Week 13
Days 85 to 91 · 12 weeks 0 days to 12 weeks 6 days old · about 3 months This week a typical baby measures about 60 cm (23.6 in) and weighs about 6.0 kg (13.2 lb). Babies vary widely, and what matters most is that your baby keeps growing steadily along their own curve. Your baby is stronger and more coordinated now, and a few may even tip from tummy to back for the first time. For you, three months is a natural moment to take stock: of your body, your energy and how far you have come. This is the last week of the fourth trimester, the three months when your baby has been adjusting to life outside the womb. This week looks at early rolling and moving on from swaddling, your own health, feeding at 3 months, what many 3-month-olds can do, and closing this first chapter.
Day 85 · 12 weeks 0 days old
The first roll can come as a surprise
One day you place your baby on their tummy, look away for a moment, and find them on their back. Many parents are startled by the first roll. Rolling from tummy to back usually comes first, because a baby pushing up on their arms can tip over sideways almost by accident. Most babies roll somewhere between about 3 and 6 months, though a few manage it at 2 months and some take longer. Rolling from back to tummy takes more strength and usually comes later. Some babies skip rolling for a while and go on to sit or move in their own way, and that can be fine too. If your baby was born early, use their corrected age.
You can encourage rolling by giving plenty of floor time, both on the tummy and on the back, and by placing a toy just to one side so your baby has a reason to turn.
The important change is safety. Once a baby can roll even once, they can roll off a bed, sofa or change table in a second. From now on, keep one hand on your baby whenever they are on a raised surface, or use the floor. You will read more about rolling safety in the next part of the book.
Try this: During floor play today, place a favourite toy just out of reach to one side and see whether your baby turns towards it.
Day 86 · 12 weeks 1 day old
Time to think about stopping swaddling
If you have been swaddling your baby, now is the time to plan the move away from it. Swaddling can help young babies feel calm and sleep, but once a baby starts trying to roll, it becomes unsafe. A swaddled baby who rolls onto their tummy may not be able to push up or turn their head to breathe freely.
Stop swaddling as soon as you see any signs that your baby is trying to roll, such as rocking onto one side, lifting a hip or twisting during sleep. For many babies this happens somewhere between 2 and 4 months. Do not wait for the first full roll.
Many families make the change gradually. Swaddle with one arm out for a few nights, then both arms out. Others go straight to a wearable sleep bag or sleep sack with the arms free, which keeps babies warm without loose blankets. Avoid weighted sleep sacks, weighted swaddles and products that hold a baby in one position, as they are not considered safe.
Your baby may sleep less well for a few nights while they get used to free arms. Most adjust within a week.
Whatever your baby wears, the rest of safe sleep stays the same: on the back, on a firm, flat surface, with nothing loose in the sleep space.
Try this: Tonight, try swaddling with one arm out, or put your baby in a sleep sack with both arms free, and keep going for a week before judging how it went.
Day 87 · 12 weeks 2 days old
Three months on, check in with your own body
At 3 months after birth, many parents feel much more like themselves. Energy is creeping back. Others still feel worn out, sore or not quite right. Both are common, and recovery from pregnancy and birth often takes longer than the 6 weeks people expect.
Tiredness is almost universal with a young baby. But tiredness that does not improve with a good stretch of sleep, or comes with other symptoms, is worth checking. Two common, treatable causes after birth are anemia, especially if you lost a lot of blood, and thyroid problems, which can appear in the months after birth.
Call your care provider if you feel exhausted most of the time even after rest, feel short of breath or dizzy, have a racing or pounding heart, feel unusually anxious, shaky or hot, or feel cold, low and slowed down. Also call if you still have pain during sex, leaking of urine or stool, a heavy feeling in the vagina, or pain at a caesarean scar.
Low mood and anxiety can appear at any point in the first year, not just in the first weeks. If you have felt low, numb or overwhelmed for more than two weeks, tell someone and talk to your doctor or nurse.
Regular meals, daylight, a short walk and any extra sleep still help. For your partner: Take one night feed or the early morning shift this week so the birth parent can sleep for one long, uninterrupted stretch, and ask whether they have booked any check they need.
Day 88 · 12 weeks 3 days old
Feeding at 3 months
Around 3 months, feeding often looks different from the early weeks. Many babies feed fewer times a day, perhaps 6 to 8 times for breastfed babies, and take more at each feed. Feeds are faster, too.
