Week 30

Days 204 to 210 · 29 weeks 0 days to 29 weeks 6 days old · about 7 months A typical baby this week measures about 68 cm (26.75 in) and weighs about 7.9 kg (17.3 lb). Babies vary widely, and your baby's own steady curve on the growth chart matters far more than the average. Many babies now sit well, pass toys from hand to hand and rake small things toward themselves, and some are on the move. Bath time has become a splashing, wriggling affair, and that brings new safety rules. For you, carrying a heavier, squirmier baby all day can take a toll on your back. This week covers bath and water safety, new skills in the crib, looking after your body, hand skills, a home first aid kit, and why comparing babies is rarely helpful.

Day 204 · 29 weeks 0 days old

Bath time needs your full attention

Babies can drown in just a few centimetres of water, in less than a minute, and it happens silently. There is no splashing or crying. That is why the most important bath rule is simple: stay within arm's reach, with a hand on or near your baby, for the whole bath. If the doorbell or phone rings, ignore it, or wrap your baby in a towel and take them with you.

Bath seats and rings are not safety devices. They can tip over or let a baby slip through, and they can give a false sense of security. Never leave a baby in the care of an older sibling in the bath, either.

Get everything ready before you start: towel, clean diaper, clothes and soap within reach. Fill the bath to only about waist height on a sitting baby, and check the temperature with your elbow or a bath thermometer. About 37 °C (98.6 °F) is comfortable. Put the cold water in first, mix it well, and turn the taps away from your baby or cover the spout. Setting your water heater to about 49 °C (120 °F) lowers the risk of scald burns throughout the house. When the bath is over, empty it straight away.

Try this: Before tonight's bath, put everything you need within arm's reach, so you never have to turn away.

Day 205 · 29 weeks 1 day old

Water dangers beyond the bathtub

Once your baby can move, water anywhere in or around the home becomes a risk. Young children are top-heavy. If they lean into a bucket, toilet or paddling pool, they may not be able to lift their head out again. Inside, empty buckets, basins and sinks as soon as you are done, and store them upside down. Keep the bathroom door closed, and consider a toilet lid lock once your baby is crawling. Pet water bowls are usually too shallow to be a major risk, but keep an eye on them anyway.

Outside, empty paddling pools after every use and turn them over. Ponds, water barrels, hot tubs and pools need secure barriers. A pool should have fencing on all four sides with a self-closing, self-latching gate, separating it from the house. Pools and swimming are covered in more detail later in the book.

Wherever there is water, the rule is the same: an adult within arm's reach, giving their full attention, not looking at a phone. At gatherings, it helps to agree on one named adult who watches the children in the water at any given time, so everyone does not assume someone else is looking.

Try this: Walk through your home and garden today and look for anywhere water collects, from mop buckets to rain barrels, and decide how you will empty, cover or block each one.

Day 206 · 29 weeks 2 days old

New skills can turn up in the crib

When babies learn a new motor skill, they often want to practise it at every opportunity, including in the middle of the night. A baby who has just learned to roll onto their tummy, sit up or get onto hands and knees may do it in the crib and then wake, cross and unsure how to get back down. This is usually short-lived. Plenty of practice during the day helps the new skill become ordinary, so it is less exciting at night. If your baby rolls onto their tummy in their sleep, it is fine to leave them there once they can roll both ways on their own, as long as they were put down on their back. Sitting and pulling up also change crib safety. Lower the crib mattress to its lowest setting before your baby can sit up unassisted, or as soon as they start, so they cannot topple or climb over the side. Check that bumpers, pillows and soft toys are out of the crib, as they can also be used as steps. Keep the crib away from windows, blind cords, shelves and lamps.

Sleep sacks remain a safe option, as long as the size fits. Move up a size as your baby grows.

Try this: Check your baby's crib today: lower the mattress if it is not already at its lowest setting, and make sure nothing within reach could be climbed on or pulled in.

Day 207 · 29 weeks 3 days old

Your back is carrying more than it used to

Your baby now weighs more than twice what they did at birth, and you lift them dozens of times a day, often while twisting or leaning. It is no wonder that back, neck, shoulder and wrist pain are so common in parents at this stage.

