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At 52 weeks, there will be changes in your baby’s eating and sleeping habits. During 12 to 14 months, your child might start having dreams actively in their sleep. If they startle and wake up, comfort them until they’ll fall asleep again. At this stage, your toddler is developing their personality, language skills and they might be able to communicate with people soon. Your wobbly walker will soon be able to run, jump and dance. By now, your toddler’s concept of self is growing stronger and it’ll be easier for them to interact with strangers or play with other toddlers.
Your 52-week-old baby's development and physical growth
Your baby’s weight:
- At 52 weeks, your baby boy, on average should weigh around 21 pounds and should be around 30 inches in height.
- Whereas, your baby girl should weigh around 20 pounds and 29½ inches in height on average.
- It’s normal for your child to weigh more or less than these averages.
- As your doctor has been tracking your child’s progress, and if they say that your little one is on the right curve then don’t worry about it.
Your baby’s diet:
- At 52 weeks, your baby should eat a wide range of foods.
- To reduce their dependence on the bottle, gradually replacing their nighttime feed with milk or water from a cup.
- They’ll be a picky eater so keep offering them various healthy meals.
- However, don’t pressurize them to eat more than what they’re able to.
- During the weaning process, introduce cow’s milk into their diet.
- Growing children need extra fat and cholesterol, so give them pasteurized whole milk.
Your baby’s sleep:
- After crawling, your baby might experience sleep disruption one month before and up to 3 months.
- Due to mental and physical development, growth spurts, and teething your child will experience these ‘fussy periods’.
- On average, your babies should have 16 primary teeth by their second birthday.
- This will cause more teething pain during the night which means disturbed sleeping patterns for you and your toddler.
Your 52-week-old baby's reflexes
- Using hand gestures, your toddler can communicate symbols for words and even return your high-five hand gesture.
- You can expect them to take their first steps during this age.
- Due to their developed fine motor skills, they can use a pincer grasp.
- By this age, your baby can understand object permanence, around 25 words, and they can respond to simple one-step instructions.
- Your toddler can recognize their favorite places and things.
Your 52-week-old baby's health
- As you’re celebrating their first birthday, take them to a pediatrician to check their development.
- Consult a Doctor, if:
- Your baby has an allergic reaction. These allergies can range from rashes to watery eyes, a swollen tongue, face or hands, or even difficulty in breathing.
- Your toddler is losing weight and shows symptoms of fever or diarrhea and refuses food as they could be suffering from an infection.
- Before you introduce cow milk to your baby’s diet, check with the doctor once.
Postpartum baby tips: Week 52 after birth
Understanding your baby’s 1-Year checkup
- During this 1-year visit, your baby’s pediatrician will do a physical exam and check their weight, height, and head circumference to keep tabs on their growth.
- Your baby will have several vaccines according to the CDC’s immunization schedule.
- These vaccines will protect them against measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and pneumococcus.
- We would recommend a flu shot if it’s fall or winter.
- Your pediatrician will want to know how mobile your baby is, i.e if they’re standing, pulling up, cruising, or walking if your baby is saying any words, and how they’re using their hands to gesture, point and play.
- Additionally, asking the doctor about anything that’s bothering you!
Understand that your baby is ready for cow's milk & more
- Experts suggest that kids should have between-meal nibbles.
- Your kids have extra bursts of energy that keep them going.
- Snacks allow your child to consume various nutrients than they would with just three meals a day.
- Every snack should contain a mix of healthy carbs and protein. For instance, yogurt with whole-grain cereal or cottage cheese with banana slices.
- A healthy snack that your baby’s ready for is cow’s milk.
- Usually, experts suggest waiting until your child is 12 months old before giving him milk.
- As their digestive system was not mature enough to break it down properly.
- To wean your little one off breast milk can be a little tough.
- So, try to mix cow’s milk with breast milk, then slowly include less breast milk until you’re giving them just a couple of ounces of plain cow’s milk.
- Eventually, they’ll learn to take to it.
- Additionally, only use whole milk, not skim or two percent as your kid needs the extra fat in their diet.
The mother after childbirth: What is happening in the fifty-second week after giving birth?
Your baby’s first birthday
- It was a year full of snuggles, sleepless nights, diaper blowouts, and firsts.
- One year of moments of sheer joy and utter exhaustion means that you are practically a pro at packing a diaper bag, doing everything one-handed, and cutting grapes into 1/8ths.
- There were times when things felt tough or overwhelming, but you did it!
- So, happy birthday to your beautiful baby, and congratulations on rocking year one of parenthood!
You’re thinking about having another baby
- Whether you want another baby is a very personal decision, and it has lots of factors at play.
- First, consider your health as you should be physically ready for another pregnancy.
- Make sure you’re eating well, back to your healthy weight, and taking prenatal vitamins. Consult your doctor before making any big decisions because if you have any health issues they could play a role in conceiving or having a healthy pregnancy.
- Usually, when it comes to family planning, parents know how close in age they want their kids to be.
- Doctors recommend waiting for at least 18 months after your first baby.
- If there’s too little time between pregnancies, it can increase the risk for certain health problems (premature birth and low birth weight).
- If you’re 35 or older, there could be certain risks or problems, so work with your healthcare provider to assess the risks and determine the right plan for you.
- Also, consider your finances and start budgeting for another child.
- Finally, if you went through IVF or adopted your baby, you need to consider many emotional and financial factors as you’re growing your family.
Final Thoughts
Happy birthday to your beautiful one-year-old baby. Can you believe it’s already a year since you welcomed your baby into this world? Your growing baby is now a toddler and has a personality of its own. They have likes and dislikes when it comes to food and can understand when you’re talking to them and will soon start walking. At 52 weeks, your little one will go through lots of developmental changes.
This was a tough, exhausting, overwhelming, fulfilling, happy year. Take time to enjoy a little and take pride in the fact that you and your partner did great! As your baby is entering toddlerhood, get ready to get even busier, run around them!
FAQs: Your 52-week-old baby - development and growth
1. What are some games and activities for your 52 weeks old baby?
2. What are the normal baby milestones?
Some developmental milestones can be rolling over, crawling, walking, and talking. They are different for each age range and there’s a normal range in which your baby might reach each milestone.
3. What should a 1-year-old be able to say?
Usually, babies can speak their first word between 10 to 14 months of age. As a one-year-old, they can probably say between 1 to 3 words. For instance, “ma-ma,” or “da-da,” or try a name for a sibling, pet, or toy, etc.
