Your 45 Week Old Baby – Development, Milestones & Care

Your baby is already 45 weeks old, which is 11 months and two weeks! He is a big boy now and more interested in eliciting reactions out of people around him – he may bang his cup down or yank your hair just to hear a big ‘NO’ out of you. Crying, being clingy, and crankiness are other things to watch out for at this age, but your baby will also be extra confident and independent enough to crawl, pull himself up, stand and maybe even start to walk. Your 45-week old baby would have mastered clapping and blowing kisses by now. He might bring his mouth to your cheek to offer you a kiss, but be careful: it might turn into a bite in the end! That’s how unpredictable a baby will be at this age.

Your 45 Week Old Baby’s Development

Your 45-week-old baby will often be confused between two of his needs – to keep an eye on you, thanks to separation anxiety and a strong, conflicting need to move around and explore his environment. He will end up using you like the base – going everywhere and yet coming back to check whether you are still there or not. He will gain confidence this way but may become alarmed when he finds you not at where he left you. You baby will love reading colourful books with you and start pointing out things in the book and sounding out their names if you have been reading to him often. Most babies this age might have the trademark chubby legs, arms and a pot belly but these will start to become leaner in the next few months. So do all the squeezing you want now!

Your 45 Week Old Baby’s Developmental Milestones

Below are some of the 45-week-old baby milestones you can learn to identify and expect:

• Your baby will be able to get into a sitting position from a ‘lying flat on tummy’ position
• Your baby will be able to understand the meaning of ‘no’ but not always obey it
• Your baby will be able to bend and pick up objects with his fingers
• Your baby will be able to imitate inflections and sounds
• Your baby will be able to follow simple step instructions like ‘bring me the ball’ or ‘give me that’ with gestures
• Your baby will be able to reply with sounds when you prompt. Like when you ask ‘what does the cow say’, he can reply with ‘moo’.
• Your baby’s vocabulary may increase to 4 or 5 distinct sounding words along with ‘mama’ and ‘papa’.

Feeding

Your 45-week old baby is heading to complete one year, so consider weaning him off your breast. If you are in no hurry and enjoy breastfeeding, you can continue for as long as you like. Toddlers gain a lot of nutrition as well as immune support from breastfeeding. But if you want to start weaning by the age of one year, give your breasts and body time to adjust for these changes. Dropping a feed per week is a systematic approach. Here is a plan for breastfeeding your baby:

• One feed on waking
• Breakfast
• Mid-morning feed before nap
• Breastfeed and lunch
• Mid-afternoon feed before nap
• Breastfeed and dinner
• Breastfeed at bedtime
• Breastfeed on night waking

When you wean a baby, you replace breastfeeding with other sources of food and comfort. To allow your breasts to adjust, avoid reducing mealtime feeds consecutively. For example, you can drop a lunchtime feed one week, and the dinner feeds the next. You can replace these with food and water from a cup. Also, you can replace breast milk with formula. If you do the transition well, you can reach the weaning stage of cutting out sleep time feeds.

Sleeping

Babies at 45 weeks experience peak sleep disturbance. This could mean that your baby might spend the whole night at your breast, frequently feeding, in what is called ‘breast sleeping’. This can be both positive as well as challenging for mothers. But sometimes, surrendering is the best option till your baby sleeps well again. If you are in this situation, make sure to support yourself and ease any strain from the fixed position. Sometimes in the middle of the night, it is easy to roll your baby to the other side of you to help you ease your body positioning for better sleep. Although this period is intense, it is temporary. Once your baby gets through this developmental phase, you can return him to his cot or resume the previous bed sharing.

Care Tips for Your 45-week-old Baby

Below are a few ways for you to care for your 45-week-old baby.

• When your baby tries to provoke you to say ‘no’ by throwing his sippy cup or yanking on the telephone cord, don’t say ‘no’ to him. Simply take the cup away saying ‘all done’ or replace the real telephone with a toy telephone.

• If you have a staircase at home, your baby will try to climb up and down. Make sure to keep an eye. You can hold his hand and teach him how to go up by staying behind to catch him if he loses balance. While coming down, you can teach him that the safest way is feet first and flat on the tummy. But never leave him near the stairs alone.

• If your baby throws tantrums on you taking something away from him, like the remote control, offer a substitute like building blocks. Have nap times even if he resists. No matter how much he screams, don’t give in. Instead, calmly explain why he can’t have it and put him in a safe place like a crib where he can cry it out till he responds to comfort. Don’t stress; he is just testing your limits.

Test and Vaccinations

A doctor will not usually schedule a medical checkup for your baby at the 10-11 month mark.

1. Tests

If your baby shows signs of anaemia, the doctor can advise a blood test to check levels of haemoglobin, iron and lead in his blood. The doctor will also measure your baby’s height and weight to track his development.

2. Vaccinations

Between 6-18 months, your baby will need the final dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine and the third dose of the IPV (polio) vaccine. Depending on the environment and your baby’s health, he may also need an influenza vaccine shot recommended by the doctor.

Games and Activities

Below are a few games and activities you can play with your baby:

• Peekaboo/Hide and Seek – Since babies at this stage are prone to separation anxiety, such call and respond games can reassure your baby that you are still nearby even when not visible.

• You can play the box game where you sit your baby inside a large cardboard box and keep opening and closing the lid, calling, so he knows you are there.

• You can erect a play tunnel for him where he can crawl through and enjoy trying to come out from the other end.

• You can play hide and seek with the other parent, holding your baby in your arms and seeking along with him.

• Ask your baby to find a particular object in the room like his favourite toy or pacifier.

• You can also teach your baby gestures for different words, like ‘more’ for when he wants more food at mealtimes.

When to Consult a Doctor

Here is when you should consult your doctor during your 45-week-old infant’s development:

• If you notice any abnormality in the way your baby walks or in his legs, if only one leg is bowed or one knee is turned in, consult your paediatrician. Your baby might have rickets or any other condition in which case the treatment would be a diet rich in Vitamin D.

• Since your baby will move around more at this stage, make sure he doesn’t fall and hit himself on sharp edges. If he does and you notice that your baby is in pain a few days later, call your doctor.

Babies at 45 weeks of age are hard to handle due to sleep disruption and tantrums. You can follow the above tips to handle your baby till he passes this developmental stage.