Your Baby- 4-6 Months on

It is often at this stage of around 6 months or so that your baby starts to share moods and feelings more with you and also with some assistance perhaps even sit up.

This is the time that you have to watch them like a hawk as they are prolific rollers on the floor and can even move accross rooms by rolling over and over.

However this is also the time to exercise caution when placing your baby down anywhere as it is often the case when a baby is put on the bed for instance that he/she just rolls off the bed completely and could injur themselves in the process, so caution is needed and eyes in the back of your head.

You will also find that babies at this time love standing up (with help of course) as their legs are getting stronger and they love to bounce around too. Some baby's at this stage can cry out if they are stuck in an uncomfortable position and even sit up.

There are some physical things that baby's can be doing at this age such as:

1. Holding on to an object and transfering it from one hand to the other
2. Turn an object around and keep looking at the diffent shapes of it
3. Touch or grab an object deliberately
4. Watch when a toy is dropped from view but they will not know it is still there as they cannot see it.

They can also at this time start putting objects and toys into their mouth so caution is required when baby is in a room.

From a social development point of view at this time a baby starts to learn about noises and how their lips and tongue moves so babbling is common and they often experiment with new sounds that they can make.

They are great copiers and will often copy sounds and noises as best they can as well as facial expression too. This is a time of experimenting and you will often hear your baby laughing and squealing and putting sounds together for example "ah-goo"

Baby's at this age love to watch, they love watching other people and especially other babies and young children as well and it is far easier to soothe your baby at this age by singing to him/her with nursery rhymes or simple songs, they love it.

They also know who is mum or dad by this stage and can often turn away from strangers looking for reassurance from mum or dad. A comfort blanket or toy is sometimes used and it just gives that reassurance to your baby that you are nearby.

They can tell where you are when you speak and will turn their head towards you if you speak and they can also detect if you are happy or cross too, this enables them to show their own emotions back based on their perception of your mood.

Teething happens at around 5-6 months of age and a sure sign is dribbling or red cheeks. Either using teething gel on the gums or a teething ring to chew on does help, there are many types of teething rings around these days, warm ones, cold ones, lumpy ones,smooth ones so try to find the best one for your baby.

Sleep is an important factor here and your baby should be sleeping for around 14-15 hours per 24 hour day and having 2 or 3 short naps in the daytime as well.

You have to remember that babies at this age are extremely active and because they can grip onto objects firmly and follow things with their heads they need extra vigilance when with you to prevent possible accidents from happening. They are constantly learning and trying to communicate both verbally and using body language too and you need to be aware of the signs as babies cannot tell you if they are not happy, they have to use other, more noisy methods usually.