13 Week Old Baby Development

Learn everything you need to know about your 13 week old baby. Track important developments and milestones such as talking, walking, growth, memory & more.

Published on August 17, 2017

Your Growing Baby

Developing Senses

Amazingly, at just 3 months your baby's senses have developed almost to their adult levels. Her vision is steadily improving; in addition to seeing farther, your baby now has better depth perception, can track movement from as far as 20 feet away, and absorbs the world in full color. She'll also turn her head toward intriguing noises, such as a CD of lullabies (or some good old-fashioned dance music). Help her explore her other senses by letting her catch a whiff of some new scents: a flower from the garden, a fresh peach, a dab of your perfume. To check out different textures, hold tummy time atop some satiny pajamas or a wool blanket.

Baby's Developing Senses

Fine Motor Skill Development

Your baby is increasingly obsessed with her hands these days, opening and closing them and inspecting every one of her tiny fingers. Part of the fascination is that she now understands that her hands are an extension of herself, with unique capabilities such as grabbing, gripping, and pulling. As she hones her hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, she'll start to bat at a toy or clutch at your hair, which means it might be a good time to swap those hoop earrings for studs.

Activities to Enhance Baby's Physical Development: 3-6 Months

Decoding Baby Babble

Verbally your baby is all coos, squeals, and giggles, and she's discovering that making these noises is a great way to get attention. So she might shriek when she wants you right this minute, or laugh just to see you chuckle, too. Even when no one's around, she loves hearing her own voice. You might find her cooing away in her crib first thing in the morning—a lovely way to start the day.

Decoding Baby's Funny Little Noises & Sounds

Health and Safety Info

Caring for Baby's Skin

If you live in a dry climate, or if humidity drops off during fall or winter, your baby's normally soft skin might become dry and flaky. To combat dry-skin woes:

Bathe her less often.
Use a moisturizing soap.
Pat her skin dry with a soft towel after bath time instead of rubbing it.
Slather her with some fragrance-free baby lotion.
Use a cool-mist humidifier in the nursery.

A little extra care should make her skin satiny-smooth again. But if serious dryness, in the form of red, scaly patches, sets in, or if the condition fails to improve within a week or so, it could be eczema, so talk to your pediatrician.

What's That Rash?

Thrush Must-Knows

Another condition to watch out for is thrush, a yeast infection of the mouth that's common in infants. The telltale signs are small, white patches that look a bit like blisters on your baby's gums, tongue, inside cheeks, or lips. While it shouldn't bother her too much, if you're breastfeeding thrush can be passed onto you—and that can be unpleasant, making your nipples feel itchy, prickly, or even shooting-pain sore. If you see signs of thrush, talk to your pediatrician, who can prescribe an oral antifungal medication for your baby and a cream for your breasts as well.

Must-Knows

Life as Mom

You're not the only one adjusting to your baby. If you're the first new mom among your set of gal pals, chances are you've left some slightly mystified friends in your wake. And it's not hard to understand why. One minute you're gabbing over lunch and complaining about work, the next you?re cancelling dinner dates ("The baby is screaming!" "The sitter cancelled!") and dominating phone convos to describe in glorious detail how well your baby is eating/sleeping/pooping these days. Without kids of their own, your friends just might not get it— and they'll feel a little left out if you're suddenly too busy or too preoccupied to reach out to them.

Having a little one doesn't have to signal the death knell for hanging out with your child-free friends. But since chances are good you don't have tons of time or energy for your friends right now, you might want to have a sit-down about it. Explain how your life has changed since your baby arrived on the scene—you barely have a minute to shower, for instance, or you're so in love with your little one that you shudder at the thought of being separated for 10 minutes. Then brainstorm ways to give each other the support and attention you need right now. Maybe you'll replace your epic mall-crawling with a Saturday afternoon trip to Target while your baby naps in the shopping cart, or set up a quick evening check-in text message so you don't lose touch.

Becoming a mom changes you, and some friends might naturally drift away now. But making an extra effort to hang on to the ones that really matter is a good move—for them and for you.