5 Reasons You’ll Love Life With A 5 Month Old Baby!

After 9 months of pregnancy, birthing your precious bundle and all the challenges of the first weeks and months of motherhood, you find yourself in a new world of baby goodness: the 5 month old baby! Of course, a healthy baby is a joy at any age. I’m not trying to minimize the beauty of newborn life, but this tongue-in-cheek post is all about this glorious stage of infants that many new moms can’t wait to reach.

Can I admit that I very much dislike newborn life? Sorry newborn lovers, this stage is not my favorite… but I LOVE a 5-month-old baby! This age of infancy is the promised land because of a few important reasons and below I’m listing them all out for you!

5 Month Old Baby Life

Insane Cute Factor

My little 5 month old baby boy was not born off the charts in the cuteness department. You know how some newborns look like tiny aliens? Well ya, that was my sweet baby. But, my sweet boy, please forgive me for ever doubting your insane 5 month old cuteness!

The level of cute factor this month is beyond measure. Your chubby thighs and huge, gummy smile are the most adorable I have ever seen in my life. Your smile is HUGE and you so generous with it. Whereas you looked blankly around the last few months, your eyes now watch me intently and follow me around the house. Your bigs eyes are a majestic almond shape and I can stare at them all day.

My 5 Month Old

5 Month Old Milestones

At 5 months, there is so much more your baby will be able to do! The once sleepy infant has grown into an adorable baby gazing into the world. To be sure, 5 month old milestones are exciting. Here are just a few you can be excited about throughout the next 4 week period:

• Raising his chest off the floor when laying on his belly supported by those strong arms
• Roll over in both directions
• Lots of wigging which will soon resemble crawling, but not quite yet
• Very soon they will be (or already are) sitting up, which is my most favorite milestone of all! This usually happens much closer to 6 month old.
• Pincher grasp
• More time awake to play with mom, but still plenty of nap time
• Personality starts to make an entrance! It’s so exciting getting to know your baby!
• They sleep better at night, maybe waking up once or twice to snack before drifting back to sleep. It’s a miracle what 4 hours of sleep can do for mom!

My sweet mixed babies started packing on the pounds at 5 months. This chunk of love here weighed in at a whopping 19 pounds (90th%) and 26.25 inches long (80th) as a 5 month old. I estimate another month or so before we have to switch your car seat. He wears 6-9 month clothing, mostly because I refuse to go any higher! He can certainly pull off 9 or 12 month sizes. He wears a size three diapers.

5 Month Old Baby Food

I breastfed each of my babies, but this chunky dude was ready to eat early! With our doctors go-ahead, we started introducing 5 month old baby food occasionally starting with the recommendation of rice cereal. And man, was it CUTE to watch him try to get the goods in his mouth. Because of how much better a 5 month old can use their tiny fingers, this is when you have to start being careful to not leave objects near the baby lest they stuff it all in their mouth.

Honestly, we can hardly eat a meal without your gawking eyes pleading for a bite so you tasted a few other foods at 5 months too. Breastfeeding is still the number one source of food for our little ones, but some of our favorite 5 month old baby food is:

• rice meal
• avocado
• mashed veggies

Related: 7 Month Old Baby Love Letter

5 Month Baby Activities

In addition to the big developmental milestones that begin to show during this stage of infancy, a baby’s personality really begins to shine at 5 months old. They are connecting with their outside world with lots of eye contact, grunts and moans, and plenty of grabbing for the nearest anything.

As an older 4 month old baby, we put our little guy in an exercauser with some added support. He didn’t need the support for long though, because by the time he was nearing 6 months old, he was playing like crazy! At first, he played quietly. He would use his feet to twist the seat and move from each station to play with all the various toys.  It’s so fun to watch him learn.

So, among the reasons to love life at this stage are all the fun, new 5 month baby activities! They are so much more aware and FUN. This stage is when the world begins to open as a new mom and the time spent/investments we make in our little ones begin to make sense. Here are a few baby activities I enjoyed with my 5 month old baby boy.

• Floor mat for playing while on back
• Tummy time
• Exercauser for babies that can sit up
• Sitting on mom’s lap and reading board books. We especially like 3d books or books with textures and sounds.
• Music time at the library or community centers
• Pet store to look at/hear animals
• Non-stop talking with our baby, explaining everything we see in the world
• Meeting new people, exposing baby to diverse communities
• Baby gym (we found a studio that offered FREE baby classes until a year old)