15 Week Old Baby – Development, Milestones & Care

Now that your baby is 15 weeks old, as a new parent, you must be feeling proud of yourself. You have taken care of your little one so well, and we know you will continue to do so. In the past three months, you must have learned enough about raising a child and trust us, your little one appreciates your efforts. At 15 weeks, your infant might show his adorable grin (to tell you that he appreciates what you do for him), and he may try to interact with his family members. The phase of approaching the 4-month mark is rife with multiple growth phases and developments that shape your child. To know how your baby will develop at 15 weeks, read on!

Your 15-week-old Baby’s Development

Your baby will continue to grow at 15 weeks. Keep breastfeeding him to ensure that he gets the right nutrition required for his healthy growth and development. If you are planning to start working again or working from home, no doubt, you will have to make certain changes in your routine. In case you have to go out to work, you can store your breast milk and ask someone in the family to feed it later through a bottle.

By 15 weeks, your baby’s cognitive development must have taken place to an extent and his brain will continue to develop. Around this time, your bundle of happiness will appreciate your efforts of playing peek-a-boo or making funny faces. He might show his appreciation by smiling at you or through his giggles. He may also understand that peek-a-boo won’t really make you disappear and that you are trying to entertain him (well, maybe not this but he will get the gist of the game.). If you are playing with his toy and manage to cover it with a blanket, he will understand that lifting the blanket will reveal the toy. If you have a cute nickname for your baby, he might even start responding to it. No, he won’t talk but he may look in your direction when you call him by that name or simply make an innocent sound or babble. By hearing the different tones of your voice, he may get an idea of your emotional state. When you say a firm ‘no’, he may not understand what it means but he will understand that you are not happy and that he should stop doing whatever he was about to do. He will now be able to process all the colours and the world will be even more beautiful than before.

[Also Read: 3 Months Old Baby Development]

Your 15-week-old Baby’s Milestones

So what else will your baby do apart from giggling and smiling at you? Find out! Your little one is full of surprises.

• Your baby might be able to use his body weight and shift it in such a way that he can roll to the side or flat on the tummy. Some babies might still need a little nudge, but they should be encouraged to keep going.
• Your 15-week old baby may turn his head around to look at something interesting, to follow your movements, or to respond to a sound. His movement will be basically due to strong and developed neck muscles.
• Your baby’s vision will develop too by this time and his other senses will begin to merge together to form a cohesive sensory network. This will help him recognise a flower, as well as understand what that flower might smell like.
• Your baby might understand different colours. He will slowly begin to understand the differences in shapes. This is a sign of brain development.
• Your baby might try to shift the toy with his hand, given the understanding that his limbs are useful in a variety of scenarios. However, these are mostly seen in environments that they are used to.
• Staring at the mirror might become one of his favourite activities during this time. He might observe himself and understand how his limb actually moves when he moves it in a certain way. His body-eye coordination will get a boost.

[Also Read: 3 Months Old Baby Milestones]

Feeding 15 Week Old Baby

When your baby turns 15 weeks, you might think that you know your baby enough. However, as your baby grows, his behaviour will change. As his brain develops and his ability to communicate gets stronger, your baby, who might have been feeding appropriately at certain times, might suddenly want to play and eat at the same time. He may breastfeed a little, then take a quick nap, and after waking up, he may finish his meal. His curiosity and sense of wonder will take over, and he will constantly want to consume as much information as he can and explore every aspect he can lay his eyes on. This can either cause a small feeding session to last for a long time, as your baby might feed a little, then get distracted by something, and then feed again. At other times, he may refuse to feed or spit out the milk if you feed him forcefully.

Your little one can get distracted in a minute that he may not have the patience to have a full meal that is necessary. By holding your baby in such a way that his sight is limited to you and nothing else and sitting in an environment that is quiet and free from distraction, you can ensure that he feeds as much as he needs. You can even hum to him while he feeds so that he doesn’t get bored. You may even have to stay up at night to feed your baby, who doesn’t want to sleep at all and keep sucking your breasts intermittently. Any refusal of breasts and he will break out crying. The same goes for babies who are fed using bottles. They might refuse the bottle only to ask for it after some time again.

