Nutrition and your growing baby’s developmental milestones

Here’s what to expect from 6 to 12 months. But remember, babies achieve milestones at their own pace. If you have questions about your baby's progress, talk to your doctor.

Early childhood nutrition can have an impact on cognitive performance, determining the future learning, working and thinking performance of your child. Help them to reach their full potential with a diet based on high-quality nutrition.

Look for these milestones:

At 6 months, your baby...

Cognitive

Is more interested in studying objects visually

Has increased attention span

Motor

Rolls over in both directions

May sit with or without support

Listens closely when hearing their own name

Babbles strings of vowel and consonant sounds to imitate adult speech

Communication

Mimics simple behaviours

Uses voice and facial expressions to convey emotions

Social

At 7–8 months, your baby...

Looks for you if you are out of sight

May look for dropped objects

Cognitive

Passes an object from one hand to the other

May be crawling, sitting up longer or even standing up

Motor

Starts to vocalize more

Can understand when some words begin and end

Communication

Begins to discern emotions from tone of voice (soothing, angry)

Reacts with delight to peek-a-boo games

Social

At 9–10 months, your baby...

Cognitive

Solves simple problems such as finding a hidden toy under a blanket

Clearly demonstrates what they want and don't want

May stand unassisted

Has good accuracy when picking up small objects with fingers (pincer grasp)

Motor

Understands words such as ‘no’

Connects words with their meaning

Communication

Watches for your reactions (to banging or laughing)

May develop an attachment to Mom or Dad

Social

At 11–12 months, your baby...

Looks and listens simultaneously

Understands that objects have names

Cognitive

May be cruising and trying to walk

May be able to sit down from standing

Motor

Responds to simple questions and one-step commands

May say early words (“no”, “baba” for bottle)

Communication

Shows increased affection with family

Waves good-bye

Social

How to stimulate baby development?

As your baby nears toddlerhood, playtime is more important than ever. Your baby's brain is growing fast, and that drives their pursuit of

cognitive, motor, communication

and

social milestones

. Here are a few activities you can do together that are fun and will help your ‘almost’ toddler down the road of development.

6 months

Encourage

communication

milestones by responding to your 6 month baby's exclamations as if they are using clearly spoken language and try to engage them in a back-and-forth “conversation.”

Take turns hiding: Cover your head with a small blanket and let your baby pull it off to reveal you. Next, put it loosely over their head and pull it off. Your 6 month old will quickly catch on that the game works both ways.

7–8 months

Promote hand-eye coordination by putting some toys in a net bag, and show your 7–8 months baby how to take things out and put them back.

Babies of this age love to hear music, especially songs. Introduce different genres of music to your child.

9–10 months

Stimulate your baby's

cognitive

and

communication

development through pretend play, like having a tea party or building a sand castle. Provide common household items for your 9–10 month baby to play with such as boxes, pans, spoons and keys.

Get in the habit of waving goodbye. As your child develops

socially

, they will be able to imitate this simple gesture during the period when they're having difficulty with your leaving.

11–12 months

To flex those

motor

skills, arrange the furniture so that your 11–12 month baby can easily—and safely—move around by holding onto various chairs and tables.

Stimulation for babies at 6 months

Stimulation for babies at 7–8 months

Stimulation for babies at 9–10 months

Stimulation for babies at 11–12 months

Amazing Milestones: Making Strange