If you are breastfeeding, your breasts may feel softer and less full than before, and leaking may have stopped. This often worries parents, but it usually means your supply has settled to match your baby's needs, not that it has dropped. Steady weight gain and plenty of wet diapers are the best signs that your baby is getting enough.
Many babies have a growth spurt around 3 months. For a few days your baby may want to feed much more often, then settle back down. Following their lead usually brings supply up to meet the new demand.
If you are formula feeding, your baby's intake will rise gradually. Keep offering formula prepared exactly as the package says and let your baby decide how much to take. Watch for fullness cues, like slowing down, turning away or closing their lips.
Babies this age need only breast milk or formula. They do not need water, juice or solid food yet. If you are breastfeeding, keep giving the daily vitamin D drops, 400 IU (10 micrograms), unless your baby's doctor advises otherwise.
Try this: If your baby is easily distracted during feeds, try feeding in a quiet, dim room once or twice today and see if feeds go more smoothly.
Day 89 · 12 weeks 4 days old
What many 3-month-olds can do
Around 3 months, babies change quickly, and it can be tempting to compare your baby with others. Remember that every baby develops at their own pace, and skills appear across a range of weeks. Babies born early should be judged by their corrected age.
- By about 3 months, many babies:
- smile at people and enjoy being talked to
- coo, gurgle and make vowel sounds in response to you
- follow a moving face or object with their eyes
- lift their head and chest when lying on their tummy
bring their hands to their mouth and hold them together turn towards sounds and voices
Some also bat at toys, chuckle or start to roll; others will in the weeks ahead. What matters most is that your baby keeps making progress over time. Trust your knowledge of your baby, and do not wait for a scheduled check if something worries you.
Call your baby's doctor if by around 3 months your baby does not respond to loud sounds, does not follow moving things with their eyes, does not smile at people, cannot lift their head at all on their tummy, seems very stiff or very floppy, uses one side of their body much more than the other, or loses a skill they had before.
Try this: Write down two or three new things your baby has done this month, so you have them ready for your next appointment and for your own memories.
Day 90 · 12 weeks 5 days old
Look how far your baby has come
Find a photo from your baby's first day and hold it next to your baby now. The difference is striking. Three months ago your baby could barely lift their head, saw the world in a blur and cried as their main way of telling you anything. Now they hold their head steady, follow you across the room, smile, coo and have opinions.
Your baby has probably gained roughly 2.5 to 3 kg (5.5 to 6.5 lb) and grown about 10 cm (4 in) since birth, though babies vary widely. They have learned to feed efficiently, to tell day from night, and to recognize the people who care for them. They are no longer quite a newborn.
The early weeks blur together for most parents. Sleep loss makes it hard to lay down memories, and many people later wish they had kept a few more notes. It is not too late to start, and it does not need to be elaborate. A few lines in a notebook, a voice memo, or a photo taken in the same spot each month can become something you treasure.
If you missed recording milestones, or did not take as many photos as you hoped, that is fine. You were busy keeping a small person alive and loved. Try this: Take a photo of your baby today in the same place or beside the same soft toy, and plan to repeat it each month until their first birthday.
Day 91 · 12 weeks 6 days old
You have made it through the fourth trimester
Today marks the end of the first three months, often called the fourth trimester. It is the time when a baby moves from the warmth and constant closeness of the womb to life in the world, and when parents move from pregnancy and birth into the work of caring for a baby. You have both been through an enormous change.
Think of what you have learned. You can read your baby's cues, settle them in ways that work for your family, feed them, bathe them and know their cries. You may have learned harder things too: how to keep going on very little sleep, how to ask for help, how to forgive yourself for the days that did not go well.
If these months were joyful, hold onto that. If they were harder than you imagined, that is common, and it does not predict the rest of the year. Many parents find things feel steadier from here, as babies sleep a little longer, cry less and give more back.
The next three months bring rolling, grabbing, belly laughs, new sleep patterns and, for some, a return to work. Your baby is about to become much more of a playmate.
Pause today, however briefly, and notice what you have done.
Try this: Share a quiet moment today with your baby and, if you have one, your partner or support person, and say out loud one thing you are proud of from these three months.