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Infant Developmental Milestones 6-12 Months

Your delicate newborn seems to have turned into a sitting, smiling, chatty baby overnight! Here are the developmental milestones you can expect your little one to reach between 6 and 12 months.

Sabrina Rogers-Anderson Writer & Author

Your baby is six months old! There’s a good chance you’re wondering where the time went while simultaneously breathing a small sigh of relief that the helpless newborn stage is over. That was a lot of work!

Now that your baby has probably mastered things like tummy time and babbling, what’s going to happen next? Here are a few of the developmental milestones you can expect your child to reach each month from 6 to 12 months:

Sit up
Feed themselves
Transition from pureed baby food to mashed to solids
Crawl
Walk with little to no help
Understand words including ‘no’
Show preference with people and toys

Remember that these are general guidelines and all babies develop at different paces. If you have any concerns, speak to your pediatrician. Below we explore much more of what you can expect with both the mental and physical development of your baby during each of the coming months.

Baby Milestones: 6-12 months

6 Month Milestones

By this 6 months your baby will have developed a strong attachment to you and enjoy spending time with close family members. Your baby will be discovering who she is and working out the difference between parents, caregivers and strangers. You will notice that your baby has started to show a real interest in food and will be ready to experience and taste solids. During this month, they may be able to:

Have strong head control
Sit for limited periods of time, using their hands and arms for support
Roll from tummy to back and then back to tummy
Turn and reach for an object
Try to move by ‘army crawling’
Clap hands
Take objects to the mouth
Shows an interest in food (See our guide to introducing solids)
Focus and examine objects intently
Show an interest in toys that make music
Show happiness and excitement in social situations
Make babbling sounds like “ba-ba” or “ga-ga”

Warning signs: Talk to your doctor if your baby is crying a lot and this is concerning you, if they don’t follow objects with their eyes, or aren’t babbling or turning towards voices. Other areas for discussion may be if your child isn’t rolling, has poor head control or isn’t reaching out for objects.

7 Month Milestones

By the time your baby turns seven months old, you will probably start to see some pretty major changes. A lot of changes will be happening with their vision, and your baby will start to understand their surroundings more. During this month, they may be able to:

Sit unsupported, first by leaning on their hands and then without leaning
Bear their full weight on their feet
Reach with one hand
Use a raking grasp (using all their fingers but not their thumb)
Have full color vision
Have an improved ability to see distant objects and track moving ones
Respond to their name
“Talk” when others are talking
String together consonants (“b-b-m-m”)
Distinguish emotions by tone of voice and express their emotions with sounds
Find partially hidden objects
Enjoy social playtime
Be fascinated by mirror images

Warning signs: Talk to your doctor if your child is very stiff or very floppy, uses one hand a lot more than the other, doesn’t roll in either direction, can’t sit or stand with your help, doesn’t smile or make eye contact, doesn’t turn their head toward sounds or doesn’t babble.

8 Month Milestones

At eight months, your baby may start to make strides with what and how they eat. Your child may:

Sit well without support
Start to get around by rolling, shuffling or crawling
Stand with help
Bang blocks together
Uncover hidden toys and observe toys closely
Try to chew (which means they’re ready for mashed foods rather than purees)
Try to feed themselves or hold their own bottle
Begin combining syllables like “mama” or “dada” without knowing what they mean
Understand the word “no” but not necessarily obey it
Look for family members when asked
Display separation anxiety
Love to play games such as peekaboo, finding toys and making animal sounds

Warning signs: Make an appointment with your pediatrician if your child doesn’t roll, can’t sit or stand without your help, is very floppy or very stiff, has difficulty eating solid foods, or doesn’t smile, make eye contact or babble.

9 Month Milestones

Your baby is nine months old and will probably continue to become more mobile each day! Here are some of the changes to look for:

Crawl
Get into a sitting position
Sit unsupported for longer periods (10 minutes)
Pull to stand from sitting
Stand while holding on to furniture
Use their thumb and index finger to pick up objects
Point at objects
Watch objects as they fall
Hold, bite and chew food (this is sometimes when mothers start the process of baby led weaning)
String together syllables such as “mamama” and “bababa”
Understand “no” and respond to simple verbal commands
Copy sounds and gestures
Be afraid of strangers and be clingy with parents
Have favorite toys

Warning signs: Speak to your doctor if your baby doesn’t sit with help, bear any weight on their legs with support, transfer objects from one hand to the other, respond to their name, recognize familiar faces, babble, make eye contact or smile.

Activities to Stimulate Your Baby’s Development From 6-9 Months

To help your baby’s development and strengthen your bond, try these activities:

Talk: Your baby loves the sound of your voice, so talk as much as you can. Actively listen to and respond to their babbling to encourage language and communication skills.
Play: Playing games such as peekaboo, singing nursery rhymes, looking for hidden toys, copying sounds and playing outdoors can not only help your little one’s development but make them feel secure.
Read: Look at picture books and read stories together to help language development.
Encourage movement: It can be tempting to limit your baby’s movements so that they can’t get into trouble, but letting them crawl and move around as much as possible can help them develop muscle strength and learn new skills.
Offer new foods: Introducing your child to a variety of tastes and textures at a young age can help them become open-minded eaters. But make sure the foods you offer are soft and cut into small pieces to avoid choking.

