Common milestones for babies between 10-16 weeks

Your baby is growing quickly, and it seems like they’re doing something new every day. Keep your cameras ready — here are the milestones you can expect as they enter their third month.

At 10 weeks:

Learning experiences have a far greater impact during the early years, while the neural networks in a baby's brain are still immature and just beginning to take shape. As a young brain processes various experiences it wires itself to become more and more equipped to process similar or related experiences in future.
 
Physical and mental development may include:

- Kicking enthusiastically.
- Lifting their head up to 45° and maintaining this position for 10 seconds. 
- Keeping their hands unclenched more than 50% of the time.
- Holding up a hand to look at it.
- Retaining a rattle briefly when you put it into the fold of their hand.
 
Socially, they may start to:

- Cry differently in different situations (when they are hungry, in pain, tired, etc.) 
- Respond differently to tones of voice (happy or sad).
- Smile when they see you smile or hear your voice. 
- Mould their body to yours when you hold them.

At 12 weeks:

Your baby now moves their arms and legs simply because they love to feel them move. This is not only a physical activity, but also an important step in their intellectual development. 
 
Additional physical developments may include:

- Holding their head steady when you support them in a sitting position. 
- Swiping at dangling objects with their hands. 
- Bringing their hands together over their chest. 
- Tracking a moving object with their eyes 180° from side to side, and also up and down. 
- Looking away when they are no longer able to focus on stimulation to take some time out to recharge.
 
Your baby will learn these social skills:

- To stop and to listen to you when you respond to their cooing sounds, then coo again, resulting in a short conversation between the two of you.
- To stop crying or calm somewhat when they hear your voice. 
- They will recognise you as you enter the room. 

At 14 weeks:

Your baby is now discovering that another person can hear, feel and see the same things they do. This makes them more interested in sharing the moment with people. 

When connecting with others, your baby may:

- Respond to your voice with different sounds.
- Laugh out loud and squeal with delight during play.
- Show that they want to interact with you by making eye contact or smiling at you with the intention of getting you to smile back. 
- Engage in a 'cooing conversation' with you.

Other milestones to look out for include:

- Using their forearms as supports when they are on their tummy to lift their head up vertically and look around for up to 20 seconds. 
- Displaying good head control: steady in supported sitting and only a slight head lag on pull-to-sit.
- Bringing their hands to their mouth.

At 16 weeks:

- Using their arms as supports to raise their head to 90° when on their tummy.
- Bringing their head along all the way when you pull them up into a sitting position (and keeping it steady). 
- Rolling from their back into a side-lying position. 
- Taking some weight on their legs when you hold them in a standing position.
- Keeping their hands open or loosely fisted. 
- Using one hand to examine the other.
- Reaching out to grasp objects, and opening and closing their hands to grab an object.
 
Your baby will start following other people's movements, even across a room. Cause and effect also becomes more familiar so they will repeat movements that make things happen. They will start showing that they want to interact with you by making eye contact or smiling at you. They’ll love repeating songs, rhymes and games that are familiar, and will babble and coo. You’ll notice them becoming excited by objects dangling within reach.

What’s next?

After four months, your baby will start to roll over from their front to back, and pull their head up when brought into a sitting position. They’ll soon be strong enough to raise their upper body on straight arms when on their tummy. 
 
Now’s the time when they become aware of their feet – playing with them, and putting them in their mouth. Your baby will start actively reaching out to objects to grasp them, and look for a reaction to an action. They’ll also learn to turn their head away when they don’t want something.
 
Fun tip: Introducing quiet playtime to your little one with the help of books is an excellent activity. Showing your baby the colourful pages of baby board books and reading to them is a great way to stimulate their senses and nurture their early language skills.
 
Remember that the average ages for reaching certain milestones are just that -averages. Some babies will do things earlier, while others will do them later - and that’s all usually okay. Visit your nearest Clicks Clinic if you have any concerns.