Congratulations–you made it! Now that he’s three months old, your baby is now considered an infant. You may have already noticed your child is becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and is no longer just an eating/pooping/sleeping machine. Now you two can enjoy more activities together.
Between three and six months, babies are perfecting their grab, gaining strength in preparation for crawling and walking (ahhhh!), and their brains are learning at an incredible rate. You can encourage all of this growth in a lot of different ways. Tummy time is still necessary; if you haven’t tried yet, place some toys at your child’s periphery. She can look at them and when intrigued, try to grab for them.
Floor gyms are nice at this age. They provide gross and fine motor skill development as well as visual and mental stimulation. Your child will also likely be starting the long teething process. You will want to have a few safe teething toys; my boys both loved their Sophie the Giraffe, but there are tons of different options out there (including chewable mommy jewelry).
This is a fun age to begin mommy/baby music classes, too. Babies generally really enjoy listening to music, and these classes often introduce a number of different types of music as well as include fun sensory activities and gross motor development. My oldest son really enjoyed Kindermusik, but there are lots of different options available depending on where you live.
This is a great age to introduce water play at your local swimming pool as well, if you haven’t already been. They can splash and enjoy bonding time with a parent and also start getting accustomed to the water (getting comfortable in the water early can help stave off fears of water in later childhood).
Finally, board and cloth books are awesome for infants. Children of all ages benefit from you reading to them, but at this age your child will also begin to be interested in handling the book themselves (and attempting to take bites of them too).
Meaghan Howard is a mom to two little boys, ages 3 and 6. She’s currently enjoying the expat life in Japan.
Tags: 3-6 months, activities, chew necklace, infant, kindermusik, sophie, tummy time
