Child development at 3 months

Your three-month-old baby is beginning to exhibit more personality and is growing more interested in their surroundings. It’s an exciting time to be watching them grow and develop as you start to notice little milestones.

Your baby will start to move with greater control; you might see them reaching for toys or turning their head to follow voices and sounds. This early demonstration of coordination is a significant milestone in their physical growth.

Your infant is also beginning to react more emotionally to you; they are smiling and even laughing when they recognize your face. These are not only happy times but also critical for their social growth.

Physiological changes

• The child"s subcutaneous fat tissue develops, therefore, by the age of three months, the baby has plump cheeks, as well as folds on the arms and legs.
• The muscular system of the toddler develops from top to bottom. The baby has already mastered holding his head and began to use his hands. Hypertonicity of the hands has completely passed, which allows the baby to more actively explore his body and toys, touching everything with his hands.
• Many reflexes of newborns are already fading. For example, a three-month-old baby should not have a search reflex (turning the head when stroking the corner of the mouth), a proboscis reflex (pulling the lips when touching them), or a Babkin reflex (opening the mouth when pressing on the palm). The same reflexes as crawling, sucking, or Moro are still very pronounced at 3 months.
• The baby"s digestive system is developing. The stomach increases its capacity and can hold more milk, but the baby is not yet ready to accept other food besides breast milk or formula. The only addition to the baby"s diet can be additional vitamin D, which is often prescribed to 3-month-old children as a preventive measure against rickets.
• The stool of a three-month-old baby is more uniform and regular. A toddler who receives only breast milk has a stool frequency from 1 time in 2-5 days to 5 times a day. If a child has not had a bowel movement for several days on breastfeeding only, and the child behaves normally, and the stool after such a long pause is soft, no additional stimulation is required for the child to defecate.

Watch this video with O. N. Teplyakova, an expert in intellectual development, to learn how to play with a three-month-old baby.

Physical development

A baby’s weight increases by 750–800 grams on average during the third month of life, and its height increases by 2.5 cm over the previous two months. The head circumference increases by approximately 1 cm, while the chest circumference increases by 1-1.5 cm. These two measurements equalize by the time the child reaches four months of age.

A child’s height, weight, and other physical development markers are influenced by a variety of factors, including nutrition, diseases, and heredity.

Parents can use average indicators and the normal range to assess whether their three-month-old child is physically developing normally, according to medical research. They are shown in the following table:

A signpost

Three-month average

Boys between three and four months

Girls between three and four months

Circumference of the chest

To determine the norms that apply to your child specifically, use the calculator. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines for weight and height form the basis of the calculator.

What the baby can do?

• Lying on the stomach and in an upright position, the baby has already learned to hold up his head. If you support the baby in an upright position under the arms and put him on a solid surface, the baby will lean on his legs. In addition, lying on his back, the baby has already learned to turn on his side.
• The baby"s vision is actively developing. The baby looks at objects around him for a long time, paying attention to both stationary and fast-moving objects. To see everything better in the tummy position, the baby rises on his forearms.
• The sounds made by a three-month-old baby have become more varied. Consonants are added to vowels. Being in a good mood, the baby coos for a long time.
• A 3-month-old baby is very emotional. The baby is very happy about the appearance of his mother and communication with her. A complex of revival also occurs when an adult sings, the sounds of musical instruments and the sight of toys. If the baby is unhappy with something, you will hear a loud cry. Negative emotions arise in a 3-month-old baby when communication with his mother stops, a toy suddenly disappears, the surrounding temperature changes sharply, there is a limitation of movement or pain.
• By three months, the baby begins to more actively explore the world by taste, sucking on everything that he can take with his hands. First of all, the baby sucks his fists or fingers.

A baby at three months old is developing quickly, starting to engage with the outside world, and growing more conscious of their surroundings. They are starting to follow objects with their eyes, smile, and identify faces they know. Babies also begin to have more control over their movements at this time, such as lifting their heads during tummy time and swatting at toys. These early indications of speech and physical growth serve as crucial foundations for later developmental milestones.

Activities for development

Compared to the first two months of life, the baby is now awake for longer periods of time, so it is important to make the most of this time when they are able to communicate and process new information.

• In the morning, do a little exercise with the baby. Gently bend and unbend the legs and arms to improve the condition of the ligaments. You can also exercise with your baby on a fitball – lay the baby on the ball on his tummy or on his back, hold the baby by the legs and gently roll him.
• Regularly massage the baby"s entire body, as it will stimulate the baby"s muscles and other organs, and also improve the baby"s well-being. Start with stroking the back and neck, and at the end of the massage, lightly knead the joints of the knees and elbows.
• To the daily gymnastics that the mother does with the baby, at the age of 3 months, it is worth adding exercises that will prepare the baby for turning over. Turn the right leg of the baby lying on his back to the left so that it is thrown over the body. This is the most difficult movement for babies and it is this that gives the impetus for turning over.
• To stimulate the ability to lift the head and shoulders in a prone position (when the baby rests on the forearms), more often lay the baby on the stomach while simultaneously laying out bright toys around the baby. Special development mats are also often used for this purpose.
• Put rattles in the baby"s hands so that the baby learns to hold the toys independently and explores them. Also hang soft toys over the baby"s crib so that the baby can reach them with his hands. It will be great if there are bells inside such toys and after hitting them the baby will hear ringing sounds.
• Sing songs to the baby, and also talk to the baby more often. At the same time, it is worth making short pauses in the conversation, giving the baby the opportunity to "answer" you with his cooing. Call the baby by name more often, and also accompany any of your actions with explanations.
• Show the child his reflection in the mirror. It is also worth introducing the baby to images of animals and various objects.
• To stimulate tactile sensitivity, let the baby touch objects with different textures, for example, a ball twisted from threads, a potholder, a teddy bear, a soft cube with a bell inside.
• Play different styles of music for your baby. When your baby is awake, play something rhythmic and cheerful, and before going to bed, listen to some calm melodies with your baby. When listening to rhythmic music with your baby, clap your hands to the beat.
• If you have a pet, watch it with your baby. Also show your baby animals during a walk.
• During bathing, throw a few bright balls or rubber toys into the water. Let your baby try to catch them in the water.

