Questions Parents Ask

“Whenever my baby cries, I pick her up. My friend says I’m spoiling her. Is my friend right?”

No, you don’t have to worry about spoiling your baby. When you pick your baby up, you are doing the right thing.

By reacting to her needs, you are teaching your baby that she can trust you. Holding her brings her comfort. It shows her that you care when she is hungry, in pain, afraid or unhappy.


Meeting your baby’s needs makes her feel safe and loved.

It’s good to respond quickly when your baby is crying. Her needs are immediate. When your baby is hungry, she wants to be fed. When your baby is wet, she wants a dry diaper. When she is uncomfortable or scared, it helps her to be held.

It’s not good to ignore your baby. She depends on you to respond to her needs. She learns to trust because you respond to her needs. Your baby needs a lot of love from you.

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Dads Are Important

Dad, it’s never too early for you to get involved with your baby. You have an important role to play in your baby’s life. She wants to play with you and learn from you. Showing your baby that you care about her will help her. It will make taking care of her more fun for you and her mom.

Babies learn from all the adults around them. It’s good for your baby to have someone besides her mom to learn from.


Taking care of your baby is important and can be fun. Be very gentle when you play with your baby. Use a calm voice.

If you do these things for your baby, she will reward you with smiles, happy sounds and love. She will smile when she sees you, and she will reach for you when she wants to play. The bond you make now with your child will last a lifetime.

You and your baby’s mom can learn more about how to care for your baby. Look in the Yellow Pages of your phone book. There may be a “community service” section near the front of the book. Look under “support groups” for parenting help.

Here are some things you can do with your baby:

• You can hold her.
• You can talk to her.
• You can sing to her.
• You can show her toys.
• You can bathe her and dress her.
• You can comfort her when she’s fussy.
• You can help teach her how to talk.
• You can take her to child care.
• You can take her to health checkups.
• You can help feed the baby. If your baby’s mom is breastfeeding she can pump some of her milk into bottles, and you can give this breast milk to your baby. As your baby learns to eat solid food, you can feed her with a spoon.

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Your Baby’s Four-Month Checkup

Your baby needs regular health checkups. She needs the checkups even if she’s not sick. Checkups can keep her healthy. She will have her vision, hearing, weight and length checked.

Your baby will receive shots. Ask your doctor or nurse what to look for and what you should do if your baby has any reaction to these shots, like fever or fussiness. Shots will keep her from getting sick and keep her healthy.


The doctor will also make sure your baby is developing as she should. The doctor will ask you if your baby is reaching for toys. He will ask if your baby smiles and coos.

Before the checkup, write down questions you have about your baby. Bring the questions with you to the checkup. This is a good time to ask any questions you have about your baby. This is a good time to ask the doctor or nurse questions like, “What are the symptoms a baby has when she has a cold? How should I treat her if she has a cold? What kinds of problems should I call you for? What temperature should I call you for?”

Always ask the nurse or doctor for a copy of your baby’s checkup results. It’s a good idea to keep the copy in a notebook or safe place. If the doctor tells you to give your baby any medicines, write down the names of the medicines and directions. Using a notebook will help you keep track of your baby’s health and development. Make an appointment for your baby’s six-month checkup.

Your baby may get her first cold or ear infection. As your baby explores her world and plays with other children and adults, she will have more contact with germs. If you don’t know what to do about her symptoms, call your doctor or clinic. They will be able to tell you if she needs to see a doctor.

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Taking Care of Your Baby’s Gums and Future Teeth

It’s never too early to start taking care of your baby’s future teeth. Here are some simple things you can do for her:

• Never put your baby to sleep with a bottle.
• Once a day, gently wipe her gums with a wet, clean soft cloth. Start doing this even before her teeth come in.

• Some babies show teeth as early as four or five months. Most babies show teeth between six and eight months.
• When her teeth begin to show, you may use a soft toothbrush for cleaning. Make sure it is baby-sized. Or you can continue to clean her teeth every day with a cloth.
• Gently brush her teeth with water only. Toothpaste is not needed until your baby is around three years old. She should be old enough to spit out the toothpaste after brushing.

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Feeding Your Baby (Four-Month-Old)

Make sure your baby is ready for solid food before you give it to her. Don’t rush her into eating solid food. Some babies are ready for it at four months. Some babies aren’t ready until they are older. Your baby’s weight or age alone does not determine her readiness for solid food.


Here are some signs to look for that will tell you if your baby is ready to
try solid food:

• She holds her head steady and sits with support.
• She reaches for and shows interest in food.
• She opens her mouth when she sees food.
• She no longer thrusts her tongue out during feeding, so she’s able to keep food in her mouth and swallow it.
• She turns her head away when she’s full.

Most babies are ready for baby cereal when they’re between four and six months of age. Ask your doctor about the best time to start your baby on solid food. Rice, oatmeal or barley cereals are OK if they are finely ground. Use them one at a time.

Mix some infant cereal with breast milk in a bowl. You can also use formula instead of breast milk. Don’t use cow’s milk or any other kind of milk or other liquid. Hold your baby in a sitting position or put her in a child seat on the floor (Be sure she is strapped in.) so she doesn’t choke. Always use a spoon to feed solid foods to your baby.

See if your baby will take half of a very small spoonful. If she turns her head away or cries, she’s not ready. Try again in a week or two.

When she is ready, she will take small, messy bites. She may roll the food around in her mouth or feel it repeatedly with her tongue. Making a mess is part of learning, so just have fun with her. At this age, your breast milk or infant formula provides all the nutrition your baby needs.

Give your baby only one new food at a time. You can then see if any one of the foods causes allergic reactions. Right now, only infant cereals are a good choice. If one of these types of cereals is a problem for her, she will vomit or get a rash. She may also have diarrhea. If this happens, call your doctor or go to your clinic.

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Your Baby Is Four Months Old

When your baby reaches the age of four months, things will really start to happen fast. She is growing and learning about her world. She is interested in everything she sees or hears. She is reaching for things and putting them in her mouth. This is how she learns about them.

When she is feeding, she stops and plays with your clothes, or she looks at other people in the room.

She may try to roll over. The more she tries, the better she can do it.

She smiles when she sees her parents and other people who care for her. She may frown when she sees strangers. She babbles. She tries to imitate your words as she makes sounds.

She may start sleeping at night for longer and longer periods of time. She will love it when you sit on the floor and play with her. You can have a lot of fun with your baby at this age.

The more you help her explore, the more she will reward you with smiles, happy sounds and love. You can help her by playing with her, singing to her and talking to her. Enjoy your baby as she grows and develops!

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