[Also Read: 3 Months Old Baby Food]

15 Week Old Baby’s Sleep

Your baby’s sleep schedule may become erratic around this time but you should make sure that he gets ample sleep. He should sleep for about 15 hours a day. In order to make him sleep, hold him in your arms, sing a lullaby to him and make him sleep on your bed. At night, sleep next to him so that you can breastfeed him when he wakes up in the middle of the night and his night-time hunger can be satisfied quickly. If your baby refuses to sleep at night after the first feed, you can change the schedule a bit and give him a quick bath and massage. That can help him relax and sleep better, giving you the time to catch more than forty winks. While putting him to bed, don’t hum his favourite song as it might get him excited and he may refuse to sleep. Hum a slow relaxing tune that he will associate with falling asleep. At times, taking your baby around in the pram for a small time at night can lull him into sleep as well. However, if you live in a noisy neighbourhood or there are many distractions, then don’t take him outside.

[Also Read: 3 Months Old Baby Sleep]

Tips to Take Care of Your 15-week-old Baby

At 15 weeks, you will notice certain changes in your baby and his schedule might go for a toss. From this time onward, you will have to be extra careful with him as he will start moving and rolling around. Here are some tips that you should follow to take care of your baby.

• Your baby will roll around a lot more now so make sure you don’t leave him unattended. If you leave him alone for a few minutes, make sure that you let him have his fun on the bed that has bed rails.
• Do not make your baby sleep on his stomach unless and until he can hold his head high.
• Your little one may start drooling so make sure that you clean his mouth frequently. Excessive drooling can a sign of teething. So keep checking for the signs of teething in him.

[Also Read: 3 Months Old Baby Care]

Tests and Vaccinations

Your baby must have been administered a few vaccines two weeks before. If those have been administered properly and in a timely manner, no other vaccinations will be required during this week.

Games and Activities to Keep Your Baby Engaged

Babies at this age observe a lot and learn from their surroundings. If you’ve been talking to your relatives and friends on the phone, your baby might look at you and try to converse with you as well. Try to get a toy telephone if you can and give it to him. Every time you do that, hold your hand over your ear as if you are talking to him, and carry out those long conversations. If your baby begins to respond, kudos! You will have a successful first fake telephone conversation with your child. Mostly, your little one will make gurgling sound or coo – encourage him to do so as it’s the first step to communication.

Your baby may also look at bright objects. His eyes will track bright objects such as a shining torch or a reflection. To keep him occupied and entertain him, you can point a torch against a plain wall and make various shapes using your hands. Those when accompanied by other sounds will start registering in your baby’s brain. You can imitate the sounds of a dog and cat and make shapes of birds using your hands. This will help him later when you take him for a walk in the park. Your little one will recognize them instantly.

[Also Read: 3 Months Old Baby Games and Activities]

When to Consult a Doctor

If your 15-week-old baby is being fussy and is crying a lot, and nothing you try is calming him down, there might be something troubling him. You should take him to the doctor. Most babies make an attempt to roll over by this age – it’s an important physical milestone. If your baby doesn’t seem to show even a single sign of doing it, you can consult your doctor just to be sure that your baby is developing normally.

Around this time, some babies even start showing signs of teething. You should learn about the early signs and symptoms of teething in babies to help your baby. If your baby drools too much, is irritable and fussy, has a low-grade fever, and is trying to bite everything in sight, chances are he may have started teething. You should check with your baby’s doctor to ease his teething pain. You can even get teething toys for him.

FAQs

1. How Much Formula Should a 15 Week Old Baby Eat?

For 15 weeks baby, 4 to 6 ounces of formula around every four hours is enough. That totals up to 24 to 32 ounces of formula feed in a total of four to six feedings per day.

2. How Much Weight Should a 15 Week Old Baby Gain?

Babies ideally double their weight within the first 6 months of their life. Not all babies gain similarly; some gain it steadily, while some stay in the percentile for some time and then move ahead. Though this can differ from child to child, babies gain around 113–200 grams or 4-7 oz per week in their initial 4-6 months.

3. How Many Naps Should a 15 Week Old Take?

Babies at this age usually need around 3-4 naps in a day. It is important to remember that naps can be irregular based on your baby’s activity. If your little one takes longer naps, he may take three naps daily. If your little one takes shorter naps, he’ll get sleepy soon and likely have four naps in a day.

This is generally the age when most parents start talking about how their baby is growing up so quickly and showing all the signs of development. If your baby seems not to show as many, do not fret. Let him bloom on his own accord and be a unique human being in his own right.

Previous Week: 14 Weeks Old Baby

Next Week: 16 Weeks Old Baby