What a 5-month-old baby does
Around five months babies roll, sit with support, and bring almost everything to their mouth. This is the run-up to first foods rather than the start of them: solids usually begin at about six months, alongside milk rather than instead of it.
What is my baby doing at 5 months?
- Your baby may be spotting you across the room — depth perception is in.Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
- Your baby may be getting ready for first foods around 6 months.Source: World Health Organization
- Your baby may be learning to sit without leaning on their arms.Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 Months
- Your baby may be rolling both ways.Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 Months
What does a baby need at this stage?
Milk is still the whole meal until about 6 months
WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months — no other food or drink, not even water.
What to do: Keep feeding responsively, as often as your baby wants.
Source: WHO · Infant and young child feedingFloor time earns the rolls
By around 7 months most babies roll both ways, and sitting without leaning on their arms follows.
What to do: Clear a safe patch of floor and let them work — supervised, on a firm flat surface.
Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 MonthsReflux fades from here
It usually starts before 8 weeks and settles on its own by the first birthday.
What to do: Keep feeds smaller and more frequent if spit-up is heavy, and keep sleep flat on the back.
Source: NHS · Reflux in babiesFollow the cues, not the clock
Rooting, hands to the mouth and lip smacking are the early signs. Crying is a late one.
What to do: Offer a feed at the first cue rather than waiting for the cry.
Source: AAP · How Often and How Much Should Your Baby Eat?First foods start now — alongside milk, not instead of it
From 6 months, safe and adequate complementary foods begin while breastfeeding continues.
What to do: Introduce foods one at a time and keep the milk feeds going.
Source: WHO · Infant and young child feedingPlay peekaboo — it is doing real work
Your baby is learning that things still exist when they cannot see them.
What to do: Vary the game: hide behind a cloth, behind furniture, or take turns covering your heads.
Source: AAP · Cognitive Development: 8 to 12 MonthsStools change with food, and that is expected
Colour and consistency shift once solids begin.
What to do: Keep an eye on comfort rather than counting — and ask your paediatrician about anything painful.
Source: AAP · Baby's First Days: Bowel Movements & UrinationFollow the cues, not the clock
Rooting, hands to the mouth and lip smacking are the early signs. Crying is a late one.
What to do: Offer a feed at the first cue rather than waiting for the cry.
Source: AAP · How Often and How Much Should Your Baby Eat?Things worth knowing at 5 months
- Around 5 months depth perception arrives — your baby can now spot you across the room.Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
- Around 6 months babies are ready to start exploring first foods alongside their milk.Source: World Health Organization
- Between 6 and 8 months most babies learn to sit upright without leaning on their arms.Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 Months
- By around 7 months most babies roll both ways — clear floor, big adventures.Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 Months
- Hide a toy half under a blanket — finding partly hidden things is a brand-new skill this season.Source: AAP · Milestones: 4 to 7 Months
- Your baby reads the room now — responding to other people's emotions, and often simply joyful.Source: AAP · Milestones: 4 to 7 Months
- From 6 to 12 months, breastmilk can still provide half or more of a baby's nutritional needs.Source: World Health Organization
When should I call a doctor?
Some signs mean call the same day whatever the stage — a rectal temperature of 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) or higher under three months, fewer wet nappies with a dry mouth, or a baby who is unusually hard to wake. The full list, with thresholds and sources.
Before this: 3-Month-Old Baby: What to Expect. Next: 7-Month-Old Baby: What to Expect.
This is general information, not a substitute for your own doctor, midwife or health visitor — they know your baby, and this page does not.
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