Supported Sitter

At the Supported Sitter stage your baby will show signs of becoming more social and interactive with others. He may entertain you with his babbling, squealing and blowing bubbles and even begin to show a sense of humor. You may also notice that your baby’s motor skills are developing as he tries to hold objects and bring them to his mouth. Soon he’ll be ready to try his first few bites of solid food.

As you watch your baby grow, remember that babies develop on different time schedules, so don’t worry if your little one isn’t developing at the same time as other babies of the same stage.

Physical signs

• Sits with help or support
• On tummy, pushes up on arms with straight elbows

Every developmental stage your baby is experiencing now—and in the months ahead—is geared toward learning to walk. Your baby’s first step during this adventure is gaining control of his head, which is required for sitting, crawling and walking. You’ll see your little one learning to hold his head up when lying on his tummy. Next he’ll push up on his arms and arch his back to raise his chest. When he is developmentally ready, you can help him learn to his balance his upper body by supporting his back with pillows in a sitting position. As he learns to sit without support, he may try the “tripod” position where he leans forward with his arms extended for balance.

Your baby also is getting better at using his hands to reach out for objects and bring them to his mouth, including his fists and even his toes! During this stage, he’ll also learn to coordinate his senses, such as vision, touch and hearing, with his increasing motor abilities to help develop skills like grasping, rolling over and sitting up.

Cognitive skills

During this stage, your baby’s memory and attention span increase, and you’ll see his concentration improving. He may look at an object for longer periods of time and turn to unseen sounds. An important concept that your baby will learn is cause and effect. When he drops things on the floor, he’ll learn that it starts a chain of responses from people around him. He’ll also start to understand about object permanence—the idea that things exist even when out of sight.

Social skills

Your Supported Sitter communicates through sounds and crying, but he communicates in nonverbal ways, too. For example, he may turn his head away when he’s had enough or doesn’t like something, or cling to you when you try to put him down. He’ll start to babble and imitate your sentences by making simple sounds like “bah” or “goo”. Your baby can show emotions such as pleasure, fear and frustration.

Eating skills

Sometime soon—between the Supported Sitter Stage and Sitter Stage—but not before four months—your baby will show you that he’s ready for his first solid food when he can sit with help or support. This physical skill is important because you should always feed your baby when he is sitting upright in order to open his airway and take advantage of gravity to help the food go down. Eating in an upright position can also help reduce spitting up and get your baby used to the eating position he’ll use as he grows older.

Around this time, your baby also loses the tongue thrust reflex. This reflex, which all babies are born with, automatically causes a baby’s tongue to push against a spoon (or anything else put into his mouth). The reflex causes your baby to expel or spit out any food placed into his mouth. Once he loses this reflex, he is able to move infant cereal or pureed foods forward and backward in his mouth with his tongue, and, thus, eat his first solid foods. Your baby also may be demanding more frequent feedings or wake in the middle of the night for an extra feeding.

How to feed your Supported Sitter:

Always use a spoon to feed your baby food unless your pediatrician has instructed otherwise. You may be tempted to put cereal in his bottle, but, unless your pediatrician has instructed otherwise, do not—this can drastically increase the amount of food your baby eats and cause excessive weight gain. Your baby needs to get used to the process of eating—sitting up, eating bites from a spoon, and stopping when he’s had enough. These early eating experiences can help set the foundation for good eating habits for the rest of his life.

What foods to start with:

Single-grain cereals like rice cereal are typically the first solid food introduced to baby. Iron-rich cereal is recommended by most pediatricians. Mixing cereal with something familiar—like breastmilk or formula—can help your baby accept the new food.

When to try solid foods:

For baby’s first adventure into solids, it’s best to do it at a time when your baby is happy and cooperative—midday is often a good time to start. Start with giving him some breastmilk or formula—then try a few bites of solid food and follow with more breastmilk or formula. Don’t be surprised if much of the food ends up on his bib or face; this is normal as your baby gets used to swallowing foods. Encourage your baby to suck on the spoon of cereal or pureed food, utilizing a previously acquired skill to assist with this new experience. Or allow your baby to lick food off the spoon rather than wipe the spoon on his upper lip, which will cause the tongue thrust reflex to re-engage.

Hunger and fullness cues

You’ll be less likely to under or overfeed your baby if you understand his hunger and fullness cues.

At the Supported Sitter stage, you’ll know your baby is hungry when he:

• is crying or fussing
• opens his mouth and leans toward the spoon

You’ll know your baby is full when he:

• turns his head away from the spoon
• spits out a familiar food
• becomes distracted or notices surroundings more

Your baby’s growth

Your baby continues to grow rapidly and may gain about 1 to 1.25 pounds a month. The height and weight ranges provided in the charts below are representative of the majority of children at the age specified. Of course, healthy babies can also be outside this range. Remember that your child’s actual length and weight are not as important as the steady, appropriate rate of his growth. It is important to track your child’s length and weight over time as this is one of the key indicators of healthy growth and development. So keep plotting your child’s growth on a growth chart and discuss with your pediatrician at each visit, including if your child begins following a different curve on the chart or gaining weight or length slowly.

Typical length and weight for Supported Sitter boys at 4 and 5 months

**indicates 10^th-90^th percentile range Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Typical length and weight for Supported Sitter girls at 4 and 5 months

**indicates 10^th-90^th percentile range Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

What you can do to help your baby’s development

As a parent you can play an active role in every stage of your baby’s development. Here’s a recap of what your baby might be doing at this stage, plus some things you can do to support his healthy development along the way.

During this stage, your baby may:

• Smile at his reflection in a mirror, even though he doesn’t recognize who it is
• Nuzzle and stroke your face
• Rock on his stomach, kick his legs, and move his arms in a swimming motion
• Have full head control when pulled into the sitting position
• Follow moving objects with his eyes
• Explore toys with his eyes, hands and mouth
• Recognize and enjoy familiar routines like feeding or bath time
• Use a “raking” grasp to pick up objects
• Like to imitate you
• Make noise to get your attention
• Turn his head away if he dislikes something

Things you can do:

• Read to your baby—it’s never too early to start
• Give him objects to hold and look at, which uses both his brain and developing finger skills
• Play hiding games—like peekaboo—to teach your baby about object permanence. Hide a block under a blanket or a toy behind you and then reveal them to him.
• Make frequent eye contact and exaggerate your facial expressions and gestures.
• Imitate your baby’s sounds, changing the pitch and volume
• Show him cause and effect. Have him shake a toy or tambourine to show him that he is making a noise when he rattles it.
• Use a mirror to play games. Help him pat “mom” or “baby” in the mirror
• Talk to your baby as often as possible. Point out interesting things when you’re out together—describe what you’re doing, what you’re seeing in the car, or at the store.
• Play with your baby—this is how he learns