Baby Development - Information on baby milestones and normal development

The following page gives the usual age at which different baby development milestones are reached during the period from 6 months to 12 months.
For other ages, links are available at the bottom of this page.

Don't worry that there isn't a section for each month - development is a dynamic process and the developmental stages at each age are what would be expected from most babies that age.

Some babies will have achieved the milestones earlier and so be "ahead" on some milestones but they may be bit "late" with others. The most important thing is that your baby is progressing.

Each age band has the development described in the 4 main areas:

gross motor
fine motor
speech and language
personal/social

That's how doctors and therapists assess toddler and baby development. If there's not a particular section described in an age band, it's just that area isn't so important at this stage.

So in the second six months, you will notice a lot of motor development. Your baby is getting ready to walk!!

6 month development milestones

Motor Development

At 6 months, if your child has reached normal baby development milestones, he will be able to:

push up on extended elbows when lying prone (on his tummy)
lift his head up when lying on his back
anticipate being pulled to sit from lying by bracing his shoulders
roll over - initially from front to back but then both ways
take weight on his legs when he is held standing up
sit unsupported for short periods in a tripod position - back slightly bent forward and arms forward with hands near feet

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 6 months, your infant will:

be extremely interested in his surroundings
transfer objects from one hand to the other
hold 2 cubes
use both hands freely
not be interested in objects that fall out of sight - no object permanence yet

Speech and Language Development

At 6 months, your child, if he is following normal development milestones, will be able to:

babble using vowel sounds, eg. "goo", "ga"
imitate sounds
laugh out loud

Personal / Social Development

At 6 months, your infant will:

take everything to his mouth
put his hands to a feeding bottle
still be friendly with strangers but will be becoming shy

7 months baby development milestones

Motor Development

At 7 months, if your child has reached normal baby development milestones, he will be able to:

sit unsupported with a straight back and hands up

Speech and Language Development

At 7 months, your child, if he is following normal baby development milestones, will be able to:

understand "no"

Personal / Social Development

At 7 months, your infant will be:

wary of strangers, so will cry when you leave him

9 months baby development milestones

Motor Development

At 9 months, your infant will:

sit well and be able to lean forward to pick up a toy
crawl
get to the sitting position from the floor
stand holding on
demonstrate the forward parachute primitive reflex

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 9 months, your infant will:

be able to bang 2 cubes together
start using an index finger to thumb approach to objects rather than the raking grasp used up to this time
resist toy pull, so if you try to take a toy out of his hand, he will hold on for dear life!

Speech and Language Development

At 9 months, your infant will be able to:

say "Dada", "Mama" and "Baba" but will not use these specifically
respond to his own name

Personal / Social Development

At 9 months, your infant will be able to:

hold and chew a biscuit
grab a spoon
look for fallen toys - he now has object permanence

10 months baby development milestones

Motor Development

At 10 months, your infant will be able to:

pull to stand
walk holding on to the furniture (called "cruising")

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 10 months, your child, if she has normal baby development milestones, will be:

developing a pincer grasp - so will be starting to pick things up with a neat and precise grip

Personal / Social Development

At 10 months, your infant will be able to:

clap his hands
wave good-bye

12 month baby development milestones

Motor Development

At 12 months, if your child has reached normal baby development milestone, he will be able to:

walk alone
cast - objects are "cast" from the hand

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 12 months, your infant will be able to:

use a neat pincer grip - so he will be able to pick small objects up between index finger and thumb
release objects when taken from him - before this he is likely to hold ferociously - so much so you'll be surprised by his strengthli>

Speech and Language Development

At 12 months, your infant will be able to:

use 2 to 3 words specifically
understand familiar names

Personal / Social Development

At 12 months, your infant will be able to:

indicate his needs
take off his shoes
drink from a feeding cup (like Tommy Tippee)
understand simple commands, like "give it to mommy"

When to be concerned

If your child has not reached the following baby development milestones or is demonstrating the following signs, see your doctor:

not sitting with support by 6 months of age
not babbling by 6 months of age
not sitting unsupported by 9 months of age
demonstrating hand preference at 12 months of age

References

Martin Bellman and John Cash. Schedule of Growing Skills. NEFR-Nelson. ISBN 0 7005 1161 X
Mary Sheridan. From birth to five years. NFER-NELSON. ISBN 0 85633 074 4

For baby development for babies from birth to 6 months, click here

For infants from 6 to 12 months of age, click here

For toddlers from 1 to 2 years of age, click here

For toddlers from 2 to 3 years of age, click here

For toddlers from 3 to 4 years of age, click here

For children from 4 to 5 years of age, click here

To go to the main Development page, click here

To return to the Home page, click here

Last reviewed 29 May 2007