Your Baby at 9 Months
What Most Babies Do at this Age:
Social/Emotional
- May be afraid of strangers
- May be clingy with familiar adults
- Has favorite toys
Language/Communication
- Understands “no”
- Makes a lot of different sounds like “mamamama” and “bababababa”
- Copies sounds and gestures of others
- Uses fingers to point at things
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Watches the path of something as it falls
- Looks for things he sees you hide
- Plays peek-a-boo
- Puts things in his/her mouth
- Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
- Picks up things like cereal o’s between thumb and index finger
Movement/Physical Development
- Stands, holding on
- Can get into sitting position
- Sits without support
- Pulls to stand
- Crawls
The Milestone Child Development Chart is shown Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
What You Can Do for Your Nine-Month-Old:
- Pay attention to the way he/she reacts to new situations and people; try to continue to do things that make your baby happy and comfortable.
- As he/she moves around more, stay close so he/she knows that you are near.
- Continue with routines; they are especially important now.
- Play games with “my turn, your turn.”
- Say what you think your baby is feeling. For example, say, “You are so sad, let’s see if we can make you feel better.”
- Describe what your baby is looking at; for example, “red, round ball.”
- Talk about what your baby wants when he/she points at something.
- Copy your baby’s sounds and words.
- Ask for behaviors that you want. For example, instead of saying “don’t stand,” say “time to sit.”
- Teach cause-and-effect by rolling balls back and forth, pushing toy cars and trucks, and putting blocks in and out of a container.
- Play peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek.
- Read and talk to your baby.
- Provide lots of room for your baby to move and explore in a safe area.
- Put your baby close to things that he/she can pull up on safely.
