age you will gradually develop future skills child's speech, form his passive vocabulary.
A child at 3 months does not hold his head well
If, by the age of three months, the child has not yet learned to hold the head independently and confidently, do not sound the alarm. It is quite possible that everything is normal, because not all children have the same muscle development. It depends on the build, ability to dynamic behavior. Slow, calm, phlegmatic children and head start to start later, and nimble - much faster. Development of the skill of holding the head can be individual.
Of course, the norm is the ability to hold it to the attainment of three months of age. Some kids confidently do this in two months.
The concept of “holding the head” is the ability of the child to hold it confidently and straight, if it is lifted vertically, to lift it in a position lying on its stomach.
If you are worried about this lag, then go with the child to see a neuropathologist. He will help you to establish the reasons for this deviation from the norm. Usually it can be:
- child injuries during childbirth;
- too weak muscle tone of the neck and shoulder girdle;
- feeding problems;
- prematurity of the child.
Sometimes in three months the child keeps the head not straight, but at an angle, as if on a flank. This is very likely a pathology - torticollis or paresis of the neck muscles. To eliminate this problem, the neuropathologist will most likely assign you a massage course. It is also possible in severe cases to use wearing an orthopedic pillow, and in the worst cases, surgical intervention.
With a crooked baby, the mother needs to take care that all the toys and interesting baby the subjects were on the problem side. So the child will make efforts to turn the neck and develop it.
A child in 3 months squints his eyes
Lack of eye coordination is the norm for newborns. This is due to the natural immaturity of the brain, which is responsible for the direct look. Each child can “shoot with his eyes” for several months. Usually this phenomenon goes away on its own. For most babies, the alignment of sight occurs by two months, for some - by three, sometimes it happens in the period from 3 to 5 months. This is an average time frame.
And still it is important not to miss the problem. Therefore, it is necessary with the baby, who still mows down at 3 months, to pay a visit to an ophthalmologist.
The doctor will correctly evaluate the motor functions of your baby’s eyes. He will tell you how to avoid the problem. Note that today's research methods children's view Do not cause your baby anxiety. But they make it possible to detect various disorders in the form of myopia and hyperopia, astigmatism and congenital cataracts, optic nerve anomalies and pathology of the nerves that control eye movement.
Special attention to the problem of strabismus in children at 3 months should be given to those parents whose families have vision problems. After all, the genetic factor is already serious. The alarm for mom and dad is the absence of a child’s reaction to the switched on light, as well as the fixation of a child’s gaze on toys, mom’s face.
Pediatricians are advised to play it safe rather than lose time due to parental doubts about vision problems.
If the doctor has doubts or suspected deviations in the development of the visual organs of your child, then you should not dismiss his recommendations, hoping for a chance. On signals of visual impairment need to respond without delay. For example, the consequence of prolonged strabismus may be the underdevelopment of binocular vision (that is, the ability to perceive an image from the right and left eye as a whole).
A child in 3 months gets up on socks
If at three months the child tries to stand on the socks, then this may be a manifestation of the tone of the muscles of the foot. This happens from the walker, but at a later age. If several times you have noticed attempts to get up on your toes, then refer again to the pediatric neuropathologist. Perhaps he will direct you with the child and to the orthopedist.
Sometimes getting up on socks can be associated with problems of the spine (it could be a pinching), a child’s head. In any case, you yourself will not be able to solve this problem. So ask for help from a specialist.
Especially for - Diana Rudenko