Hey Smart Mums welcome to the second part of our baby milestone blog; here we focus on the next 5 months of your little one’s growth journey: from the age of 7 months to 12 months. Your tot is almost ready to trot now. This is the time when you will see your baby achieve some major milestones like eating solid foods, crawling, and developing communication skills. Read on to know more.
7 to 12 months: Fast Forward for Growth!
Let the games begin!
Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the most playful of them all? At 7 months you can expect your little one to react upon seeing his reflection in the mirror. His eyes will amaze you as they quickly follow the trajectory of quick moving objects. Playtimes involving peek-a-boo will be blindly adored.
Stranger danger is real!
After 6 months, your tiny tot will start to develop stranger anxiety. He will not want to meet everybody anymore. The sight of a new face might even make him cry. PS. Smart Mums, this is absolutely normal. Check here to know more about managing stranger anxiety in babies.
Ready, get set, crawl!
At 8 months your baby will be able to balance himself on his hands and knees. And in a month’s time you will see him cruising on all fours.
Eat. Play. Love
After 6 months you can start weaning your little one by introducing some solid food. At 9 months your baby will have fully developed taste buds. He will love to eat as much as he will love to play. Time to cook some healthy meals for your munchkin. Check out some recipes here. You will soon be able to make him sit next to you and have a family dinner.
Good listener
In these months your baby will get good at listening and understanding select words and phrases like – yes, no, let’s go to the park, etc. Babies tend to respond well to facial expressions too. So start practicing your funny faces to get that chuckle out!
Walk the Talk
Make sure you always have your cell phone (one that’s got a good camera, please!) around you. Because the 10th, 11th and 12th months are full of ‘Guess what my Baby did today’ and ‘I have to post this on Insta’ moments. Your baby’s first word (let’s hope your baby hasn’t spent a lot of time around Daddy when his favourite team isn’t doing well); his first step and maybe even his first shaky run are all around the corner.
Some important things to note:
- The above milestones are only guidelines. Your baby’s health care provider will evaluate your baby’s development at each stage.
- You need not worry if he falls behind in reaching these milestones. Consult your healthcare professional to address it.
Click here to check out our informative video series in which Dr. Nihar Parekh takes you through these milestones.
