4 Weeks Old Baby Development; Milestones & Care Tips

Your baby is almost a month old, how exciting does it feel? I am sure in this short period of time, you and the baby, both have experienced some amazing as well as drastic changes, which has for sure changed your routine.

For all the mothers out there, who just had a baby or had one years ago, look at yourself in the mirror and express how proud you are of yourself, because we all are!

You have come so far and crossed the hardest battles with such grace, for yourself and for the little one. You deserve a pat on the back!

It is okay to feel stressed every now and then. You are only human and you are allowed to go on your pace in order to adjust to this new life.

We are sure, by now you must feel like a pro at almost everything; feeding, napping the baby and multi-tasking of course.

In this article we will discuss 4-week-old baby milestones and 4-week-old baby developments.

Physical Development; 4-Weeks Old Baby Development

While you think that your baby is too young to have a milestone, believe us, while he or she is young, there are a lot of developments taking place, some which you can see and some that you cannot.

Once your baby has crossed the 4-weeks mark, he or she will start to grow one inch in each and every passing month. Moreover, besides growing one inch, the baby will also start gaining weight.

It is normal for your 4-weeks old baby to gain 150 to 210 grams each month. Within a month, the baby’s hearing is also properly developed. The baby will be able to listen to loud noises and respond to certain voices too.

When you talk to them, you will notice that you can easily catch their attention. It is a new development for them, and they love exploring it.

While your baby is still very young, his neck muscles are slightly stronger to how they were before. This will allow your baby to either lift his or her head a little or move it from one side to another.

Do not expect for your 4-weeks old baby to have a very strong focus when it comes to vision. Vision takes time to develop. In the early days, it is very hard for the babies to focus as everything is blurry.

A 4-weeks-old baby has an improved focus but it is still very hard for them to focus completely. So, at times if they even look cross-eyed while trying to focus, do not freak out, its normal.

Cognitive Development; 4 Weeks Old Baby Development

At this point, your baby’s cognitive development is still slow. They might be able to observe and take notice of the things that are going around them, but it is near to impossible for them to comprehend the fact that they are like you, just in smaller sizes.

They will still not understand what their hands are, or what their feet do. However, once they cross a 4-weeks-old mark, their cognitive ability will also get better and they will be able to understand better too.

But here is the good news for you all mommies out there, once your child hits the four-week mark, he or she is able to recognize the sounds and voices they heard when they were in your womb.

So, if its your voice when you used to talk to them, or a tune you used to listen to a lot during your pregnancy, they will develop a connection with it. At this point, while it is hard for them to understand what is going around them, they are still able to recognize and remember familiar faces.

To play and explore this more, what you can do is hold a mirror in front of them and play with them. This way they will not only start recognizing you by focusing on you but also start recognizing themselves.

Make funny faces to them, this will not only attract them but they will also soon start copying you and reach out to grab your face. But there is always a high chance of them still not remembering your face as they are still too young and too little to remember that much.

Their brain and cognitive abilities are in a developing stage.

Sleeping Schedule

This is the age when your baby will give you a hard time in sleeping at night. Following are the changes you will see in their sleeping schedule:

• They will stay up all night only to sleep all day.
• Usually a 4 weeks old baby will sleep for 17 to 18 hours a day and take small naps during the night. This kind of routine is completely normal in infants, so do not worry!
• As long as your baby is growing inches and gaining weight, there is nothing to worry about.
• The best way to keep a track on their sleeping schedule is to share a room with your infant.
• If you leave the room, have video monitors set up in your baby’s room. It is important to stay vigilant with a 4 weeks old baby.

4-Weeks Old Baby Milestones

Following are a few milestones of a 4 week old baby:

• They will be able to bring their hands to their faces.
• Make low cooing sounds
• Will be able to turn their head from one side to another
• Form fists
• Catch your attention when you are speaking or making any sounds
• Widen their eyes which is a sign of excitement when they recognize a family member.
• Hearing is developed fully so anything which makes sounds will catch their attention.
• Have strong reflex movements as well as sudden arm movements

Don’t worry about being the perfect mom and do not worry about not knowing many things. You are new at this and you will only learn through experience.

Give time to yourself and to your baby, and believe us, everything about the present and the future will make sense.