22 Week Old Baby: Babbling, Passing Toys and Sitting Steadier

Your Baby at 22 Weeks Old

A 22 week old baby is around 5 months old — babbling more, starting to pass toys hand to hand, sitting steadier with support, and rolling. By 4 months, most babies need three naps a day, per the Canadian Paediatric Society, with total sleep around 14–16 hours. Solids are not recommended until around 6 months, when your baby can sit up with support and has good head control.

Your 22 week old baby is coordinating their hands and voice in new ways — passing a toy from hand to hand, babbling in longer strings, and studying your face as you talk. Little conversations are becoming a real back-and-forth.

This guide covers what’s normal this week: the developing hand skills and babble, and feeding and sleep as you approach 6 months and the start of solids.

Your Life This Week: The Parent Experience

The babble “conversations” are a delight — and they matter. Answering your baby’s sounds, naming what they look at, and reading together all help language grow. There’s no wrong way to do it; just keep talking.

As hands get busier, so does supervision — small objects, cords and anything that fits in a mouth need to stay out of reach. It’s a good week to do a quick floor-level safety sweep.

If low mood or anxiety has been lingering, please tell your doctor or public health nurse — postpartum depression can develop across the first year and is treatable, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes.

Feeding Your 22 Week Old Baby

A 22 week old baby feeds on cue. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises feeding on demand — whenever your baby is hungry. Amounts vary widely; for formula, follow the feeding chart on your formula’s packaging. Plenty of wet diapers, a content baby and steady weight gain show your baby is getting enough.

You may be getting ready for solids — and it helps to know the readiness signs. The Canadian Paediatric Society says most babies are ready around 6 months, when they can sit up without support (or with a little support), have good head and neck control, can pick up food and bring it to the mouth, and show interest when others eat. Until then, breast milk or infant formula is all your baby needs.

If breastfeeding isn’t an option, the CPS advises a store-bought, iron-fortified, cow-milk-based infant formula.

A note on formula this week. Your baby’s fast growth runs on iron, DHA and vitamin D — and iron matters even more as solids approach, since the Canadian Paediatric Society advises starting solids with iron-rich foods. MOF’s organic Stage 1 formulas, such as HiPP Dutch Stage 1, are iron-fortified and suitable from birth to 6 months, providing the iron, DHA and vitamin D your baby needs. Formula is a good choice whenever it’s the right one for your family.

Sleep at 22 Weeks: What’s Normal & How to Help

A 22 week old baby’s sleep is usually in a pattern. By 4 months, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes, most babies need three naps a day — morning, afternoon and early evening — with total sleep around 14–16 hours across naps and nights. Night waking still happens and is normal.

A baby who now rolls and moves in the crib may stir more; sleep can be briefly broken as it reorganises, and usually settles. A consistent daily rhythm and calm wind-down help; the Canadian Paediatric Society suggests keeping a regular sleep schedule as much as possible, and putting your baby down drowsy but awake when you can.

A moving baby also needs a crib that keeps up. Lower the mattress before your baby can push up onto their hands and knees, and check the weight and rolling limits on a bassinet — most say to stop once a baby can roll.

Safe sleep reminder: always place your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm flat mattress with a tightly fitted sheet and no loose, soft items, in a crib, cradle or bassinet in your room for the first 6 months. Keep starting your baby on their back even once they can roll. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises this lowers the risk of SIDS.