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Child Development: Baby 7-12 Months Old

8 month old baby

Child Development – Ages and Stages 7 Months – 12 Months. Babies develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when your child will learn a given skill. The developmental steps listed below will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect, but don’t be alarmed if your own baby’s development takes a slightly different course.

Child development by the end of 7 Months

Social and Emotional

  • Enjoys social play
  • Watches self in mirror images
  • Responds to other adult’s expressions of emotion and appears joyful often

Cognitive

  • Finds partially hidden object
  • Explores with hands and mouth
  • Tries to get objects that are out of reach

Movement

  • Rolls front to back and visa versa
  • Sits with, and then without, support on hands
  • Supports body weight on legs
  • Reaches with one hand
  • Transfers object from hand to hand
  • Uses hand to rake objects

Vision

  • Develops full-color vision
  • Distance vision matures
  • Tracks moving objects improves

Language

  • Responds to own name
  • Begins to respond to “no”
  • Can tell emotions by tone of voice
  • Responds to sound by making sounds
  • Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
  • Babbles chains of sounds

Developmental Health Watch
Alert your child’s doctor or nurse if your child displays any
of the following signs of possible developmental delay for
this age range.

  • Seems very stiff, with tight muscles
  • Seems very floppy, like a rag doll
  • Head still flops back when body is pulled to a sitting position
  • Reaches with one hand only
  • Refuses to cuddle
  • Shows no affection for the person who cares for him or her
  • Doesn’t seem to enjoy being around people
  • One or both eyes consistently turn in or out
  • Persistent tearing, eye drainage, or sensitivity to light
  • Does not respond to sounds around him or her
  • Has difficulty getting objects to mouth
  • Does not turn head to locate sounds by 4 months
  • Does not roll over in either direction (front to back or back to front) by 5 months
  • Seems impossible to comfort at night after 5 months
  • Does not smile on his or her own by 5 months
  • Cannot sit with help by 6 months
  • Does not laugh or make squealing sounds by 6 months
  • Does not actively reach for objects by 6 to 7 months
  • Does not follow objects with both eyes at near (1 foot) and far (6 feet) ranges by 7 months
  • Does not bear weight on legs by 7 months
  • Does not try to attract attention through actions by 7 months
  • Does not babble by 8 months
  • Shows no interest in games of peek-a-boo by 8 months

Child development by the end of 12 months

Social and Emotional

  • Shy or anxious with strangers
  • Cries when mother or father leaves
  • Enjoys imitating people in his play
  • Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys
  • Tests parental responses to his actions during feedings
  • Tests parental responses to his behavior
  • May be fearful in some situations
  • Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others
  • Repeats sounds or gestures for attention
  • Finger-feeds himself
  • Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed

Cognitive

  • Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)
  • Finds hidden objects easily
  • Looks at correct picture when the image is named
  • Imitates gestures
  • Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone, listening to receiver)

Language

  • Pays increasing attention to speech
  • Responds to simple verbal requests
  • Responds to “no”
  • Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no”
  • Babbles with inflection (changes in tone)
  • Says “dada” and “mama”
  • Uses exclamations, such as “Oh-oh!”
  • Tries to imitate words

Movement

  • Reaches sitting position without assistance
  • Crawls forward on belly
  • Assumes hands-and-knees position
  • Creeps on hands and knees
  • Gets from sitting to crawling or prone (lying on stomach) position
  • Pulls self up to stand
  • Walks holding on to furniture
  • Stands momentarily without support
  • May walk two or three steps without support

Hand and Finger Skills

  • Uses pincer grasp
  • Bangs two objects together
  • Puts objects into a container
  • Takes objects out of a container
  • Lets objects go voluntarily
  • Pokes with index finger
  • Tries to imitate scribbling

Developmental Health Watch
Alert your child’s doctor or nurse if your child displays any
of the following signs of possible developmental delay for
this age range.

  • Does not crawl
  • Drags one side of the body while crawling (for over one month)
  • Cannot stand when supported
  • Does not search for objects that are hidden while he or she watches
  • Says no single words (“mama” or “dada”)
  • Does not learn to use gestures, such as waving or shaking head
  • Does not point to objects or pictures