49 Week Old Baby Development

Learn everything you need to know about your 49 week old baby. Track important developments and milestones such as talking, walking, growth, memory & more.

Published on June 14, 2017

baby crawling on floor — Photo: Getty Images/ Jose Luis Pelaez Inc

Your Growing Baby

Your Little Mover

Does your baby ever stop moving? Whether she's crawling, cruising, or taking her first tentative steps, odds are that's all she wants to do 24/7. You're probably exhausted keeping up with her—and some days it seems like your baby can barely keep up with herself. She might be napping for a bit longer or sleeping more at night. It's a good thing, too, since getting plenty of rest not only makes your baby happier, but it improves her physical coordination during the day. Make a special effort to reorganize your schedule so your baby's in bed for regular, twice-daily nap times. Occasionally skipping a nap is fine, but if you're always on the go during the day, it can start a cycle of poor sleep that's hard to break.

By the end of her first year, your little one will likely be able to walk holding one or both of your hands—and might even be brave enough to take off on her own. When she does she's bound to look more like Franken-Baby than a sure-footed, confident walker. She'll hold her arms straight out in front of her for balance and take one heavy, stiff-legged step after another. As your baby grows more confident, she'll lower her arms to her sides and rely on the muscles in her midsection to help her balance as she stands or walks. Now's a good time to introduce push toys, such as baby-size strollers, toy lawnmowers, and tiny shopping carts. They'll not only give her something to grab onto for balance, but they'll be so much fun she'll have a solid incentive to start walking.

Health and Safety Info

Coping with an Attitude

You've heard about the "terrible twos," but the entry into toddlerhood brings its own forms of bad behavior. Many babies this age begin experimenting with hitting and biting, smacking a playmate who grabs hold of a special toy or chomping on your arm at dinnertime. Why is this happening? It's not because she wants to hurt you, but hitting, biting, and other forms of aggression might be your baby's way of acting out frustration over her inability to communicate what she wants. It might be a way to imitate older siblings or friends who bite and hit or simply to check out interesting physical sensations (if she's teething, for instance). For some kids it's an innocent attempt at playfulness. But it's almost always a way to test different actions and see what kind of reaction she gets.

No matter her motivation, it's important to let her know that hitting and biting are unacceptable. Don't shout or spank; that will simply reinforce the idea that aggressive behavior is okay. Just remove her from the situation and firmly but calmly tell her that what she did is not right and can hurt other people. While your baby is probably too young for a solo time-out in her room or in a chair, you can give her a modified time-out by removing her from your lap and ignoring her for a minute or so after she bites or hits you. If she's already formed a bad habit, it might take a little while to break her of her biting or hitting ways, but be consistent about disciplining and eventually she'll give it up.

Must-Knows

Energy Boosters for You

Early motherhood is a fairly sedentary time, with long stretches spent hunkered down on the sofa with your baby, nursing, reading, and rocking. Now, however, you're chasing your 11-month-old all day, with barely a minute to sit down. By the end of the day, you're wiped out. How to get your energy back?

Move up your bedtime by 30 minutes. Now that your baby's sleeping through the night (we hope), you have longer stretches at night to get chores down or dive into a good book—which can mean you're pushing your bedtime later and later. Making sure you get between seven and eight hours of sleep daily will give you the energy you need to keeping going.
Divvy up chores. Assigning your husband to after-dinner duty—cleaning up after baby's messy meal, giving her a bath, and getting her ready for bed—lets you read the paper, go for a walk, or just soak in a warm bath with a glossy magazine and a glass of wine.
Make time for exercise. It might seem like the last thing you want to do is burn more energy, but the fitter you are, the more stamina you'll have to run around after that kid of yours. So lengthen your workout time a bit or add in another session or two a week. Your body—and baby—will thank you.