Read on to learn about the developmental milestones that a baby is expected to achieve by completion of 5 months.Hurray, your baby is now five months old! Till now, you have been the one to show affection to your baby, now it is the precious time when your baby also will show the same to you. Babies may straighten their arms out showing that they want to be picked up; they would put their cute little arms around your neck; etc. - read more to find out more lovely changes and remarkable development in your baby.
Improved Vision at Week 20
By week 20, babies can identify a wide range of objects – smaller objects, moving objects, bigger objects, etc. They also learn to recognize distinguishing features now, for example, if you give them two pictures that look same but only one major item missing, maybe two images of houses with one image having a sun at the corner, then babies would tend to look at both the pictures with amusement and would be able to figure out the difference. This will help them to recognize letters and read in the near future.
More Sounds
At week 20, your baby would squeak or maybe growl or gurgle – he or she will add some more sounds to his or her collection. Blowing raspberry would be your baby’s favourite one as it is very popular among babies of this age – your baby will not stop practicing it. Babies tend to repeat new and different sounds as they start to discover and enjoy their new discoveries. These sounds would lead to your baby’s
language development, and you need to keep boosting it by pointing and naming each object you see around him or her, counting objects in a room, etc.
Improved Taste
By week 20, babies start having the sense of taste. Your baby’s mouth has more nerve endings than any other part of the body, so it is a great way to find out what your baby feels like. So make sure you wash
toys occasionally after your baby has been around. Soon your baby would get choosy for what he or she should put inside his or her mouth and what not – but still he or she will have the constant wish to put everything in his or her mouth.
Sleep Routine
Your baby starts understanding habits and routines by week 20. This is a good time you should introduce a proper
bedtime routine set up to make your baby understand that it is a time to sleep, for example, feed your baby, give a bath, put in a sleepwear, read him or her a book, sing a lullaby, and get ready to sleep– practice this every day to make him or her understand that it is a nap time. Your baby may need two nap times in 24 hours – one in the daytime and one in the nighttime, but this sequence will settle your baby to sleep easier.
Body Development
By 5 months, many babies have mastered how to sit up without support, though many others will still lean and need all the cushion support to help them sit up. To help your baby sit, allow him or her to balance himself or herself by moving his or her legs to form a V-shape, and place a toy in front of him or her and surround him or her with plenty of cushions so that they provide rescue and support as your baby is developing his or her balance.
You can improve your baby’s movement perception and balance by gently swinging your baby up and down and rocking him or her side by side – this will prepare your baby to
crawl. You can also help your baby to stand up and allow him to kick his or her legs by holding him or her under your armpits when you are playing with your infant, though it is too early for your baby to stand up now. Keep a toy just out of your baby’s reach during tummy time so that he or she tries to reach out for it – this also strengthens the muscles.
What kind of developmental milestones do babies achieve by 5 months? How to boost a baby’s development? Discuss here. 
