A complete guide to baby’s developmental milestones from 0-3 Months

As a parent, your baby’s growth milestones is of utmost importance to you! Here’s a brief view on what you could expect from your child in his/her first three months:

0–1 Month:

Physical Milestones:

1. Growth: Most babies lose around 10% of their birth weight in the first few days which they normally regain by the end of the second week.

2. Motor Skills: 

• Strong Sucking skill to drink milk from breast or bottle.
• Power in a grip like a finger in baby’s first can’t be pulled out easily. 
• Uncontrolled arms and legs movements, also pushing them in and out
• Turning their head while lying on tummy
• Head flops backwards when unsupported

3. Sleep:  Tends to sleep for 15-16 hours a day during the first three months

Cognitive development Milestones: 

1. Smell: Babies like to smell sweet fragrances like their mother’s breast milk
2. Touch: Prefers soft touches and gets uncomfortable with coarse or abrupt handling
3. Eye Sight:
Can focus up to 8 to 12 inches away
Prefers black, red and white coloured things
Focuses more on a human face as compared to patterns
4. Hearing: Should turn towards familiar sounds and voices

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Eating/Feeding Milestones:

1. Breastfed babies 8-12 times a day (after every two to three hours)
2. Bottle Fed babies 6-8 times a day (150-200ml per kg of body weight in a day)
(Feeding pattern remains same for the first three months)

Communication and language milestones:

1. Crying up to three hours a day (Don’t panic as it’s an only way for them to express their hunger, wet diaper or any other problem)

1–2 Months:

Physical Milestones:

1. Growth: 
Drooling - as their salivary glands develop
Soft spot or fontanel of the head begins to close

2. Motor Skills: 

• Can hold head up for some time and begins to push up when lying on tummy
• Less jerky movement with arms and legs
• Strong sucking reflexes like sucking own fingers and fist
• Opening their fists and trying to move them
• Follow objects with eyes from side to side as well as up and down

Cognitive or Mental Milestones:

1. Eye Sight:

Can focus up to 18 inches away
Start following your close movements
Recognize the mother’s or father’s face
Pays attention to human faces

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2. Hearing:

• Enjoy and recognize the mother’s or father’s voice
• Respond to other familiar voices

Communication and language milestones:

1. Different Crying tones and pitches to communicate different needs
2. May smile for the first time
3. Making sounds like gurgles, grunts or sweet coos

2–3 Months:

Physical Milestones:

1. Growth: Upward trend in gaining weight and height 

2. Motor Skills: 

• No head wobbling
• Supports upper body with arms when lying on stomach
• Keep opening and closing hands
• Grasp dangling objects and shake toys with hands

Cognitive or Mental Milestones:

1. Touch: Developed a new sense of touch towards textured things

2. Eye Sight:

• Watches face attentively and stares at it
• Follows moving objects
• Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance
• Prefers to look at the bright colours
• Babies also stare closely at their own reflection in a crib mirror
• Turns head towards direction of light

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3. Hearing:

• Turns and smiles towards familiar sounds and voices

Communication and language milestones:

1. Starts giving a social smile
2. Cries on stopping a particular activity like playing or someone talking to them
3. Begins to babble
4. Begins to imitate some sounds, movements and facial expressions
5. Becomes more communicative and expressive with face and body

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