Baby Development at 5 Months Old

Babies of this age…

• Constantly repeat sounds, e.g. blowing raspberries
• Love taking turns with you making noises
• Can see and focus on objects and people across a room
• Will look around with interest and will watch you from a distance
• Will flex their head forward when pulled from a lying into a sitting position
• May be starting to dribble a lot because of teething - symptoms can start around a month before a tooth actually appears.
• Babies may now roll from their backs to their fronts and are now able to push up on their arms when they are on their tummies.

This is an enchanting time... mostly

So many skills are being learnt, and it's such fun to sing, play games and make silly noises and faces with your baby. When you see the world through a baby’s eyes, it becomes a magical place.

But sometimes, if your baby is crying without apparent reason, seems to need constant attention, or won’t sleep, it can be a little overwhelming. That’s why getting together with other parents of young babies provides such great support. It's worth making the effort to keep up with the new mums and dads you met at antenatal classes, or finding any local parent groups that meet regularly (your health visitor may know of some). It's also a good idea to try to organise a babysitter now and then so that you can have a bit of a baby-free social life, too.

Teething

If your baby has been unsettled, dribbling or chewing on everything, teething may well be the culprit. You'll know for sure the day a little white tooth magically appears! The first tooth to appear is usually one of the bottom front ones, followed by the one next to it; then come the top middle two in turn. Most babies start getting teeth around six months, but a few have no teeth until they are around a year or even older!

Weaning your baby

There’s a whole exciting world of foods out there just waiting for your baby to enjoy (teeth or no teeth!) But first things first. If your baby is ready for weaning, you'll notice the following signs:

• Your baby is stable in a sitting position and can hold his or her head steady
• Your baby is co-ordinated enough to focus on a piece of food, pick it up and get it to his or her mouth without help
• Your baby can actually swallow a bit of puree when it's put in his or her mouth. If you're not sure about this last item, try offering your baby a tiny bit of smooth puree on a weaning spoon or the tip of a clean finger. If it comes back out the way it went in, you're off the hook – wash up and try again another day.

Despite what some of your more competitive fellow parents might imply, there’s no prize for being the first to wean, and no huge hurry - your baby’s usual milk still supplies all the necessary nourishment for now.

For all the messy details about how to get started with weaning, head over to our section on weaning your baby (just put a tarp on the floor first!)

Download our handy Weaning Chart

For a simple business, weaning can get surprisingly confusing, so we've created a nice, clear downloadable HiPP Organic Weaning Chart to post on the fridge. (You're welcome!)

Did you know?

Every ingredient in our HiPP Organic baby foods can be traced back to the exact field that it was grown in! Swapped the big run-down of how to start weaning for an outline of signs of readiness, plus link to all our other weaning info – how to start is covered thoroughly there.