Your baby’s first year is a period of remarkable change. Over these 12 months, you’ll witness them transform from a tiny bundle into a walking, talking, and interactive little person. In the second part of this two-part series, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health pediatrician Amina Ahmed, MD, continues to guide us through the significant milestones you can expect during your baby’s first year, focusing on months 6 to 12.
6 to 9 months
Your 6-month-old baby is full of exciting changes. One of the major ones is their heightened interest in solid foods and putting things in their mouths. “Six months is a big age for introducing food. Babies will start to really watch their parents eating food,” Dr. Ahmed shared. “They’ll start smacking their own lips. They’ll try to get a bite out of what their parents are eating.”
You may even be surprised by how fast they can grab a handful of food from your plate or even a toy—a trait you can use to your advantage during playtime, according to Dr. Ahmed.
“If your baby’s on their belly, a great way to play with them is to just put something in front of them and let them work toward it,” she said. “You’ll see they’ll try to take their arm out to try to grab that toy and work toward that toy. Some babies will start lifting their bottom up, getting in a full crawling position, and move back and forth.”
By 6 months, your baby should be rolling confidently, and by 7 months, they should be showing signs they are ready to sit up on their own.
“At 6 months, if you hold them from their bottom and put them in your lap, they can sit, but they don’t sit independently,” Dr. Ahmed said. “By 7 months, they learn to hold themselves up and start stopping themselves from falling and keeping their arms stretched out.”
During this time, your baby will become much more interactive as they find their voice and start learning how to talk.
“Language-wise, they enjoy music, enjoy talking back and forth, and blowing raspberries,” Dr. Ahmed said. “They’ll also start experimenting with their voice. So, they’ll squeal high, they’ll squeal low. You’ll hear those sounds of, ‘ah, ah, ah, bah, bah, bah, ma, ma, ma, yeah, yeah, yeah.’ So, a lot more of those sounds start coming up at this point.”
Dr. Ahmed explained that babies this age will start to have more understanding and recognition of people around them. They recognize their primary caretaker and have bonded with that person. Some babies past 6 months will even start showing some signs of stranger anxiety. “We see it when they come to the office; they don’t know me, so they will get a little anxious,” she said. “If I get too close, or if I try to pick them up too quickly, they will get a little anxious. This is a very normal response that babies have, and it’s just showing that they’re much more aware of their environment and understanding things around them.”
9 to 12 months
As your baby moves closer to completing their first trip around the sun, the fun really begins! Your baby is learning how to explore their world in new ways, the first of which is their newfound mobility as they learn how to crawl and stand.
“At this point, a lot of babies are starting to crawl, and hence they’re exploring. The houses just open up to them. It’s like a wonderland,” Dr. Ahmed explained. “The pulling to stand is really important because the pulling to stand tells us they have the core strength to kind of come up, you know, and they’re showing that core strength. Even if they’re walking or not, they should be pulling to stand by 12 months.”
They should also be able to move things from one hand to the other. “If you give the baby a little rattle or a toy, they will grab it in one hand and move it to the other hand, and they can bring it to their mouth,” Dr. Ahmed said.
Now that your baby is on the move, Dr. Ahmed urges parents to start babyproofing their home by getting down on baby’s level to see what your crawling or scooting baby can get into.
“They are trying to fine-motorize. They’re becoming very focused on how to pick up things. If you give them a few Cheerios, they will try to pick them up. They will bring their thumb and their finger together to make that pincer grasp. They’ll find the tiniest piece of lint that could barely be seen by the human eye,” she said. “This is how they explore. They will touch. They will put things in their mouth. And hence you have to childproof the house: covering up outlets, not having small things that they can choke on, and doing all those things.”
Your little explorer will be curious about everything they see, investigating every surface and seeing what new noises they can make. They may start saying a few words like “Mama” or “Dada” or participating in songs.
“If you’re singing a song and you clap with it or other gestures, they’ll mimic that,” Dr. Ahmed said. “They start to understand different gestures. And they’re looking for your response, which is a big reward for the baby. And they’ll keep on doing it. So that’s how you get development going. You really give that big response to what the baby is doing. And they’re like, ‘Oh wow, this is so good. I should do more of it.’”
In addition to learning how to say new words, babies can recognize their name and the names of their primary caregivers.
It’s natural for parents to occasionally have concerns as they follow their baby’s development. When that happens, Dr. Ahmed encourages parents to check in with their pediatrician. She also wants parents to keep in mind that the most important thing they can do is to simply enjoy their baby.
“A lot of what we naturally do fosters normal development. So, just providing that supportive environment is all they need. Nature has geared the baby to do all these things, and they will start going to the next level on their own. It’s about providing opportunities,” she said. “You don’t have to spend hours and hours on development. I encourage parents to just spend time with their baby. It helps you bond. It will also help you relax. It will help the child development.”
To learn more about your baby’s milestones from newborn to 5 months, read part 1.
