Leap 5

From 22 weeks, your baby enters the world of relationships. Welcome to leap 5! Between weeks 22 to 26 after the due date, you will notice that your baby cries more, is crankier and clinger than you are used to seeing. These are the first signals that leap 5 has started! 

Leap 5 is no small leap. This is a giant leap. Why? This leap enables baby to perceive the relationships between all the earlier leaps. It is as if up until now, he has seen all the leaps as individual pieces of a puzzle and suddenly they all fall into place.

The fussy phase of leap 5: the world on its head

From week 22, you will be able to notice the first signals of leap 5. Your baby will cry more and be clingier and crankier than usual. The clingy phase of the leap often lasts about four weeks, although it could last anything between one to five weeks. You have the greatest chance of seeing the signals in your baby around week 26. Did you know that all you have to do is fill in the due date in our app to get a personalized leap schedule that includes all the fussy phases?

The skills phase: in, on, behind, in front and how far?

Around week 26, your baby will have become more accustomed to the new world and the fussy phase of leap 5 will have passed. Then it is time for the best part of the leap: the skills phase! Based on his knowledge of “events” from leap 4, for the first time your baby is able to perceive and understand the “relationships” between things.

He can also make relationships in how things are connected to each other. For example, after this leap your baby learns the relationships between objects and that a block can be placed in, behind, on or under another block, for instance. Your baby will experiment with these relationships. 

You could get a basket or box and put all kinds of things in it so that your baby can put the objects next to the basket or put them in or take them out. This enables your baby to play with the relationship of one object to another. Did you know that beside this game, our app also contains many more games to help you stimulate the leaps?

Afraid of the distance between you

Around weeks 29 and 30, it could seem like another fussy phase has arrived. Some babies will cry more, be clingier and crankier than usual. But this has nothing to do with the fussy phase of the leap. During this leap, your baby has discovered that you can leave him or her behind. That is because after taking this leap, your baby realizes that you can increase the distance between the two of you by walking away. As he can now grasp “distances” and what that entails, he “panics” and may even protest if you just go around a corner. 

Tip: Talk to him and let him know that you are still there. Even if you are standing around the corner just out of sight. The more you reassure him, the quicker he will get used to the fact that Mom is not always in sight.

A key to your baby’s personality

Some babies will mainly show their motor skills during the leap and others the speech and language skills. Every baby develops in his or her own way and decides for themselves what he or she wants to develop. And the best bit is, that says something about your baby’s (future) personality! Did you know that not only can you tick off the skills of the leap in our app, but you can also keep track of them in your personal diary? 

If your curiosity has been sparked and you want to know all about the 10 leaps, the fussy phases, and all the accompanying skills, order the book or download the app now!