Four-Month Visit

Now it really gets fun! At four months old, your baby is probably smiling at you and expecting you to smile back. This is a proud visit as your child continues to amaze you with new developmental achievements. We will continue to discuss ways to stimulate your baby’s continued development. We will also develop a strategy to help you raise a healthy eater and sleeper.

All babies develop at different rates. Do not be discouraged or worried if your child has not achieved the following milestones by four months.

At this age, your child should:

  • Hold up chest when lying on tummy
  • Roll from side to side
  • Reach and grasp for objects
  • Turn head purposefully in response to the human voice
  • Be fascinated by mirror image
  • Laugh and giggle while playing and socializing

Four-month-old babies produce a great deal of saliva at this age. Also, anything in their hands will end up in their mouth. These behaviors are often misconstrued as signs of teething. Usually, infants begin teething between 6–18 months.

Bottle-fed infants begin solid foods at four months.  Breast fed infants may remain exclusively breast-fed until six months or can introduce solid foods between 4-6 months.  Visit our blog post on Starting Solid Foods for more information.

At the four-month visit, your child will receive the Pentacel vaccine (Dtap, Polio and Hib), the Prevnar vaccine (pneumococcal) and an oral vaccine that protects against rotavirus.