10 Month Milestones

At 10 months, your baby will continue developing their language skills and possibly begin calling you “mama” or “dada”. Here are some other things they may be able to do:

Crawl (if they hadn’t already)
Sit for as long as they like
Stand with support
Cruise (shuffle on their feet while holding onto furniture)
Use their thumb and index finger to pick up objects more skillfully
Poke objects with their index finger
Hold a bottle and try to hold a spoon
Wave “bye” and understand what it means
Say “mama” or “dada” and understand the meaning
Repeat actions that elicit a reaction
Follow pictures in books

Warning signs: Act early by talking to your doctor if your baby uses one hand a lot more than the other or loses skills they used to have, or if they don’t sit on their own, turn toward sounds or voices, smile, babble or make eye contact.

11 Month Milestones

Babyhood is almost over, and your child’s personality is continuing to grow! By 11 months of age, your child might:

Try to stand unsupported for a few seconds
Cruise while holding onto furniture and may try to walk unsupported
Enjoy finding hidden objects and exploring them thoroughly
Reach for, grab and even throw objects
Place objects in a container
Say their first word, such as “mama”, “dada”, “hi”, “bye” or “no”
Use body language to communicate, such as waving and pointing
Be more comfortable around strangers
Enjoy music and bounce to it

Warning signs: If your baby can’t yet sit alone, strongly favors one hand over the other, or doesn’t turn toward sounds, smile, make eye contact or babble, contact your healthcare provider.

12 Month Milestones

Your baby is officially one year old, time flies! At the end of this month, your baby will celebrate their first birthday and enter toddlerhood. By then, they might:

Stand alone and attempt their first steps alone
Walk with only one of their hands being held
Sit down from standing
Use their hands and fingers to feed themselves
Explore objects in many ways, including, shaking, banging, throwing and dropping
Start to use objects correctly, such as drinking from a cup or brushing their hair
Turn book pages and recognize some pictures when they’re named
Put out an arm or leg to help when getting dressed
Follow fast-moving objects with their eyes
Find hidden objects easily
Say a few words, such as “mama”, “dada” and “uh-oh!”
Try to imitate words you say
Use simple gestures like shaking their head “no” and/ or waving “bye”
Respond to simple verbal requests such as “pick up the toy”
Repeat sounds or gestures to capture attention
Be fearful in some situations
Show affection
Show a preference for some people and toys

Warning signs: Talk to your doctor if your child doesn’t crawl, can’t stand with support, doesn’t search for objects you hide, doesn’t say single words like “mama” or “dada”, doesn’t learn simple gestures such as waving or shaking their head, doesn’t point to objects or pictures, or loses skills they once had.

Infant Development Activities to Stimulate a 9-12 Month Old

Talk: Describe your everyday actions to your baby as you’re doing them. Listen attentively to their babbling and respond with positive words and facial expressions to help develop their communication skills.
Play: At this age, babies love interactive games such as peekaboo, songs with actions such as “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” and “This Little Piggy”, as well as making funny noises and faces. As they approach their first birthday, you can try toys and activities that encourage creativity, such as blocks, crafts and painting. They’ll also love playing outdoors in the yard or at the park.
Read: Read stories, discuss pictures in books and ask your child to point at the objects you name. Reading is one of the best ways to develop their language and literacy skills.
Encourage movement: Create a safe space in your home where your baby can practice crawling, sitting, pulling to stand, cruising and walking without hurting themselves on sharp corners or slippery surfaces.
Offer healthy food: Healthy finger foods such as cut-up fruit, soft veggies, cheese and crackers will not only develop healthy eating habits but also fine motor skills as your child learns to grip the small pieces.

It’s important to understand milestones and get details on your child’s growth from your physician at their checkup, but everyone develops at their own pace. There are certainly ways to help encourage development as well, such as having your baby play with toys that encourage imagination. Browse through our selection of learning and educational toys here.

MUST-HAVE PRODUCTS FOR 6 – 12 MONTH OLDS

Looking for products that are going to help your baby reach the above mentioned milestones? We’ve got you!

At The Tot, we never use or recommend anything that hasn’t passed The Tot Test. This means we’ve looked deep into third-party testing, examined ingredients lists and asked in-depth questions about a product’s composition to ensure it’s free of the ingredients we avoid.

When it comes to baby toys, we like to steer clear of chemicals such as:

BPA + BPS
Harmful Phthalates
PVC
Lead & other heavy metals
Formaldehyde
PFAS chemicals
Flame retardants
Pesticides and herbicides

Click here to view the full list of ingredients we avoid and why.

All Tot Tested and approved, below are our following product picks for the below items!

Teethers & soft toys
Developmental activities & toy sets
Blocks, shape sorters & stackers
Board books & flash cards
Playmat
Activity walker
Ball pit
Ride on
Starting solids feeding set

Oli & Carol Wally the Watermelon Teether

baby chewing on oli and carol wally the watermelon teether

Made from 100% natural latex from Hevea Malaysian trees, the Oli & Carol Wally the Watermelon Teether is biodegradable, non-toxic, and free of PVC, BPA, Nitrosamines and phthalates. Hand painted with natural food-grade dyes, it’s a great teether as well as a prop for playing make believe later on!

Oli & Carol Wally the Watermelon Teether

$17.99