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Developmental Checklist
3 to 6 Months

Baby with Toys

Things Your Baby May Do At This Age

  • Reach for toys or people 

  • Laugh out loud 

  • Roll over 

  • Turn toward a familiar voice 

  • Hold head steady 

  • Babble and coo 

  • Notice small objects 

  • Push up with arms while on stomach 

  • Sit up straight with help 

  • Begins to focus on patterns in black and white

Safety Tips

  •  Remember: Handle your baby gently, even in play. Shaking your baby or jolting your baby by tossing him or her in the air can cause brain damage. 

  • Hold your baby when you give him or her a bottle. 

  • Do not prop the bottle up with pillows or other objects. 

  • Do not give your baby nuts, berries, seeds, raw vegetables or other small, hard foods. They may cause your baby to choke. 

  • Car seats should be used at all times and should be rear-facing in the back seat until the child is both over one year of age and over twenty pounds.

Red Head Baby

Special Tip!

Simple toys for children this age include brightly colored pictures to cut out and place on walls, music boxes (nearby but out of reach for the child to listen to), soft, squeaky toys to hold, cloth books, or make a mobile from objects found at home. To make a mobile, string (6 inches) small objects or photos of family members or pictures of objects glued to plastic lids onto a plastic clothes hanger and hang out of reach (recommended colors: black/white or white/red in simple patterns.)

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Health Hints

  • Well baby Checkups: 4 months, 6 months. 

  • Immunizations at 4 months: DTaP, Polio, HIB, and PCV

  • *HIB – prevents one type of meningitis

  • *PCV – prevents some types of pneumococcal disease 

  • Your child may begin cutting new teeth. This can make your baby very uncomfortable. He or she may run a temperature, have an upset tummy, be fussy or cry. Offer your baby a teething ring that has been placed in the refrigerator. Be patient. 

  • After meals, first teeth can be wiped with a clean, damp cloth

Nutrition Notes

  • Do not start fruit juice until your baby is 6 months old. Start feeding iron-fortified infant cereal at 4 to 6 months. Begin with rice or barley and feed your baby with a baby spoon. Begin with small amounts of cereal, about one tablespoon and increase slowly. Do not put cereal in your baby’s bottle. Do not add honey, sugar or salt.

Mother with her Baby
Mother and Baby on Floor

Things You Can Do Every Day to Help Your Child Grow

  • Read to your baby. Cuddle your child in your lap and hold the book so both of you can see it. Change your voice to show happiness, sadness or other feelings as well as act out different characters in the story. Point to the characters in the book and talk about what they are doing. 

  • Play peek-a-boo with her. Laugh when she laughs. 

  • Hold her in your arms and dance around slowly. Your baby will enjoy the movement and closeness. 

  • Make sure she is put in a safe place such as on a blanket when on the floor. Now she can move around freely and exercise her arms and legs. 

  • When your baby hears sounds around the house, show and tell her what they are: for example, point out popcorn popping, music playing on the radio, or birds singing. 

  • Soothe him when he cries. First check to see if he is hungry or wet and take care of those needs. If he still cries, rock him or walk with him cradled in your arms. Rub his tummy or his back to ease him. Sing or talk to him as you calm him. 

  • Talk to her while she is awake. Share what you are doing: for example say: “Mama is sweeping the floor so that the house will be nice and clean.” 

  • Hang a mobile over your baby’s bed that has pictures of you, your baby and your family.

  • Change the mobile pictures often to pictures of objects like trucks, dolls, and animals or to simple patterns you draw in black, white or red.

Get Started With Early Intervention Today

Please call or email us today to start your child on a path to making First Connections!

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