Your baby is at the one-year-old mark! At this stage you might be wondering – does she ever stop moving? It’s like all she does now is crawl or cruise or take her steps without a pause. This is why your baby might be sleeping a little more at night or taking longer naps – she is recovering from burning all that energy. This is a good thing, because sleeping better greatly helps your baby’s physical coordination. Organizing your own schedule to suit her routine might be a good idea, since you don’t want her missing her naps.
Around your 49-week-old baby’s first birthday, a question frequently asked will be – is she walking yet? Well, your baby may be walking at this stage, or she may not be. The typical age for babies to start walking is between 9-18 months, so if she isn’t yet, it’s no big deal. Let her take her time. If she does start walking, she will still be learning how to coordinate her tiny legs to the movement of walking and may not look graceful at first. She will stumble around, holding her arms out for balance. Gradually as she practices, her arms will come down to her sides, and she will depend on her core to give her balance while she walks. Do introduce push toys like baby shopping carts or baby strollers at this time. She will have something to grab onto, and it will give her more incentive to keep walking.
You should watch out for the following 49-week-old baby milestones this week:
You will now be moving towards weaning your baby away from bottles and formula. Ideally, your baby should have a bottle only during sleep time or before a nap. On waking, she should be given milk to drink from a cup, and solid food plays a more prominent role compared to milk feeding at this stage. The hardest part of weaning is to reduce the connection between the bottle and sleep. To make it easier on you, begin with daytime feeds. Gradually reduce the amount of milk you give and aim to end the feed before you settle your baby in his bed. If you are giving her milk from a cup, keep in mind that a baby needs 4-6 serves of dairy per day, so you can replace milk with other dairy products as well. To withdraw the bottle from your baby at night, try and introduce other distractions like songs and cuddles before bedtime, along with reducing the amount of milk. Soon, your baby will turn to these distractions and pay less attention to the bottle. Weaning is gradual, so you need to give your baby time to adjust to these new changes. The goal is to stop bottles around 12 months and move to cow’s milk in place of formula.
For breastfed and formula-fed babies, the weaning process is the same. The goal is always to transition from breastfeeding to sleep to falling asleep with a different form of comfort. This will be easier if some other adult other than the mother takes the role of putting the baby to sleep. This is because if it is the breastfeeding mother, then the baby will instinctively seek out for her breast. If it is another adult, like the father or a trusted grandparent, they can use techniques like cuddling, rocking, patting and singing lullabies to put the baby to sleep. If it is hard for you as a mother to hear your baby call for you, make sure to be elsewhere during this process. Avoid giving a bottle at the 12-month mark. As your baby gets familiar with the new bedtime routine of cuddling and singing, she will gradually accept these changes and no longer need the bottle or breastfeeding to sleep. If the transition is too hard on your baby due to things like illness or teething, wait for a few weeks and try again.
Below are a few ways you can care for your 49-week old baby:
It is recommended to have a doctor’s medical checkup when your child becomes 1-year-old.
The doctor will measure your baby’s height, weight, and head circumference so that he can evaluate your baby’s growth progress. He will also ask you a series of questions about your baby so that he can evaluate your baby’s sleep habits, sight, physical and behavioural development. He may also take a blood test to check if there are any signs of lead poisoning in your baby’s blood.
At the 49-week mark, your baby will need the first dose of the chickenpox vaccine, a final dose of the Hib vaccine, the first dose of the Hepatitis A vaccine, the first dose of the Measles Mumps Rubella vaccine, and the final dose of the Pneumococcal (PCV) vaccine. She should also be administered the final dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine and the third dose of the Polio (IPV) vaccine if not given already.
You can play the following games and activities with your baby:
Consult your doctor on your 49-week-old infant development when you see the following:
Your baby’s known vocabulary is greater than her spoken one. So, don’t worry, even if she speaks only two words at 12 months, she will understand 25.