Your Baby's Development at 4 Months: New Skills and Emotions

By the time your baby reaches four months, they become increasingly lively and playful. At this stage, infants love showing their emotions through smiles, laughter, and charming cooing or bubbling sounds. How does a baby's development progress at four months, and what should you focus on first?

Four months after birth, your little one becomes quite sociable — they respond to adult voices with facial expressions, produce a variety of amusing sounds, and even try to form their first syllables. Essentially, this is their way of communicating with you.

4-Month Baby Development: Growth, Weight, and Motor Skills

At four months, your baby's weight typically doubles from birth (you can check if your baby's weight is on track using specialized growth charts). If you are concerned about insufficient feeding or slow weight gain, consult your pediatrician.

By this stage, your baby has become quite dexterous, using both hands together when grabbing or shaking toys. In fact, their hands will grasp any reachable object — from colorful soft toys to your hair. It might be wise for moms to temporarily avoid wearing earrings, necklaces, or other jewelry.

Everything within your baby's reach is likely to end up in their mouth. Exploring objects by tasting is a primary way babies learn about the world at this stage. Therefore, it is crucial to keep small items that could be swallowed or cause choking out of reach.

• What to do if your baby chokes: how to safely remove an object from their airway without causing harm?

Use the size of a toilet paper roll hole as a reference: any object small enough to fit through it is too small to be safely near a four-month-old 'everything-in-the-mouth' explorer.

At four months, your baby can hold their head steady when you hold them or support them in a seated position. They may kick their legs and wave their arms energetically. Some babies can even confidently roll from tummy to back and vice versa.

The Most Precious Skill at 4 Months: Sleeping Through the Night!

By four months, most babies sleep soundly through the night — typically seven to eight hours consecutively. Often, they sleep in their own crib, separate from their parents' bed (many modern pediatricians recommend actively transitioning babies to independent sleep after three months).

Who should your baby sleep with? Pros and cons of co-sleeping with parents.

Adding daytime naps—usually two to three short naps—your baby may sleep between fourteen and sixteen hours daily.

How Does a 4-Month-Old Baby See the World?

During the first three months, babies struggle to distinguish color shades. That's why they preferred bright, colorful, or high-contrast black-and-white objects. By four months, your baby's vision has improved to about half of adult normal.

Four-month-olds can discern finer color differences, such as spotting a red button on a red shirt. They also begin to explore the room visually but still prefer looking at people and objects nearby.

Your baby's eyes can focus and follow moving objects. If you notice eye crossing or lack of response when you pass by, consult your doctor promptly.

By four months, you might observe your baby's iris color changing — this is completely normal! Infant eye color can shift gradually and usually settles by seven to eight months.

Don't expect drastic changes overnight. For example, eyes won't change from bright blue one day to deep black the next. However, within a similar color palette, shades may vary significantly—from gray to blue or green, and from brown to green or dark brown. Eye color typically stabilizes by seven to eight months.

Introducing New Tastes at 4 Months

Some doctors advise waiting until six months before introducing solid foods. However, depending on your baby's size, breast milk or formula alone might not suffice. At four months, you can consider starting to supplement with thicker foods.

First solids: transitioning from baby food to more grown-up meals!

With your pediatrician's approval, your baby should be able to hold their head steady and sit supported before starting solids.

Rice cereal fortified with iron, mixed with formula or breast milk, is a common first food. The consistency should be thinner than formula.

Watch how your baby accepts the spoon; at this age, the tongue-thrust reflex may cause them to push food out. If feeding is difficult, return to milk feeding and try solids again after one to two weeks.

How Does a 4-Month-Old Communicate?

At four months, babies begin noticing that people respond to their actions. When they cry, you come to comfort them. When they drop an object, you pick it up and place it back in their hand. Many babies find this amusing and repeat dropping just to watch you pick it up again.

At this age, babies start learning the basics of communication. They express emotions through various sounds, squeals, and laughter. Excited noises often show joy when seeing familiar caregivers. Facial expressions also become a key way to convey feelings—from happy smiles and surprise to frustration or displeasure. Your baby is also learning to recognize emotions in your face and voice.

So don't hesitate to make funny faces and entertain your baby whenever you can! This not only amuses your little one but also supports their development.

What Can a 4-Month-Old Do? A Quick Summary

• Grasps toys with both hands simultaneously;
• Recognizes family members by face and voice;
• Expresses emotions vividly through facial expressions and sounds;
• Responds to their name;
• Many babies start attempting to roll from back to tummy;
• Enjoys listening to music;
• When lying on their tummy, briefly lifts head and shoulders, looking around with interest;
• Likes grabbing parts of their own body, especially legs and face;
• Can sleep through the night without waking for feedings.

Survey: What milestones has your 4-month-old achieved?

• My baby can roll over independently at 4 months.
• Confidently holds head and shoulders when on tummy.
• My baby 'talks' a lot with a wide range of sounds.
• Shows interest in solid foods; we've started offering cereals, kefir, and cottage cheese.
• Grasps everything with both hands and immediately puts it in their mouth.
• Sleeps peacefully through the night in their own crib.
• My 4-month-old hasn't reached any of these milestones yet.

Photo: Getty Images

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