A few habits make a difference. Bend at your knees and hips rather than your waist, and hold your baby close to your body before you lift. Avoid twisting while lifting: turn your whole body by moving your feet. Kneel rather than stoop when lifting your baby out of the bath.

Try not to carry your baby on one hip all the time. Switch sides, and use a well-fitting carrier that spreads the weight across both shoulders and your hips. The infant car seat is heavy and awkward to carry, so leave it in the car or on a stroller frame where you can.

Feeding positions count too. Bring your baby up to you with pillows instead of hunching over. Gentle strengthening exercises for your core and back, and stretches for your neck and shoulders, can help prevent pain.

Call your care provider if you have back pain with numbness, tingling or weakness in your legs, pain that is severe or getting worse, or pain that stops you from caring for your baby.

For your partner: Take over the heaviest lifting jobs today, such as the car seat, the bath and the stroller, and give the other parent's back a break.

Day 208 · 29 weeks 4 days old

Busy hands are getting more skilful

Watch your baby play and you will see how much their hands have changed. A few months ago, they swiped at toys and grabbed them with the whole hand. Now many babies can pass a toy from one hand to the other, hold an object in each hand at once and bang them together.

Many babies around this age also use a raking grasp: curling all their fingers to drag small things, like a piece of food, toward them. Over the next few months this will slowly refine into the pincer grasp, using the thumb and first finger, which is covered in the coming weeks. The more practice your baby gets, the faster these skills develop.

Offer a variety of shapes and textures to explore: soft blocks, rings, a wooden spoon, a crinkly book, a ball with holes. Two of the same toy, one for each hand, encourages banging and passing. Let your baby explore food with their hands too, even when it gets messy.

As their fingers get better at picking things up, small items become more of a danger. Keep coins, buttons, beads, small batteries and anything that fits inside a toilet paper tube out of reach.

Try this: Give your baby a toy in one hand, then offer a second toy to the same hand and watch whether they pass the first one over to make room.

Day 209 · 29 weeks 5 days old

Put together a home first aid kit

Minor bumps, scrapes and fevers are part of life with a baby who is on the move. A well-stocked first aid kit means you are not hunting for things when you are worried or your baby is upset.

A simple kit might include:

a digital thermometer

fever and pain medicine suitable for babies, such as acetaminophen (paracetamol), and ibuprofen if your baby's doctor agrees it is suitable from this age

an oral syringe for measuring medicine

adhesive bandages, gauze, medical tape and saline for rinsing cuts or eyes a cold pack, tweezers and blunt-ended scissors

a nasal aspirator and saline drops for stuffy noses

For medicine doses, follow the dose for your baby's weight on the package, or ask your pharmacist. Never give aspirin to babies or children. Check expiry dates every few months, and keep the kit out of your baby's reach. Next to the kit, or on the fridge, keep a short information sheet for anyone caring for your baby: your local emergency number, the poison centre number, your home address, your baby's doctor's number, your baby's date of birth, any allergies or health conditions, and how to reach you. Try this: Gather what you already have into one box today, write a list of what is missing, and fill in an emergency information sheet for the fridge.

Day 210 · 29 weeks 6 days old

Your baby is not running a race

At playgroups, in online groups and at family gatherings, it is hard to avoid comparisons. One baby of the same age is already crawling, another has two teeth, a third says something that sounds like "mama". It is natural to wonder how your own baby measures up.

The truth is that healthy babies develop at very different speeds, and each one has their own order of skills. Some babies crawl at 6 months, some at 10, and some never crawl at all. Being early or later on any single milestone says almost nothing about future ability, intelligence or personality. Babies born early should be compared with their corrected age.

What does matter is that your baby keeps making progress over time and does not lose skills they once had.

When comparisons start to sting, try shifting the question from "Is my baby ahead or behind?" to "What is my baby working on right now?" Then join in. And if something genuinely worries you, raise it rather than waiting. Call your baby's doctor if your baby loses skills they once had, or if you have a persistent feeling that something is not right with their development. Try this: Next time you notice yourself comparing, take a moment to name one thing your baby has learned this month, however small.