3 Months Infant Milestones

Now, three months have passed since your little one's arrival. With each passing day, you and your baby are growing more accustomed to each other: your baby to you as parents, and you to your precious little addition. This period marks one of the most heartwarming phases in the life of a young family. While there are many discoveries and pleasant changes ahead, your little one has already achieved significant milestones. So, what are the three month old baby milestones?

Developmental milestone of 3 months old baby

It's essential to understand that developmental indicators for a specific age serve as guidelines rather than rigid benchmarks that a child must meet. Children may reach these milestones a bit earlier or later, and some might skip certain stages altogether. With this perspective, parents can alleviate concerns about developmental delays. By seeing a 3 months infant as an individual and not just a checklist of milestones to be ticked off, everyone's life becomes more manageable.

Physical development

We continue to monitor and assess the child's height, weight, and developing skills. Whether at home or during pediatrician visits, measuring the baby's size and comparing it in inches to growth charts is essential:

Gender	Lower bound	Norm	Upper bound
Boys	23,4	24,17	25
Girls	22,7	23,5	24,3

Now measure the weight:

Gender	Lower bound	Norm	Upper bound
Boys	12,56	14	15,9
Girls	11,46	13	14,6

Head circumference should fall within the range of 15.5 to 16 inches, while chest circumference should be between 15.7 and 16.5 inches.

Record all these measurements from the three-month infant milestones to compare with next month's figures, allowing you to assess your baby's physical development progress since birth.

At this stage, your three month old baby milestones include the following and your baby already demonstrates:

1. Increased vitality, confidently resting on their legs when lifted above a surface, allowing them to touch it with their feet.

2. Gradual reduction of hypertonicity, resulting in well-extended limbs. You can introduce mini-exercises or physical therapy to improve joint mobility and morning muscle stretches. This involves gently pulling the baby's arms forward and alternately raising and lowering them along their body, repeating the same motions with their legs.

3. Confident head control in various positions, both horizontally and vertically, as they turn and explore the world around them.

4. Developing grasping skills, enabling them not only to pick up but also hold onto rattles, nipples, and other lightweight objects. They quickly learn that shaking a rattle creates an exciting sound.

5. Spending more time in a prone position, where they can effortlessly roll onto their sides, though they may not fully roll over from their back to their stomach yet.

6. Enhanced visual tracking, with their eyes closely following moving objects, delighting in watching people and showing interest in dynamic images on television screens. This stage marks the development of binocular vision, as both eyes work together to gauge the distance to an object.

7. The ability to become distracted during feeding, as they become more aware of their surroundings, often pausing to take in the world before resuming their meal.

8. The delightful ability to smile and laugh wholeheartedly, with laughter emerging during active play with the baby.

9. Initial gestures, such as clapping their hands, to attract their parents' attention.

10. Active exploration of their hands and fingers by sucking on them, helping them understand the shape of their hands and explore their taste and tactile sensations. This behavior is not related to teething-related gum irritation.

11. The onset of cooing and babbling in their speech repertoire by the end of the third month, enabling them to express positive emotions, with crying and screaming reserved for other purposes.

Social development

At 3 months infant milestones of social skills are progressing rapidly. They can effectively read the moods of adults and accurately discern when someone is upset, often responding with tears. As a result, parental self-control and maintaining a friendly atmosphere within the family are essential for their normal development.

Your little one's sociability is growing daily. They actively seek objects for visual contact, can utter individual sounds in response to addressed speech, and enthusiastically express joy when their mom or dad is around.

Also: How to Get Kids to Sleep: Tips for Parents

Tips for parents

As your baby continues to grow and develop intensively, mastering more skills to interact with the world around them, it's crucial to follow a few guidelines for developmental milestone of 3 months old baby:

1. Pay close attention to your baby on the changing table. At three months old, they are most susceptible to falling from surfaces that adults might carelessly place them on. While a low bed with a soft carpet underneath is better, falls often occur from relatively high changing tables. To prevent accidents, perform hygiene routines on a broader surface and never leave your baby unattended, even for a second.

2. Be aware that your baby is becoming more adept at grabbing objects within reach, which might include a mother's hair, earrings, or hairpins. Ensure that foreign objects do not enter your baby's mouth.

3. Similarly, your baby may reach for cords from household appliances, such as an electric kettle, TV, or iron. While carrying your baby, always ensure they cannot access these wires.

4. At this stage of the three month old baby milestones, babies start sucking on their fingers and fists. Keep these digits clean to prevent any potential issues.

By the start of the fourth month, your baby will be ready for active socialization. Sleep-wake and feeding patterns will have settled, allowing you to plan visits with friends and relatives or invite them over. Meeting new faces means new experiences and emotions for your baby, promoting increased brain activity and emotional development.