Your baby is trying to prove their individuality to you and is becoming increasingly active. The most important thing you need to do during these months is to take precautions against possible home accidents. Your baby is growing rapidly, and you are closely following every development. Especially during these days when important events like the first word, first step, and first tooth will occur, taking notes of significant events and capturing photos of their development will be a beautiful memory for you.
Vaccines
This month, your baby will not receive any vaccinations. You can go for a monthly doctor’s check-up to consult about your baby, track their height and weight, and measure their head circumference. Although each baby’s development stage is very different from others, if you notice and identify any developmental delays, you should share this with your doctor.
Physical Development
Many babies may start to move by crawling with the help of their arms or begin to crawl from this month onwards. If your baby has become mobile, you need to make your home a safe environment for them. Sharp corners should be covered, socket protectors should be used, window locks should be installed, care should be taken to ensure there are no cables within reach, small parts that they could swallow should not be left around, and chemical substances should be moved to higher shelves. Crawling children will want to hold onto furniture like sofas, chairs, and tables to stand up. You should support this desire but be by their side in case of any possibility of falling backward. Babies at this age need 13-14 hours of sleep per day. If your baby wakes up early in the morning, two short naps during the day will be sufficient, or if they wake up late, one nap during the day will be enough. Your baby’s vision has now reached adult level. They can see everything in their environment and follow moving objects. To develop their ability to feed themselves, you can prepare vegetables or fruits in finger-size pieces and give them to their hand. Hard vegetables should be softened by steaming before giving. You must be with them during meals due to the possibility of choking. This month, you can also add fish, lentils, bulgur, and meatballs to their supplementary foods. There should never be any addition of spices or salt to any food you prepare for your baby.
Cognitive Development
They can slowly perceive which of their toys make sounds, which are soft, which need to be shaken. They try to have experiences that will create a distinction between small and large. They can put their smaller toy inside the larger one. Activity tables that allow them to do multiple activities together can be a good toy choice during this period. They can follow simple commands consisting of a few sentences. Stack some blocks on top of each other, then knock them down with a soft ball first yourself, then ask them to do it. This will be a good game for developing coordination.
Emotional and Social Development
Your baby will throw an object on the ground and want you to pick it up. This is a game they will greatly enjoy. Along with forming their own sense of self, your baby can now communicate their feelings to you better. They may get excited when seeing someone they love, hug them, or blow kisses. Your baby is also developing a sense of shame now. You may observe that they are more comfortable around you and more reserved around strangers. Babies at this age are very good observers. They try to mimic the emotional states of people around them. If someone near them is angry, your baby might start to behave like them. If you need to leave your baby with someone and separate from them, you shouldn’t do this by suddenly sneaking away. You should explain that you need to go, when you’ll return, and say goodbye to them. This will build trust when you return, and they won’t be anxious when you leave them. They have started to get used to the daily routines in your home. They understand that it’s bedtime when you put them in bed, and mealtime when you seat them in the high chair. Don’t hesitate to say “no” to your baby when they’re doing something that could harm them. With the decisiveness in your tone of voice, they will start to understand the ‘no’ command.
Language Development
Now that your baby expects more attention from you, you may be having difficulty carrying out your daily activities, and for this reason, you might see television as a solution. However, experts state that letting your baby watch too much television before at least 2 years of age can bring many problems, primarily speech difficulties and attention deficit. Babies who are allowed to watch television may have language development issues compared to other babies. The best way to communicate with your baby is to sing to them and play games. You’ll notice that their voice gets louder when they want to attract your attention and demand more interest.
→ You can also read our article on 9-Month-Old Baby Development.
