33 Week Old Baby Development

Learn everything you need to know about your 33 week old baby. Track important developments and milestones such as talking, walking, growth, memory & more.

By Parents Editors

Published on June 13, 2017

Portrait of baby boy wearing a hooded top — Photo: Getty Images/ heatherwalker

Your Growing Baby

Changing Sleep Habits

Baby not sleeping like a champ anymore? Although infants this age might snooze up to 11 or 12 hours a night, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't hear a peep out of her until morning. Here's what happens: After one or two hours of deep sleep, she'll enter a stage of lighter sleep and might partially wake up before easing back into sound slumber again. During these lighter phases—which happen four to six times a night—she might open her eyes and cry for you. What to do? Rather than fly in to sing lullabies, wait a few minutes to see if she drifts off on her own. If not, give her a comforting pat, but don't turn on the light or take her out of the crib. After a few minutes, tell her you're all going night-night again and slip away. She might still cry for a few minutes, but odds are she'll quickly doze off.

You might also hear your baby happily gabbing away in her crib when she wakes up in the morning; now you might start hearing her emphasize different sound combos, such as "bada," instead of repeating the same noises over and over, such as "dada" or "baba." She's "talking," mimicking the mouth and jaw motions of true speech. Even though you won't have a clue what she's trying to say, be sure to respond with lots of enthusiasm. ("Really? That's great!") Remember also that her greatest motivator is the desire to imitate you. The more you talk, read, and sing to your baby now, the easier it is for her to get verbal right back.

Health and Safety Info

On Her Feet

Once your baby has tried to stand a few times, she'll likely attempt to pull herself up on any available surface. But once she's up, she might have a hard time sitting back down again. You'll find her clinging to the leg of a chair, panicking that she's going to fall. Pry her hands off and gently lower her back to the floor. She might get right back up and try it again—let her. She wants to master this skill, so be her spotter for a while until she feels more comfortable. You can also help her by teaching her to sit down safely. Show her how to bend at the waist and plop down on her tush. When she lands with a "whump," grin and applaud so she'll be less likely to break into tears. The more hard landings she has, the less they'll faze her. Eventually, she'll figure out how to clamber back down without hurting herself.

How to Encourage Baby to Stand

Recall Alerts

You've probably baby-proofed your home to the hilt by now, but you should also keep an eye on product recall announcements in the news. They seem to be happening often, as objects are found to be dangerous for a variety of reasons. Toys turn out to have parts that pose a choking hazard, cribs are covered in lead-base paint, strollers fold in on themselves. Use our recall finder (see link below) for the latest updates on toys or gear that have been found dangerous, then follow the manufacturer's instructions for returning or replacing your item.

Latest Gear Recalls
Try our Recall Finder

Must-Knows

Teaching Your Baby

You've heard that parents are a baby's first teacher. Here are three basic ways you help her learn: showing, sharing, and shaping.

Showing involves demonstrating how to complete a task (such as taking the lid off a box), then encouraging Baby to mimic your action and try the project herself. Since babies love to imitate the adults in their lives, your good example will motivate her to make an attempt.

Sharing means doing it together. For instance, you actually move your baby's hand to grab an object or hold her hand in yours as you flip through Goodnight Moon together. She'll learn how it feels to do what you're doing, which makes it easier to try it on her own.

Shaping entails breaking a task into small, manageable parts. For instance, if you want to teach Baby how to build a block tower, you might pluck one block from a big pile, place another block on top of it, and then move a third block right next to baby, so it's easier for her to try adding another block to the stack herself.