Growth and Development Activities for Infant Between 0 – 3 months
This is an exciting period as your infant grow up fast in terms of physical size and mobility. You may tend to be very careful with them as they are still at a fragile stage. The question is what type of growth and development activities for infant 0 – 3 months are available for parents.
Baby activities month by month
The growth and development activities will differ for the first 3 months. As a parent, you need to have patience and spend some time with them for the following activities. This is just a guideline and different baby may reach the milestone at a different pace.
0 – 1 month: Lifting his head when on his tummy, following objects with his eyes, responding to sounds, staring at faces and any contrasting objects, grasping his/her hands strongly
1 – 2 months: Touch activity with your baby, Tummy time, interactive play with gym, Play mat or bouncy seat, Rattle toy or light up toys, Music,
2 – 3 months: reading and communicating, stimulating the five senses,
Infant development activities for the first month
There are not many activities that can be done at this point in time. Most of the time the baby will be crying, feeding and sleeping and repeating the cycle.
Lifting his head when on tummy
However, whenever he/she is awake, you can try putting he/she on the tummy for a few minutes under supervision. Place the newborn on a soft cushion to prevent him/her from hitting the head on a hard surface. You can cut short the timing of this activity if the baby starts to get really cranky. Observe your baby progress to see if he can lift his head when on tummy at end of the first month
Following objects with his eyes
Place different objects like fingers or toys in front of his eyes. Shift it to the left and right or up and down directions. You can do this whenever the baby is awake and see his progress on whether he is following the objects with his eyes
Responding to sounds
You can expose the infant to different music and blast it at high volume as long as it is not near his/her ears. My baby can sleep well even when I have loud music playing in the background. You can also sing to them when changing diapers or while feeding them. He/she should have some response by the end of the month.
Staring at faces and any contrasting objects
Besides you and your spouse, let the little one more exposure to grandparents, your siblings and friends. This will train them to stare at faces and allow you to observe their progress.
You can also show them contrasting objects with different sizes and colors. According to a study, when and how long a baby looks at other people’s eyes offers the earliest behavioural sign to date of whether a child is likely to develop autism. (Source)
Grasping his/her hands strongly
When your newborn is showing signs of grasping with his/her hands, you can try giving your finger to them. It is a way to start training their physical development.
What activities should I be doing with my 2 month old
When your baby is 2 months old, you will notice her becoming more and more interested in teh world around her. Depending on the progress of your little one, some of the activities will be quite similar to what you have being doing in the first month.
Touch activity with your baby
At this point in time, your baby will still be sensitive to touch and enjoy being held or cuddled. A soothing touch activity can involve doing a baby massage using massage mild lotion after bath.time. (See also what is the best baby bath products in the market.)
Tummy Time
You can still continue doing tummy time for your little one. The frequent activity of tummy time helps to develop the head and neck muscles for crawling, walking or other physical motor skills. (We have also written an article on the best toys for baby learning to walk).
You can also avoid the flat head syndrome where the baby spends too much time on her back. If your baby is still feeling uncomfortable, you can place your pregnancy pillow or rolled-up blanket below his/her chest for support.
Try to make tummy time a fun time for your little one by talking to her or making funny faces. Over time, he/she may start to imitate you and increases the length of time for tummy time.
Interactive play with gym, Play mat or bouncy seat
Besides tummy time, this will also be a good time to introduce interactive play with gym, play mat or bouncy seat. Place them on so called play gym or bouncy seats. Let him observe the dangling toys. In time he/she will try to reach out to those toys and feel it.
Rattle or light up toys
If you notice he/she is starting to grasp things, a rattle is a toy to have. It can help to train his/her grasp and the sound from the rattle provides sound entertainment. Ensure the rattle is a soft one as most probably the baby will push it into his/her face gradually.
Another useful toy to introduce will be light up toys which provide visual stimulation to your little one. You may like to check out what are the best baby toys that light up in the market.
Music
Listening to music or sing songs that will allow physical interaction with your newborn. Dancing with your little one or helping him/her to clap, tap or roll will help. These will improve his/her physical and hearing development.
How can I help my baby development in the 3rd month
At three months old, your baby will start to respond through movements, expressions and sounds. It is important to start reading and communicate with him/her regularly.
Reading and communicating
According to research studies, early reading and communication tend to help children language development in the later stages of their life. (Source). It also helps to build their vocabulary.
Take advantage of daily routines like taking the baby out for a walk/jog in a stroller to engage with conversations. (Check out some of the best running stroller to jog with your baby.) Even though they may not be able to reply to you, this kind of sentences helps your baby learn about how language works.
Studies about parental speech indicate that it should be both complex( ideas and sophisticated vocabularies) and supportive( compliment, asking questions.) (Source). Since building thinking skills and strong languages are crucial for future children reading success, you’ll want to ensure she lives in a language-rich environment.
Start off with simple words before adding more languages and ideas. Introduce written words from books or videos and repeat similar words to build up their knowledge.
Stimulating the five senses
As your baby moves away from just feeding and sleeping, he/she will spend more time exploring the world through the five senses. One important job for a parent at this point of time is to stimulate his senses to build both intellectual and physical ability.
Touch
Compared to the first two months when their fists are mostly shut, they will start to explore his hands at the 3rd month. He will be curious to explore the environment with his hands and bring into his/her mouth.
At this point in time, you can take advantage of this development and introduce different toys to him/her. This will help the newborn to have a sense of different colors, sizes and functions.
Hearing
Your baby may start to be more vocal and have his/her baby language. Simple sounds like “aaaaa” or giggling will be common. Continue to communicate with her, using interactive toys with sounds and lights or sing songs. All these help to engage the baby hearing and overall development
Sight
Show him books with pictures or photo albums of your family. This helps his brains to make an effective association. Roll toys in different directions that have sound and light to capture his attention. He will learn to follow it at a different pace.
Taste
When feeding him/her, talk about what is the taste of the milk. This is to build the association between taste and feeling
Smell
Introduce him/her to different smell from food or poo from the diapers with verbal communication. This will help him/her to associate the nose to the smell.
Last tip on Growth and Development Activities for Infant
The AAP recommends your baby to be seen at birth, two to four days after birth, two months, four months, six months, nine months and twelve months. It is good to get involved and track the development progress of your little one, especially for the first few months. If you sense anything amiss, quickly seek help from a pediatrician or medical help provider. What are the infant activities you have done? Drop a comment below.
You may also be keen to check out what are the best baby toys for newborns 0 -3 months and when do pregnancy cravings stop?
