0–6 months · The first half year
The work of these months is regulation and attachment: learning to settle, to look, and to expect a face to answer.
Body and movement
- Lifts the head when lying on the tummy (by about 2 months)
- Holds the head steady without support (about 4 months)
- Pushes up on the elbows during tummy time
- Rolls from tummy to back (about 4 months)
- Brings hands together and to the mouth
- Reaches for a toy with one hand (about 4–5 months)
Communication
- Makes cooing sounds (about 2 months)
- Turns towards a voice or a sound
- Laughs aloud (about 4 months)
- Takes turns making sounds when an adult responds
- Babbles with different sounds (by about 6 months)
Thinking and looking
- Follows a moving object with the eyes
- Watches a face closely
- Looks at own hands with interest
- Mouths objects to explore them
- Shows interest when something disappears
Feeling and belonging
- Calms when picked up or spoken to
- Smiles at people — a real social smile by about 2 months
- Enjoys looking at faces more than objects
- Recognises familiar people from a distance
- Shows different cries for different needs
👀 Worth asking a doctor about
- No social smile by 3 months
- Does not follow moving things with the eyes by 3 months
- Head still floppy at 4 months
- Does not respond to loud sounds
- Hands stay tightly fisted after 3 months
- Does not bring things to the mouth by 4 months
These are reasons to ask, not verdicts. Early help works; waiting rarely does.
🤝 What helps at this age
- Talk and sing face to face, close enough for the baby to see your mouth
- Plenty of tummy time while awake and watched
- Respond to sounds with sounds — this is the first conversation
- Name what you are doing, all day, in your own language
