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5 month old development

This probably comes across a bit of a neurotic mother post but I thought I'd see what people said anyway.



My little girl is 5 months on Saturday, and I was googling for games to play with her whilst we're at home, and they involved things like saying words to her so she can repeat them and it also mentioned how she'll be giving me hugs and kisses and trying to make me laugh.



Now, I personally think she's a pretty clever little girlie, and is more into the physical side of development - she'll drink from a cup, feed herself from a spoon if I load it and is very close to sitting up independent, but I can't help but feel she's not at all interested in copying things I say and isn't aware enough of everything to even know what a kiss is!



What sort of things did you baby do at 5 months?



She's not rolling and has little interest in tummy time or actually moving anywhere (although she has rolled onto her side to reach for things before), and all these pages I've been reading just make out as if she should be doing a whole lot more.



She's not really a very vocal baby, she makes squeaks and squeals sometimes and makes a lot of frustrated noises, but no obvious consonant sounds. She laughs if we make an effort to make her laugh but doesn't seem to get really excited at random things like the websites seem to suggest they should do.



I know babies do things in their own time and I think a little of this worry is PMT induced so I was wondering whether anyone might be able to give me some reassurance that this is normal!



Thanks xx

Replies

  • Repeating words?! At 5 months?! I'm glad I didn't read that 5 months ago as I don't really need much invitation to be nuerotic! My LO is 10 months and doesn't do that at all. We kind of had a mini 'conversation' this morning where I was saying something to her and then she'd just go 'doh' and nod her head. She kept doing it in the pauses I left but that's the first time she's done it. She doesn't kiss me (kind of sucks my cheek sometimes but I think she just likes sucking my cheek, not thinking that it's a kiss substitute!). Same with hugs, she kind of throws herself at me sometimes. And she's got 5 months on your LO.



    They are all so unique and do things so differently that I really wouldn't worry - she sounds like she's doing just fine. I don't think these 'guides' account for the fact that some babies, for example, don't crawl. There are always going to be a hell of a lot of babies that don't do what they should, when they should just to give their mummies something else to worry about! x
  • Sorry that really should say repeating sounds! A few websites suggested that she should be saying do's and da's and all sorts by now.. nothing of the sort though!



    It's reassuring to hear what your LO is doing at 10 months, I do think these websites might be overly optimistic in what babies can achieve; all it does is worry us poor mummies! x
  • Hia - my DD will be seven months next weekend, your post struck a chord with me because my HV put the fear up me at her six months check saying 'is she clapping her hands and saying dada yet?' etc etc - she also doesn't roll and I don't think she will - she has done it twice in December and never again, lol! and even then she was half up on a cushion (cheating!) - she can sit up unaided, but can only just push up on her hands when on her tum which all the other ones her age at group can do, plus roll all over the room etc etc, makes me paranoid though I know it shouldn't as she is bright and good at handeye stuff etc! Anyway, she was only making vowel sounds etc at the time the HV came round with the odd' ga' or 'ma' sound in the middle by accident (very occasional!)

    then all of a sudden at about 6 and a half months we started getting 'babamamababamama' and it literally happened overnight! as for repeating sounds, not really. Very occasionally she's said 'baba' after someone else, but only about one time out of ten that you try, lol!

    also I never rolled or crawled even once, I bum shuffled then just started pulling up and walking at about 10 months old!
  • They all develop at different rates, and it sounds like the guidelines you've read are a little optimistic! At 5 months my dd was not babbling, even though she'd been saying "ah-goo" since 9 weeks. She didn't start properly babbling until nearly 6 months, and didn't copy noises until she was nearly 8 months (and when I say copy noises, all she's really done is gone "rarrr" when I was making dinosaur noises when reading a book together). She's said mama and dada, but I'm not convinced that they're really in context so I'm not counting them as first words. She's never clapped her hands, but started waving and giving me a kiss again at about 8 months. As for giving me a hug, at the moment she seems me as more of a climbing frame! I think she's just more physical than vocal.



    So no, there's nothing to worry about.
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