11 Week Old Baby: Settling In and Nearing 3 Months

Your Baby at 11 Weeks Old

An 11 week old baby is nearing the 3-month milestones — smiling on their own, following faces and objects, and holding the head steadier during tummy time, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society. The normal peak crying period (3 to 12 weeks) is usually easing, and sleep becomes more predictable after 3 months. Feeds run on cue.

Your 11 week old baby is settling into a more sociable, engaged phase. The hardest of the crying weeks are usually behind you, the smiles come freely, and there’s real back-and-forth by the day.

This guide covers what to expect this week: the milestones coming into view, feeding and sleep, and how to make the most of your baby’s longer, brighter awake windows.

Your Life This Week: The Parent Experience

Eleven weeks in, life often feels a touch steadier — the intense crying is easing, smiles are frequent, and you may be reading your baby’s cues with more confidence. It’s still tiring, but the rewards land more often now.

Use your baby’s brighter awake windows for connection and their sleepy stretches for your own rest. Keep leaning on help where you can.

The “baby blues” affect up to 80% of new mothers and usually ease within a few weeks, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes. If low mood, anxiety or a sense of disconnection lingers or feels heavier than that, it may be postpartum depression, which affects about 13% of new mothers, and as many as 10% of fathers. It is treatable — please tell your doctor or public health nurse.

Feeding Your 11 Week Old Baby

An 11-week-old baby feeds on cue. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises feeding on demand — whenever your baby is hungry. Early cues come before crying: stirring, rooting, lip-smacking, hands to the mouth. Crying is a late cue, and a baby who’s already worked up is harder to settle into a feed.

Feeds may space out a little as your baby feeds more efficiently, but there’s wide variation, so follow your baby rather than a clock. That applies to formula too. Use the package instructions for how to prepare each bottle — the scoop-to-water ratio matters and isn’t something to adjust — but let your baby decide how much to take. Watch for the signs they’re finished: slowing down, turning away, releasing the teat, unclenching their hands. A bottle doesn’t have to be emptied.

The CPS signs of feeding well still apply: six or more wet diapers a day, a content baby, and steady weight gain.

Any lingering evening fussiness is usually the tail end of the normal peak crying period, which the Canadian Paediatric Society places around 3 to 12 weeks and says usually eases by 3 to 4 months. If crying seems unusual, or you’re worried, speak to your provider.

Whether you breastfeed, formula feed or combine the two, your baby’s brain and vision development runs on the right nutrients — DHA, iron and vitamin D among them. If breastfeeding isn’t an option, the Canadian Paediatric Society advises a store-bought, iron-fortified, cow-milk-based infant formula — fortified to provide these — until 9 to 12 months, when whole cow’s milk (3.25% M.F.) can take over, provided your baby is eating iron-rich foods by then.

A note on formula this week. As your baby becomes more interactive, feeds are calm moments to connect. MOF’s organic Stage 1 formulas, such as HiPP Dutch Stage 1, are iron-fortified and suitable from birth through 6 months, providing the DHA, iron and vitamin D your baby needs. Formula is a good choice whenever it’s the right one for your family.

Sleep at 11 Weeks: What’s Normal & How to Help

An 11 week old baby may sleep as much as 18 hours a day, for 3 to 4 hours at a time, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society — and waking to feed at night is still normal. The CPS notes sleep habits become more predictable sometime after 3 months, so you may be close to seeing longer, more regular stretches.

This is developmentally on track. There’s no need to force settled nights before your baby’s body is ready; the shift tends to come on its own as your baby matures past 3 months.

Keep reinforcing day and night: bright, active days and calm, dim, quiet nights. Put your baby down drowsy but awake when you can — a gentle habit that supports self-settling as sleep organises. Protect your own rest where possible.

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. Car seats, strollers, carriers, bouncers and swings aren’t safe sleep surfaces — if your baby falls asleep in one, move them to their crib, cradle or bassinet as soon as you can. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises this lowers the risk of SIDS.