Nine months is a lovely age. Your baby is mature enough to really respond to you
and he makes it quite clear who his 'special people' are. Enjoy this relatively
peaceful time before he gets seriously on the move, starts testing his limits and
seeing just how far he can go!
Up and about
- At 10 to 11 months your baby can sit confidently without support. He can go from
sitting to lying and can twist round to pick up objects.
- At 12 months he may take his first steps to walking by pulling himself up the
furniture and 'cruising' round it. Eventually he will stand back, holding on with
one hand, poised to walk alone.
Social animal
Although your baby may be reserved with strangers, in many ways he's becoming much
more of a social animal. He knows and responds to his own name. He babbles away,
using vowels and consonants, in a tone that sounds very much like proper conversation.
And he even understands simple instructions – ask him for his teddy or his toy and
he may give it to you.
Handy hints
- Your baby can hold a mug with both hands and try to grasp a feeding spoon by nine
months
- Let go of an object by opening his hand and deliberately dropping it at 10 months
- Pick up something as small as a raisin with his thumb and forefinger by 10 1/2
to 11 months
- By his first birthday, he can put three or more objects in a container
- Help with dressing, by holding out his arm when you hold his sleeve up and his
foot when you put on his shoe.
Questions and Answers
Q: At what age will my baby understand the meaning of the word 'no'?
A: At 10 months old 'no' to your baby means stop for a second and then go ahead.
By his first birthday ' no' really stands for a prohibition. A common reaction may
be tears or a show of temper.
Q: Some days my son seems to be permanently clamped to my leg? Should he be this
clingy?
A: Don't despair! Studies show that separation anxiety appears between seven and
12 months, peaks at 15 to 18 months, then gradually declines. It doesn't make any
difference whether your child is cared for by a childminder, in a nursery or by
you. Separation anxiety will appear and start to disappear at about the same time.
Did you know?
Girls tend to be ahead of boys in motor development – that's development of their
movement skills – because their nervous system matures earlier. They often sit,
crawl and walk earlier than boys – two months is not unusual.
