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Info Centre - Your baby's age: 6-9 months
Your baby's age: 6-9 months
Development
During this stage your baby will probably:
- Start sitting up
- Become more mobile – some babies can propel themselves very effectively by rolling around
- Use her hands more effectively – she will enjoy reaching out and grasping things
- Make sounds like “da-da” or “ba-ba”.
- Babble in a way that mimics adult intonation but without using real words
- Cut her first teeth.
At this age she may also develop separation anxiety and cry if you leave the room. This is evidence of her strong attachment to and preference for you. She may also display reluctance to be held by a stranger. See “Separation anxiety” for more information.
Feeding and weaning
Six months is the recommended age to introduce your baby to solid food. Your baby will only take small quantities at first – just a couple of spoonfuls of soft, puréed food once a day or pieces of finger food (see information on 'baby-led weaning' below). Be guided by your baby. Milk will still be her main source of nutrients. You can try her with some of the following, mixed with breast milk or formula milk
- Baby rice
- Fruit purée (for example, mashed banana or puréed cooked apple)
- Vegetable purée (such as carrot or yam)
To make it easier for yourself, you can create purées of vegetables (such as carrots) and put them into ice-cube trays to freeze. When you want to feed the baby, defrost one of the cubes.
- If you have warmed the food, make sure to taste it first before giving it to her.
- Don’t force food on your baby if she’s not interested. Leave it for now, and try again next time.
- Salt. A baby’s kidneys aren’t mature enough to cope with salt.
- Sugar (including biscuits and ice creams). This can encourage a sweet tooth and lead to problems with tooth decay when the baby is older.
- Honey. This is because honey can occasionally contain a type of bacteria that causes botulism – a form of food poisoning.
Only give her eggs if they are thoroughly cooked.
Baby-led weaning
It is also a good idea to give your baby the opportunity to feed herself by introducing her to finger food. Some parents dispense with purées and baby rice altogether in favour of finger food – this is known as ‘baby-led weaning”. Finger foods you could try include cooked carrot, chunks of banana or unsalted breadsticks and rice cakes.
As your baby gets older, you can try her with a wider range of foods, such as toast, pieces of cheese, puréed meat, hummus, puréed lentils or yoghurts. By nine months, you will probably be giving her three meals a day to fit in with family mealtimes.
As she eats more solids, your baby will probably be taking less breastmilk or formula milk. You can also introduce water to her diet, but avoid fruit juices or sugary drinks. These can fill your baby up so she doesn’t get hungry for more nutritious foods.
Babies need to be fed on either breastmilk or formula milk until they are one year old, but after this time it is ok to introduce cow's milk in cooking or as a mix.
Some women choose to stop breastfeeding when their baby starts on solid food, but there are plenty of benefits to continued breastfeeding. See “Breastfeeding: how long?” for more information.
Sleeping
Some, though by no means all, babies will be sleeping through the night by nine months. On the other hand, some babies who have previously slept well may start waking up. This may be the result of separation anxiety or it may be related to her developmental changes – she might decide to practise sitting up in her cot in the middle of the night! It is also possible that she is experiencing pain from teething (see below). It is less likely that she’s waking up because she’s hungry – unlike newborns, babies at this age don’t need to feed in the night.
Parents have different approaches to dealing with a wakeful baby, and you will need to find one that suits you. Sometimes a dummy can help a baby get back to sleep. Some babies like “white noise”, such as the found of a fan running. (You can even buy CDs of white noise especially for very young babies.)
It is never a good idea to leave a baby to cry, but some parents find that “controlled crying” helps. This means that, when the baby starts crying, you go to her and soothe her, but don’t pick her up. Then leave her for five minutes and go back and soothe her again. Keep doing this until she falls asleep. After a few nights, the baby will usually sleep through. Don’t attempt controlled crying before she is six months old, however.
Some parents are unhappy at the idea of using controlled crying as a technique and prefer to stay with the baby until she falls asleep again; scientific concerns have also been raised about possible effects of controlled crying on babies' emotional development.
Other things that can help include a regular bedtime routine, with a bath, a song or story, a cuddle and dimmed lights. Creating comforting routines and sleep associations can help your baby to soothe herself to sleep at bedtime and again if she wakes in the night.
Teething
While some babies don’t have any problems with teething, others seem to experience pain and distress. The following can help:
- Teething gels. These contain a mild local anaesthetic to numb the pain.
- Teething rings. These give your baby something to chew on, and soothe sore gums.
- Pieces of apple or carrot that your baby can chew on.
- Baby paracetamol if your baby is clearly in pain or has a raised temperature.
Once your baby’s teeth appear, you will need to start cleaning them with a special baby toothbrush and toothpaste.
See "Teething" for more information.
Playing
At this age, your baby is really beginning to enjoy the world around her and to want to explore it more. She might enjoy the following:
- Listening to nursery rhymes or songs
- Clapping or being bounced along to rhymes
- Shaking rattles or tambourines, or other toys that make a noise
- Banging a wooden spoon on an upturned pan
- Looking at picture books, or being read to. Babies often like looking at pictures of other babies.
See "Play" for more information.
Safety
As your child starts to move around and explore, you need to be extra vigilant. As well as keeping small objects out of her way, you need to make sure that she can’t hurt herself:
- Keep hot drinks out of her reach – it is easy for a baby to grab at a hot drink in your hand, or bump into a coffee table and knock a mug over
- Fit stair-gates to stop her getting up or down the stairs.
- Cover power points.
- Make sure there aren’t any sharp objects lying on the floor or within her reach
- Keep her away from water – small children can drown in less than five centimetres of water
- For the same reason, never leave her unattended in the bath
- Protect any open fire with a fireguard.
- Keep kettle cords out of her reach
- Keep domestic bleach, medication and other dangerous substances either in a high cupboard out of her reach or behind baby-proofed cupboard doors.
Taking care of yourself
If your baby is sleeping for longer, you may find life is getting a little easier. This age can be a good time to get out and about with your baby a bit more often – maybe taking her to swimming classes or to mother and baby music groups.
