Week 50

Days 344 to 350 · 49 weeks 0 days to 49 weeks 6 days old · about 11 months Your baby is now, on average, about 74 cm (29 in) long and weighs about 9.1 kg (20.1 lb). Babies vary widely, and the line your baby follows on the growth chart tells you more than any single number. Most babies this age are on the move in some way, crawling, cruising or walking, and their hands have become precise and curious tools. For you, the first birthday is in sight, and this week is partly about practical planning: a celebration that suits a one-year-old, keeping a party safe, choosing gifts, and what happens at the 12-month check and the vaccines around it. The last two days begin a recap of the year's milestones, starting with movement and with hands and thinking.

Day 344 · 49 weeks 0 days old

A first birthday that suits a one-year-old

Your baby will not remember their first birthday, and that is freeing. The day is really for the people who love them, and it can be as small or as big as you like. A walk in the park, a favourite meal and a video call with family is a complete celebration.

If you do want a party, plan it around your baby's day rather than the other way round. Late morning after a nap, or mid-afternoon after the second nap, usually works best. Keep it short, an hour or two, before tiredness takes over. A small group of familiar faces is easier for a baby in the middle of stranger awareness than a crowded room.

Expect the unexpected. Many one-year-olds are puzzled by singing, wary of candles, uninterested in wrapping paper or asleep at the key moment. Some cry through the cake. None of that means the day went wrong.

Think about what you would like to feel at the end of the day. Rested and happy is a perfectly good goal, and it may mean letting go of elaborate decorations, themes or a homemade cake.

For your partner: Take charge of one part of the birthday, such as the guest list, food or photos, from start to finish, so it is off the other parent's list completely.

Day 345 · 49 weeks 1 day old

Keeping the party safe

Parties bring hazards that are easy to miss in the excitement. Balloons are the big one. Latex balloons, especially burst pieces, are a leading cause of choking deaths in young children. Keep balloons out of reach, gather up pieces of any that pop straight away, and never let a baby chew on one. Foil balloons are a safer choice, but their ribbons can be a strangling risk. Party food needs the same care as everyday food. Whole grapes, cherry tomatoes, whole nuts, popcorn, hard candies, marshmallows and chunks of sausage or hot dog are choking hazards. Cut round foods into quarters lengthwise and keep nut bowls high up. Make sure your baby eats sitting down and supervised, not while walking around among guests.

A slice of birthday cake is fine as a treat. Honey becomes safe after 12 months, but if the party falls before the birthday itself, leave it out of anything your baby eats.

Watch for small things older children bring: toy parts, coins, button batteries in gifts or cards that play music, and hot drinks set down on low tables. Agree in advance who is keeping an eye on the baby at any moment. Try this: Choose one adult to be the "baby watcher" for each half hour of the party, and write the rota on the fridge.

Day 346 · 49 weeks 2 days old

Gifts that a one-year-old will actually use

One-year-olds need surprisingly little. The most played-with things are often a set of nesting cups, a ball, a wooden spoon and a pot, or the box the present came in. Simple toys that can be used in many ways tend to hold interest longest, because your baby does the thinking.

Good choices at this age include stacking and nesting toys, shape sorters, chunky blocks, push toys that are stable to lean on, balls of different sizes, board books, bath toys, simple instruments and things to fill and empty. A sturdy, low push cart can help a new walker feel steady, but avoid seated baby walkers, as you read in week 40.

Check every gift for safety. Toys should be labelled for under-3s if your baby will play with them, with no small parts that fit through a toilet paper tube. Look for secure battery covers that need a screwdriver, and keep anything with button batteries or small magnets well out of reach. Long cords and strings longer than about 30 cm (12 in) are a strangling risk.

If relatives ask what to give, you can suggest a book, a contribution to an activity class, or simply their time.

Try this: Before the birthday, put away half of the toys you already have, then bring some back out in a few weeks so they feel new.

Day 347 · 49 weeks 3 days old

What happens at the 12-month check

In many places, babies have a checkup around the first birthday. It may be with a doctor, a nurse or a public health nurse or health visitor, and it often lines up with the next round of vaccines.

