50 Week Old Baby Development

Learn everything you need to know about your 50 week old baby. Track important developments and milestones such as talking, walking, growth, memory & more.

Published on June 14, 2017

baby girl standing in crib — Photo: Getty Images/ Jose Luis Pelaez Inc

Your Growing Baby

Development Regression

One step back, another step forward has been the standard for your baby's forays into walking, but it could be another way to describe her development overall. For instance, a few months ago waving good-bye was all the rage; now your baby never does it. Is it reason to worry? Not really. Experts call this regressive behavior, and it most commonly occurs when your child is expending energy on dealing with an emotional adjustment—for instance, when you go away for a weekend or when his routine changes dramatically. The energy he was using to master new skills is now applied to handling the (for him) big-time change, and other skills can slip as a result. Or it might be simply a matter of having tired of an old trick—especially if waving bye-bye stopped earning your oohs and aahs. Regression can also happen when he's simply hot on the trail of learning something new. So while you might wonder why he went from taking a few steps on his own to reverting back to cruising or crawling, it could be that he's just directing his energy toward learning a new word that he'll soon dazzle you with.

Growing Vocabulary

Speaking of new words, your baby's ability to understand what you say continues to grow, even if he's not producing an equally impressive number of spoken words. Help along his verbal skills by labeling things that might interest your baby: animals, body parts, people. Start using pronouns, saying, "I am going to take a walk with you" instead of "Mommy and Jane are going for a walk." And always encourage. It's great to cheer on your baby's attempts at saying the word "ball"; refusing to give him the ball until he calls it by name, however, will just make your baby more resistant to talking at all.

Health and Safety Info

1-Year Check Up

It's soon time for your child's 12-month well-baby visit, where you'll get to talk to your doctor about all the changes going on in your baby's busy life. The pediatrician will give your baby the once-over for milestone skills, asking about how well she's talking, walking, pointing, and so on. Some skills she can check right there in the office; don't be surprised if she asks you to put your baby down and invite her to follow you across the room. Others, however, you should think about before you go. Your pediatrician might ask how many words your little talker can say, so keep a running tally for the week before your appointment, so you can produce a rough estimate.

Other aspects of the visit will be the same as always: measurements, a physical check, and more immunizations, probably boosters for vaccinations she's previously received, such as hepatitis, polio, DTaP, and Hib, as well as new shots for MMR and chicken pox. Your baby's next well-child visit won't be for another several months (usually at 18 or 24 months), so be sure to bring any questions you have about developmental steps down the road, such as potty training, transitioning from crib to bed, or even getting your baby ready for a younger sibling.

Must-Knows

Overcoming Bedtime Struggles

Has bedtime become a nightmare? If so, you've got lots of company. Around 12 months, kids are so active that they keep going and going—until they hit a wall, which often happens right around bedtime. Your child is completely exhausted, and he's liable to melt down as a result, often in an instantaneous, Jekyll-and-Hyde-like tantrum. One minute he's eating his peas happily at the dinner table, the next he's throwing his sippy cup and wailing for no apparent reason.

With time, you'll get pretty good at sensing when he's toast. Some signs: eye rubbing, lots of yawning, crying over little things, or sudden bouts of "no"-itis, when your baby doesn't want to cooperate with anything. If you sense that your child is at the end of his rope, whisk him off to bed before he loses it. But if he seems consistently burned out by the time his usual bedtime rolls around, bump it up in a half-hour or so. And make evenings as low-key as possible. If you've been at work all day, you might be eager for some silly playtime (zooming like Superman, anyone?), but it could just key him up—and set him off—even more. Instead, change his diaper and slip him into jammies right after dinnertime, so you won't have to wrestle with it later. Then do some mellow activities for together time, such as reading books or coloring. It'll help make for a more peaceful transition when it's time for bed.