Table of Contents
Your 25-week-old baby development starts to sit up! Best baby playmats for sitting up babies, some helpful tips on diaper changing, and is it time to stop using pacifiers?
Your baby's twenty-fifth week after birth
As your baby is reaching 25 weeks, they are starting to show signs of becoming independent. Your little one is developing and learning very fast. As a parent, help and encourage them along the way. Plus, their brain is starting to develop more, they’ll be able to recognize more things. You might notice them rolling themselves over and are ready to move on to more solid food. At this age, you can expect your baby to experience pain because of teething. They’ll cry a lot, drool, or have a low fever and swollen gums.
Your 25-week-old baby: Development and Physical Growth
Your baby’s weight:
- For the first 6 months, babies tend to gain on average 1 pound each month.
- At 25 weeks, your baby girl might weigh around 16 pounds 2 ounces (7.3 kg) on average.
- Whereas, your baby boy might weigh around 17 pounds 8 ounces (7.9 kg) on average.
Your baby’s diet:
- As of now, you must be feeding your little one some sort of cereal (a few times a day) and their usual feeding of breast milk or formula.
- It’s time to start weaning your little one onto more solid food.
- You can start with easily digestible foods such as rice mix, rice porridge, and wheat porridge.
- Also, include pureed fruits such as papaya, mango, mashed ripe banana, and mashed veggies like potatoes, sweet potatoes, or carrots.
- Slowly and gradually, introduce different solid foods to your little one, try one each day. Keep an eye out for allergic reactions.
Your baby’s sleep:
- At 25 weeks, your little one needs to sleep for 14 or 15 hours in total.
- Around 11 of these hours are during the night, whereas the remaining is for the daytime naps.
- Your baby’s disturbed sleep can be caused by various reasons such as growth spurts, teething, etc.
- Just like adults, babies tend to wake up in the middle of the night.
- So, what does “sleeping through the night” mean? During one of those wakeful moments, when your little one can soothe themselves back to sleep and doesn’t cry out for you.
- Some parents might sleep training their kids from this age.
- Remember that it’s not good for your baby to sleep on their tummy (although might enjoy spending time on their tummy).
- Make sure your baby is put to sleep on their back.
25-week-old baby: Your Newborn and Their Reflexes
As your little one is growing steadily, here are some developmental milestones that you can look forward to this week:
- At 25 weeks, your baby knows how to roll over from their back onto their stomach. Now, it will be a new and entertaining experience for both of you (ex, changing their diapers). Remember to keep a close eye to prevent any accidents.
- By now, your baby will be very interested in what you are saying. At this age, babies tend to associate certain gestures or sounds to get responses from you. Also, they are learning what verbal cues you and your partner respond to individually. For instance, your baby understands that when they cry, they’ll get your attention, or if they smile and laugh, you smile and laugh.
- You might notice your little one repeating certain syllables, as they enjoy hearing the sound of it. As parents, you need to encourage your baby by speaking to them. You can point at the things (they might find interesting) and help them learn to associate the correct words and objects.
- By now, your little one might be able to sit with support and hold their head steady. If so, they can most likely swallow, by using their tongue to move their food to the back of their mouth. Thus, at this age, most babies are ready to move on to solid foods.
- Also, your little one can pass objects from one hand to the other. They can use both their arms to shovel what they want towards themself.
- Additionally, you can expect your baby’s sweet adorable laughs at this age.
25-week-old baby: Your Newborn and Their Health
Tests and Vaccines:
- Take your little one for all their check-ups.
- Consult your doctor about getting the flu shot.
- At the 6-month doctor visit, your baby needs their Hib, DTaP, Hepatitis B, and Poliovirus vaccines.
- Also, schedule their 9-month doctor’s visit, while you’re at it.
Developmental Issues:
- Consult your doctor as soon as possible, if your little one has not yet smile, babble.
- Also, notice if they don’t make eye contact or sit unassisted, or do not respond to sounds, there might be a problem.
Postpartum Baby Tips: 25-Week-Old Baby After Birth
Understanding your fascinated baby
- At this age, babies are utterly fascinated by almost everything.
- So. try to show your little one new things every day.
- Take your baby around the house and show them what happens when you turn a light switch on and off.
- You can also encourage them to ring the doorbell and you can even try allowing her to turn on the tap.
- Doing this helps your baby learn how certain actions have certain results.
Understanding the need to stop using pacifiers
By now, your baby either likes pacifiers or they don’t. Most babies (and their parents) love pacifiers, as it soothes babies when they get fussy. Also, pacifiers assist them in falling asleep during the night and might help reduce the risk of SIDS.
But is it okay for babies to keep using one as they get older?
- Well, The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry stated that using pacifiers and thumb or finger sucking is completely normal.
- Most children will stop using pacifiers on their own or they need some parental intervention.
- At this stage, you don’t need to stress about it.
- Remember to not use it at any sign of fussing.
- Make sure you’re using an age-appropriate orthodontic pacifier and clean them more often.
Please note: Studies suggest that pacifiers might increase the risk of middle ear infections. So, if your little one has an infection, let your pediatrician know about any pacifier use.
The Mother's After Childbirth: What is Happening After Giving Birth to a 25-Week-Old Baby?
You need to do some fun activities with your baby
It is the prime time to add an activity center into your little one’s playtime.
Babies love the built-in chair which is surrounded by colorful and (sometimes) noisy gadgets and gizmos.
An activity center boosts your baby’s hand-eye coordination and keeps them happy, busy, and entertained.
Also, some activity centers are designed to grow with your little one.
So, convert them into toddler-sized tables which is perfect for arts and crafts, block building, and snack-time.
You need to give your baby independence
- For the past 6 months, you’ve done everything for your little one.
- As your baby is trying to figure out how to do more on their own, it’s tempting to jump in and take over.
- However, as a parent, you need to remember that the ultimate goal is to make your child thoroughly independent that they don’t need you.
- So, let them take those first shaky steps toward independence as it’s a great time to practice letting go.
- For instance, your little one wants to eat Peach Delight on their own. Simply hand them a child-size spoon and let them go for it (even if there’s a mess).
- However, if your baby gets frustrated, offer some assistance and demonstrate how to do things.
- Let your baby explore the world, repeat experiments, and make some mistakes and messes as they are learning.
- As a parent, you just need to stand back, cheer them on.
- Remind yourself that you’re helping your baby grow into a self-confident, independent kid!
Final Thoughts- Becoming a Confident Parent to a 25-Week-Old Baby
At 25 weeks, you will notice your baby going through lots of changes as they are growing and developing under your loving care. But keep in mind that children do not grow at the same pace. Babies will reach milestones when they are most comfortable. If they do not eventually show any developments, consult your doctor.
Raising a kid takes lots of patience, time, and effort. As parents, you need to love and guide them as all children are capable of growing into well-rounded human beings!
