From this age your baby will really start to show their blossoming personality. They'll embrace play, be more attached to you and babble away to themselves quite happily.
Here are a few of the things you can expect to see at around seven months:
Growth and appetite
They’re getting bigger every day! Don’t be surprised to see your baby gain around 100g per week. During the first year of life, their birth weight triples and they need good nutrition to fuel their growth. From time to time there'll be 'growth spurts' and you might notice a change in the amount they eat around then. There are no set time slots to feed your baby, but you'll probably develop a routine for your family. The ultimate goal is to have baby on three meals a day by the age of seven months. During hot weather offer your baby additional breast feeds or formula, or water.
Constipation
From time to time your baby may suffer with constipation. It’s not uncommon for it to happen around this age as you introduce solids. There can be a number of causes - a common one is not enough fluids, and it's less likely to happen with breast fed babies. You know if your baby is constipated, as their poos will be small and hard - like pellets. If your baby is formula fed, check that you’re making up your baby's formula according to the manufacturer's instruction. Always use the correct scoop and check you’re adding powder to the water, not that other way around. Remember, as your baby eats more food he or she may cut back on their milk intake, so they may need extra drinks of water
Things that might help: First try giving your baby some extra boiled and cooled water (about 50ml) once or twice a day. If that doesn't work, try a little fruit juice and water (1 tablespoon of juice to 50ml of water) once or twice a day, or you can give them brown sugar and water (1 tsp to 50ml of water) once or twice a day. Avoid giving your baby bran cereals as their digestive system will still be immature and these harsh cereals can make the problem worse. Once their bowel motions become softer you can stop the juice or brown sugar. Remember that those methods are treatment, not a preventive measure so if the problem keeps coming back you should talk to your healthcare professional.
Diarrhoea It's really important to seek medical advice as soon as possible if your baby has diarrhoea. You’ll most likely know it when you see it, but this will be very runny bowel motions.
The reason you need to be so careful is that baby can dehydrate quickly when they have diarrhoea, and they'll also be losing essential nutrients from the bowel. If you're breastfeeding, stick with it. You might need to feed your baby more often to replace some of that lost fluid.
Bottle fed babies over six months might be able to have an electrolyte solution for 24 hours, but your GP will discuss it with you. Be careful with hygiene practices to avoid spreading the infection to other family members..
Sleeping
With any luck your baby should be sleeping right through the night by now. They'll also need a morning and an afternoon sleep as well. If your baby is still waking at night, you can talk to your health professional for advice.
Bathing
There are a lot of fun times to be had here! Your baby will be able to sit in the bath and be much more interested in what’s going on. They may want to play a few games and have a good splash. The thing to remember is never leave them alone in the bath, if the phone rings or there’s someone at the door – let them wait. Your baby’s safety is much more important than rushing to answer it.
