Babies make remarkable progress in the first five months of their lives, reaching a wide variety of milestones. Each child develops at her own rate, and parents shouldn't worry about slight delays, according to the website Baby Medical Questions and Answers. But if you notice a significant lag from the norm, you should alert your pediatrician, who can look for an underlying cause of the problem.
Gross Motor Skills
During this time frame, your baby should develop gross motor skills that are bound to delight you. At about a month to 6 weeks, he should lift his head briefly while lying on his tummy, according to the Baby Center website. At 2 months, he'll be able to hold up his head for a short time. At 3 months, he might push himself up on his elbows, and at about 4 months he'll bear some weight on his legs. At 5 months, most babies are playing with their feet and hands.
Fine Motor Skills
A baby's fine motor development is also fascinating to observe. At about 3 months, a child starts exploring with her hands, using them to touch things such as her mouth, according to the March of Dimes. She probably will open and close her hands, according to Baby Medical Questions and Answers. She will hold a rattle briefly, sometimes hitting herself in the chin with the rattle. At 4 months, look for your child to play with her fingers; at 5 months, she should reach for things and pick them up with her palm.
Speech, Hearing and Vision
From birth to 5 months, your child should reach several milestones in speech and hearing. By 1 month, he'll react to sound and stare at people's faces, according to BabyCenter. By 2 months, he'll make noises of his own--mostly gurgles--and follow objects that pass in front of his eyes. By 3 months, he'll track moving objects, and at 4 months, he should start laughing and reacting with sounds when you talk to him. By 5 months, many children start responding to their names.
Social Growth
Babies take steps into the social world during their first months. By the end of their first month, they enjoy people's faces more than inert objects, according to the March of Dimes. At about 3 months, they watch those faces closely and recognize people from a greater distance. They also smile when their parents talk, like to play with people and might cry when playtime is over.
