Home : Baby Development : Month 8 : Week 29

Your Baby Development: 29 Weeks Old

How big is your baby?
This week your baby will be weighing around 16 3/4 pounds and measuring 27 inches if he/she was of average size at birth.

Baby may be getting around more easily now, and he/she may begin moving forward on his/her arms, while tummy and legs drag behind. He/She may scoot backwards or sideways on his/her bottom. Once he/she begins moving, he/she is no longer helpless, and he/she can get to what he/she wants independently.

Baby is becoming more and more coordinated. He/She will reach for and grasp for a toy with his/her fingers, instead of the palm of the hand. He/She may point at what he/she wants, and if you point at an object, he/she can probably find it.

With his/her new found ability to move about more freely, he/she will be able to reach toys more easily.

Baby may now be trying to stand more often. You can't teach baby to stand, but you can help him/her with this.

Researches who have studied infant speech development believe a baby begins to recognize words at 7 to 7 1/2 months. These studies have also determined that babies at this age can tell the difference between like sounding words such as "cat" and "hat".

Baby Development Milestones This Week

Feeding Baby | Fruits and Vegetables

Applesauce and pears are both great baby foods, and they are often the first choice of foods for introducing baby to solids. Applesauce has a great texture and is low in citric acid, and pears are easy for baby to digest and a great source of potassium.

At this stage you may not have considered giving baby unseasoned servings of the vegetables you eat yourself. Next time try it. Sweet potatoes and winter squash are often favorites with baby because of their taste and texture. Both contain beta carotene. Ripe avocados are also great, and baby can be fed a little right out of the shell. Avos contain lots of vitamins and minerals such as A, B6, E, Folic Acid, Niacin, Magnesium, Potassium and Phosphorus.

You should however, never give baby too much new foods, always give a little and see how he/she reacts to it first.

There are of course foods which you should avoid giving to baby at this stage, as they are the most common allergy causing foods:

• Nuts and nut products, such as peanut butter
• Egg whites
• Citrus fruits
• Some citrus juices
• Strawberries
• Shellfish
• Chocolate

Giving baby honey
Do not give your baby any honey or foods made with honey during his/her first two years. Although honey is natural substance, botulism poisoning is a potential risk for baby. Baby's digestive is not ready to handle the botulism spores sometimes found in honey. For more information on botulism, see the baby care section below.

Baby Care : Botulism

Botulism is a severe for of blood poisoning. The toxins that cause botulism are found in soil, improperly canned meats and vegetables and may occur in honey. In newborns and infants, exposure to botulism most often comes from raw honey and other uncooked foods. Symptoms of botulism include:

• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Weak cry
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain
• Dry mouth
• Lethargy
• Constipation

If you believe that your baby may have botulism, you should try and identify what the source of the problem was. Call your doctor immediately, or go straight to the emergency room

Toys and Play

All babies love music. You should play a variety of different kinds of music for baby. Let baby listen to marches, rock-n-roll, lullabies, symphonies, children's music etc.

Play peek-a-boo, hide-and-seek, copy-cat and other games with baby. Playing together helps him/her realize the pleasures of sharing a game.Your interaction with your baby now will help him/her later on when he/she starts playing with other babies.