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By 4 months

4 month baby milestones

Cooing, grabbing, and pushing up on the elbows

At four months most babies coo back when you talk, chuckle when you play, hold a toy you put in their hand and push up on their forearms during tummy time. Here is what most babies do by 4 months, four easy ways to play this week, and what to check on the labels that touch your baby now.

What most babies do by 4 months

From CDC's 2022 checklists: things at least 3 in 4 babies do by this age. A guide for a chat with your pediatrician, not a test.

Sign in to tick what your child does

Feelings and people

  • Smiles on their own to get your attention
  • Chuckles (not yet a full laugh) when you try to make them laugh
  • Looks at you, moves or makes sounds to get or keep your attention

Talking and listening

  • Makes cooing sounds like “oooo” and “aahh”
  • Makes sounds back when you talk
  • Turns the head towards the sound of your voice

Thinking and exploring

  • Opens the mouth when hungry and sees the breast or bottle
  • Looks at their own hands with interest

Moving

  • Holds the head steady without support when you hold them
  • Holds a toy when you put it in their hand
  • Swings an arm at toys
  • Brings the hands to the mouth
  • Pushes up onto the elbows and forearms on the tummy

Every baby has their own timing

WHO followed 816 healthy babies in five countries, India among them, and timed six movement milestones. Each bar is the window in which 98 of every 100 of them got there.

Sits without support4–9 mo
Stands with help5–11 mo
Crawls on hands and knees5–14 mo
Walks with help6–14 mo
Stands alone7–17 mo
Walks alone8–18 mo
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Your baby: 4 months

None of these has started for most babies yet, and that is the point of the picture: sitting, crawling and walking each come in their own wide window, months from now.

Play together this week

Five or ten minutes each, with things already in your home. Do them in any language you speak at home.

1

Coo conversations

5 min · nothing to buy

You need: Nothing — bath time or a nappy change is perfect

  1. Say “oooo” slowly, with a big round mouth, and wait.
  2. When your baby coos, say it back, a little louder, like a reply.
  3. Then try a new one — “aaah”, “ba” — and give them time to answer.
  • Coos back
  • Makes sounds to keep your attention
2

Swing and swipe

5 min · nothing to buy

You need: A soft cloth ball, or a sock knotted into a ball

  1. Lay your baby on the back and hold the ball above their chest, within arm's reach.
  2. Let it touch a hand. Most babies swing at it — cheer every hit.
  3. Put it in their hand and let them bring it to the mouth.

Stay close. Something too big to swallow, with nothing that can come loose — no buttons, no bells.

  • Swings at toys
  • Holds a toy
  • Brings hands to the mouth
3

Where's that voice?

5 min · nothing to buy

You need: Two people, or you and the doorway

  1. While your baby lies on the back, call their name softly from one side.
  2. When they turn, smile and come closer. Then try from the other side.
  3. Grandparents love this one — every voice is a new game.
  • Turns towards your voice
4

Mirror tummy time

3–5 min · nothing to buy

You need: A cotton sheet on the floor and the almirah mirror, or your face at floor level

  1. Lay your baby on the tummy facing the mirror, or lie down facing them.
  2. Their own face, or yours, is the reason to push up and look.
  3. Stop before they get upset — a few short goes a day add up.

Stay close. On the floor, awake, with you right there. A wall or almirah mirror, nothing that can tip over.

  • Pushes up onto the forearms
  • Holds the head steady

What touches your baby now

It is still breast milk or formula alone until 6 months, WHO advises. Outdoors and in the evening, other labels start to matter — check sunscreen, mosquito repellent and everything that goes on the skin:

Scan a label Free. No sign-up. Pick 0–6 months on the result to check it for this age.

Talk with your pediatrician before starting any food other than breast milk or formula — WHO's advice is to wait until about 6 months.

If something worries you

You know your baby best. If your baby is not doing some of these things yet, or has stopped doing something they used to do, tell your pediatrician — at the next visit, or sooner. CDC's advice is not to wait: acting early is what helps most.

Born early? For the first two years, pediatricians usually count from the due date — the corrected age.

In India, your pediatrician can also refer you to the District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) at your district hospital, part of the government's Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram.

Questions CDC suggests taking to the visit:

Sources

  1. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Learn the Signs. Act Early. Milestones by 4 months (2022 checklist).
  2. Zubler J.M. et al. (2022). Evidence-informed milestones for developmental surveillance tools. Pediatrics 149(3):e2021052138.
  3. WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group (2006). WHO Motor Development Study: windows of achievement for six gross motor development milestones. Acta Paediatrica Suppl 450:86–95.
  4. WHO Child growth standards: motor development milestones.
  5. WHO (2023). Guideline for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6–23 months of age.
  6. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. Corrected age for preemies.
  7. National Health Mission, Government of India. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK): child health screening and early intervention services.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.