The massage will be more enjoyable with nursery rhymes.

Check out this quick exercise by Tatyana Lazareva that you can perform whenever you have some free time.

Care

Wipe your baby’s face, eyes, and nose and ears in the morning, if needed, to establish good hygiene. Wash the infant under running water after they have emptied their bladder and defecated. Should the infant’s skin be in good condition, you shouldn’t misuse their cosmetics.

Every day is a good time to check the baby’s nails, and cutting them after bathing is ideal because the nail plates are softer at that time. A sleeping child’s nails can be clipped, even if the infant objects to the process. For babies, use special scissors for this purpose. After cutting, run your finger over the nails to make sure there are no sharp edges.

Use air baths (which last up to ten minutes), walks where the baby sleeps outside, washing, and wiping as methods of hardening the baby. Give the baby a bath every day, ideally right before bed, though you can do it whenever is most convenient for you. For instance, bath time should be rescheduled if the infant becomes agitated.

Daily routine

Most babies have their own daily schedule by the time they are three months old. Because babies wake up and go to sleep at roughly the same time every day, mothers can schedule their activities accordingly. The baby spends the majority of the day sleeping and eating, just like before. A three-month-old baby sleeps roughly seventeen hours every day. Approximately ten hours of sleep per night, with three to four naps spread out throughout the day to make up the remaining time. Typically, naps during the day last 40 minutes to an hour, with the exception of one or two longer naps (1-2 hours).

Walking a three-month-old infant twice a day is advised. It is generally agreed that the best times to go for a walk are in the morning (10–11 am) and in the afternoon (4-5 pm). The length of walks is influenced by the weather and the outside temperature. With a three-month-old, you can be outside for up to six hours during the summer. Walking should not be restricted to periods of extreme cold, strong winds, or torrential rain.

As before, feeding newborns who only get their mother’s milk is done on demand. Most infants ask to nurse both right before and right after going to bed. At this age, a child typically breastfeeds 10–12 times during the day and 2–4 times at night. Simultaneously, the infant frequently separates from the mother’s breast during nursing. The typical time between extended meals is between 2.5 and 3.5 hours.

The child will follow a stricter feeding schedule consisting of six meals spaced 3.5 hours apart if they are on formula. A child’s weight should be divided by six to get the amount of formula that they should consume each day. The number of feedings per day is then divided by this amount. A three-month-old baby typically consumes 800-900 ml of formula per day, up to 180 ml at a time. Even for babies who are formula-fed, it is still too early to introduce complementary foods at this age.

Try the following workout from Tatyana Lazareva to add some variety to your day.

A typical day

Three-month-old babies can be fascinating to communicate with, and many mothers’ mornings start with a sweet smile from their child. A typical day with a 3-month-old might resemble this:

Waking up for the morning potty and feeding.

First nap of the day.

Waking up for the wakeful period, the second feeding.

Sleep and stroll in the open air.

Coming back home, waking up for the third feeding, and experiencing some awake time.

Third sleep during the day.

Games for development, waking up.

Fourth feeding, then a stroll and a nap outside in the fresh air.

Coming back home, waking up, and spending some time awake.

Taking a bath, feeding five times, and going to bed.

Waking up for the sixth feeding and going right back to sleep.

It should be remembered that every child has a unique temperament, so any suggestions for the regime are merely estimates. First and foremost, parents should consider their child’s unique characteristics and modify the pediatrician’s suggested schemes to suit their needs; in other words, they should adhere to a regimen that is tailored to the child’s unique biorhythms.

Aspect of Development	Description
Motor Skills	At 3 months, babies can lift their heads when on their stomach and may begin to reach for objects.
Social Interaction	They start smiling more, recognizing familiar faces, and may respond to voices with cooing sounds.
Communication	Babies begin to babble, experimenting with sounds and responding to conversations with noises.
Visual Development	They follow moving objects with their eyes and can recognize familiar people from a distance.
Emotional Growth	They express joy or discomfort and may begin to show preferences for certain toys or activities.

Your baby is starting to notice more of their surroundings at three months old. Their senses are growing rapidly, and they are starting to curiously investigate their surroundings.

Additionally, your baby will begin to demonstrate better head movements and early attempts at rolling over during this period, as well as increased control over their body. Additionally, they are starting to identify well-known voices and faces, which brightens daily encounters.

Since each baby develops at their own rate, it’s critical to give them time and support as they grow and cross new developmental milestones.

Video on the topic

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