0-3 Month Overview

Do you have a baby between 0-3 months? First of all, congratulations! What an exciting time! You may also have a lot of questions and feel overwhelmed. That’s ok! We’re here to help.

 

What to know about your 0-3 month baby!

Below are some popular and important topics that will help with your baby’s development and hopefully help with your journey as a parent to. This information will help get you through the first 3 months.

Don’t forget to check out our Milestones and Abilities and Games pages. The milestones and abilities will help you track your baby’s development, so you know what they should be doing. The games section will help baby reach their milestones and abilities with activities created by physical and occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists.

Sleep

What to Know About Sleep:

3 Easy Tips to Make Sure Baby Sleeps Safely

Sleeping soundly starts with safety. Follow this easy A-B-C Rule to make sure your little one is safe while they slumber:

  • Baby Sleeps Alone. This means they sleep alone in a crib or bassinet, with nothing else inside it. However, baby may sleep in the same room as their caregiver.
  • Baby Sleeps on their Back
  • Baby Sleeps in a Crib (or Bassinet)

Learn more here.

Buying your first crib? Learn these crib safety tips to make sure your baby’s sleeping space is safe.

Pro Parenting Tip: Do the “Sleep Switch!”

Whenever you lay baby down to sleep in their crib, there is one simple step you can take to help prevent two common conditions: positional plagiocephaly (flat spots on the head) and positional torticollis (tight neck muscles on one side). Try doing the Sleep Switch: Right, Left, Repeat!

Switch positions baby sleeps in the crib to prevent plagiocephaly

How Much Will Baby Sleep?

Ok, we don’t have a magic formula to help baby nail their sleep schedule (sorry!), but we have a lot of tips to help them get the sleep they need!

How much sleep will my newborn baby get?

What about napping? Baby will nap throughout the early years to help them get all the sleep they need! Typically, napping at this age looks like this. Learn more.

How often will my baby nap?

Swaddle, Sleep Sack, or Something Else?

Just like all of us, baby has sleep preferences too! Learn more about swaddles, sleep sacks, and other alternatives.

Bath Before Bed

Ahh, nothing better than a warm bath before bed! Setting up a bath time routine with baby can help them regulate and get prepared for sleep. Learn more about creating a bath time routine for baby.

How can baby stay safe during bath time? Go through this checklist before baby scrub-a-dubs!

Watch: Your Guide to Baby’s Sleep in the First Year

Feeding

What to Know about Feeding Your Newborn:

What Baby’s Feeding Will Look Like

At this age, baby’s stomach is small, so they’ll only be able to digest small amounts at a time. This means feedings will probably be more frequent (around every 1-3 hours).

Feeding your newborn baby.Learn more about Baby’s Feeding.

Should I wake up baby to feed them? In some cases, yes. This helps baby gain weight in the early months. Learn more and talk to baby’s healthcare provider to see what’s right for them.

How to Tell if Baby’s Hungry

Welcome to the world of hunger cues! Before your baby can say “I need to eat!”, they’ll tell you this through various cues.

Is it feeding time? How to tell if baby is hungry.Learn baby’s hunger cues and what to look for!

How can I tell if my NICU baby is hungry? Hunger cues in the NICU may look a little different. While baby’s feeding may be through a tube at this time, it’s still important to look for and respond to their cues. See what baby’s hunger cues might look like in the NICU.

The Low-Down on Spit-Up

Spitting-up may be a little icky, but it’s really important for baby’s digestion!

Important note: Spitting up should happen pretty easily for baby. If you notice they seem uncomfortable or are spitting up a lot, they may be dealing with something called GERD. Learn what to look out for.

Can baby drink water? At this age, no. Baby shouldn’t drink water until they are 6 months old. Learn more about drinking water, and see below for more foods and drinks to avoid in their first year.

What foods to avoid in baby's first year?

Bonding

How to Bond with Your Newborn:

It’s Always a Good Time for Tummy Time

Yes, even at 1 day old baby has an exercise routine!

Find some common tummy time movements for babies aged 0 to 3 monthsLearn everything you need to know about Tummy Time here!

What if my baby hates Tummy Time? That’s ok! So many babies have trouble with Tummy Time. Try out some of these alternate positions, to see if baby likes them better. Work to build up to 1 hour of Tummy Time per day by 3 months.

Bonding with Baby in the NICU

If baby is in the NICU after they are born, there are still so many ways to bond with them!

Through massage, music, communication, and games, you can keep baby active, developing and bonding with you. Learn how to bond with baby if they are in the NICU.

Why is skin-to-skin contact so important? This helps with bonding and reducing stress levels in the early months of life, especially if baby is in the NICU. Learn more. 

Help Baby’s Development with Massage+ 30, 10, 5

Massage+ 30, 10, 5 is a simple, quick, and powerful intervention using massage to help improve the health and development of premature and full-term infants. This is a massage of baby’s head, arms, legs, belly, and back, and also incorporates communication, the sensory system, and movement. Watch the full massage below, and learn more here!

Playing with Baby

Even at this age, you can play with baby every day! See below for some ways to play with baby, and how to find game ideas for their age.

The 6 stages of play by age.Some ideas for toys baby can play with in their first year

When is the best time to play with baby? Baby goes through different stages of alertness throughout the day. The quiet alert phase is when baby is most ready to play! Learn what to look for.

Communicating with Baby

Baby can’t talk yet, but they still have a lot to say! And they want to hear from you.

Communication milestones in baby's first year.Learn more about baby’s communication development.

How can you help baby’s language development at this age? Even as young as 2 months, baby can start processing rhythmic patterns in speech. Learn more about using a sing-song voice and nursery rhymes with baby.

Baby’s Developing Senses

Baby has 8 senses that begin developing as soon as they are born. Check out these activities to promote their sensory development!

Daily Sensory Activities for Baby Infographic

Newborn sensory activities infographic.

Baby’s Social Emotional Development

Even at this young age, baby is feeling emotions!

Social emotional development by age infographicLearn more about their social-emotional development.

When will baby start to smile? Baby will smiling at you around 6-12 weeks! Here are some ways to bring out the sunny side of baby.

What Every New Parent Should Know

Pathways.org Recommendations

Download the Pathways.org Baby Milestones App

Everything you need to support baby’s development, all in one app.App store button

Download the Pathways.org Baby Milestone App on Google Play

Pathways.org Baby Milestones App

Download today!

Preparing for Baby’s Arrival?

Support for Preemies & NICU Babies

If baby is born early or requires extra medical care, it can be a scary time for parents. We have materials to help support you and your little one during this period!

find-corrected-age

Did you know you need to adjust your premature baby’s milestones for 2 years after they’re born? See the chart to the left for more details.

How to Track Milestones

Let the tracking begin! Baby’s milestones change every 3 months, and we provide a variety of materials to help track them.

We have 4 categories of milestones: Motor, Communication, Sensory and Feeding.

Physical development infographic for what is typical and atypical movement in babies

Check out some of these resources to track baby’s milestones!

Well-Baby Visits: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Do You Notice Any of These Newborn Reflexes?

There are 6 common reflexes baby may show in the early months!

Baby's reflexes infographic

Learn more here.

Why You Should Limit Baby’s Time in a Stroller, Carrier, or Car Seat