Five month fun time...

Your baby’s physical development is increasing fast now. If you turn her on her tummy, she will stretch her arms and legs out and use her back muscles to make herself into a banana shape and then tip over sideways in an attempt to roll over. Once on her back, she will be able to lift her head and shoulders off the floor.

› She can stretch her arms out to the sides and rock on her tummy in order to roll over too.

› Your baby might be able to sit by herself for a second or two, but stay near her or put cushions around her for support as she will certainly still topple over often.

› Encourage her to play on her tummy on the floor so that she has to lift her head and chest and she has to look forward to find her toys. This will develop her neck muscles and give her control over her head, a very important step in learning to sit upright unsupported.

› If you hold your baby on your lap, she will be able to put weight on her legs for a few seconds and hold herself upright. And she just can’t get enough of being bounced!

› At this age, everything goes to the mouth. This isn’t necessarily because her gums are itchy or because of teething, but rather because she uses her mouth to explore. This is an important part of oral sensory development, and not something you should try to prevent.

› You might notice that this month your baby has added a lot of different sounds to her speech repertoire and she will love repeated sounds like “mamamama”, or “babababa”, to great delight of mom and dad, of course. But come back to earth… She isn’t talking yet because at this stage there is no meaning attached to the sounds she is making.

› Sometimes a baby can be so chuffed with a new sound they have discovered that they repeat it over and over again. This is completely normal. Babies like to master one thing before moving on to the next.