Your baby will usually be weighed and measured, and their head circumference checked, then plotted on the growth chart. The provider may look at the eyes, ears, mouth and teeth, listen to the heart and lungs, check the hips and watch how your baby moves, stands and uses their hands. Many will ask about words, gestures and how your baby responds to people. Some places use a short questionnaire to screen development.

Expect questions about eating, drinking, sleep and safety. It is a good time to talk about moving to cow's milk, iron, teeth, car seats and how much milk your baby drinks. In some places a simple blood test for iron, or for lead where there is a risk, is offered.

This visit is also for you. Bring your questions, even the ones that seem small, and mention how you are doing. If your baby was born early, ask how their development is being judged by corrected age.

Try this: Start a note on your phone today and add each question as it comes to mind before the appointment.

Day 348 · 49 weeks 4 days old

The vaccines around the first birthday

The first birthday is a key point on most vaccine schedules. In many places, babies are offered the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at around 12 months, often with chickenpox (varicella), and boosters for pneumococcal and meningococcal disease. Some places add hepatitis A or other vaccines. The exact list and timing differ by country and region, so follow your local schedule.

Measles is very contagious and can be serious in young children, so getting this dose on time matters.

Comfort your baby as you have all year: hold them, feed them during or after if you can, and stay close. Most reactions are mild, such as a sore leg, fussiness or a low fever within a day or two.

The MMR vaccine can cause a delayed reaction. About 7 to 12 days afterwards, some babies get a fever and sometimes a faint, blotchy rash. It is not contagious and passes in a few days. The chickenpox vaccine can cause a few spots.

Call your baby's doctor if your baby has a fever that lasts more than two or three days, seems unusually unwell or drowsy, or has a rash that does not fade when pressed. Get help right away if your baby has trouble breathing, swelling of the face or a seizure.

Try this: Check when your baby's 12-month vaccines are due, and book the appointment now if you have not already.

Day 349 · 49 weeks 5 days old

A year of movement, looked at all at once

Think back to the newborn who could barely lift their head. In one year, your baby has gone from curled-up reflexes to holding their head steady, rolling, sitting, getting onto hands and knees and, most likely, pulling up to stand. That is an enormous journey for any body.

Around the first birthday, many babies pull to stand, cruise along furniture and stand alone for a moment or two. Some walk confidently, some take a few steps and many have not walked yet. First steps can come anywhere from about 9 to 18 months, as you read in week 44, and early walking does not predict later ability. Some babies never crawled and went straight from bottom shuffling to walking, and that is fine too.

Corrected age still matters here. A baby born two months early may be moving more like a 10-month-old, and that is exactly on track.

What matters more than any single skill is that your baby keeps gaining new abilities over time, uses both sides of the body, and is keen to explore. If you have worries about stiffness, floppiness, one-sided movement or not bearing weight on the legs, mention them at the 12-month check.

Try this: Find a photo or video of your baby from the first weeks and look at it next to one from today.

Day 350 · 49 weeks 6 days old

Clever hands and a busy mind

Your baby's hands have changed as much as their legs. The swiping, fisted grasp of the early months has become a neat pincer grip that can pick up a single pea or a crumb from the carpet. Many one-year-olds can bang two objects together, drop things into a container, turn the pages of a board book a few at a time and poke with one finger.

Their thinking is growing just as fast. Your baby knows that hidden things still exist and will look for them. They are starting to use objects for their real purpose: holding a phone to their ear, pushing a brush through their hair, offering a spoon to a doll or to you. They test cause and effect over and over, dropping food from the high chair to see what happens, and to see what you do.

They also copy you closely. Sweeping, stirring, wiping a table and "talking" on the phone are all ways of learning how the world works.

Every baby has their own mix of strengths. Some are busy movers and others are careful watchers who spend long minutes turning an object over in their hands.

Try this: Give your baby a clean, empty container and a handful of large, safe objects to put in and take out, and watch how they solve it.