Everything You Need To Know: Your Baby At Five Months

A five-month-old baby is continuing to grow and often starts dietary diversification. Ohmymag tells you the basics to know about the baby's 5th month.

Everything You Need To Know: Your Baby At Five Months
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Everything You Need To Know: Your Baby At Five Months

Your Baby At Five Months

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1. Weight: The average weight of a five-month-old baby ranges from 6.5 to 7.1 kg for an average height of 63 to 64.5 cm. However, these are only averages. In fact, it is considered that a baby of five months has a normal weight if they weigh between 5.5 and 8.5 kg for a boy, and between 5 and 8 kg for a girl.

In terms of size, the standards are set between 59.5 and 67.5 cm for a little boy, and between 59 and 67.5 cm for a little girl.

2. Feeding a baby of five months: It is recommended to start baby's dietary diversification between five and six months, in agreement with your pediatrician: it is the best age group to minimise the risks that baby develops a food allergy.

Your pediatrician will tell you exactly which foods to introduce each month and in what quantities: stick to their instructions.

In general, you can start to offer small, smooth vegetable purees to your five-month-old baby: have him or her discover one vegetable at a time, preferably using sweet vegetables to start with, such as carrots and sweet potato for example, then gently introduce fruit compotes such as apple and pear.

Even when baby begins their dietary diversification, they still need a lot of milk every day: continue breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, knowing that a five-month-old usually drinks 4 bottles of 210 ml per day.

3. Sleeping pattern of a five-month-old baby: At this age, baby's sleep begins to be better structured: their sleep is deeper and longer than during the first three months of their life. A five-month-old might even sleep through the night, but it won't be the case for every baby.

Establish a bedtime ritual to promote their sleep: the same gestures repeated daily, such as a lullaby and a cuddle, in a calm environment, allow you to soothe baby before putting them in their cradle.

Whether your five-month-old is already sleeping through the night or not, also remember that they still need a lot of sleep: they can sleep up to 17 hours per day, if not a little more. Do not worry if they still feel the need to take naps during the day.

In general, a baby of five months takes 3 or even 4: one or two small naps in the morning, usually quite brief (40 minutes to 2 hours), another early afternoon (often the longest: it can last 2 to 3 hours) and a last one at the end of the day (1 hour on average).

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