
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
Growing baby milestones
Growing baby
milestones
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