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| |    Child Development: Six to Nine Months by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. These descriptions of a healthy baby during the first year of life represent an average child. But no child is average! Your own baby probably won't do all of these things right on schedule. But whether she's ahead of or behind the curve, remember: Development is not a race. If you're concerned about her development, talk to your child's healthcare provider. (See: "red flag" milestones for development.) Mobility At six months she rolls from front to back, and from back to front, with effort. By nine months she rolls smoothly and easily. Around seven or eight months, she balances securely in sitting. Later, she will be able to reach for a toy without toppling over. Easily moving from crawling to sitting to crawling again is still later. With mobility, like other skills, there is a broad range of normal timing. Some of the difference in timing has to do with strength and coordination; some of it has to do with drive. One infant seems content to sit in one place and watch the world; another baby moves all the time. Reaching and taking At six months, she waves her arm in the general direction of an interesting object, and eventually her hand closes over it. By nine months she can reach for a raisin and grab it between thumb and fingers. Small objects--Cheerios, raisins, pebbles--are fascinating. Everything goes in the mouth. The ability to handle small objects lets her explore in new ways. And, obviously, it greatly increases the risk of choking. Anything that is small enough to fit in her mouth is small enough for her to choke on. Pebbles, peanuts, and pennies are real hazards. Soft things that dissolve in the mouth, such as pieces of white bread or soft biscuits, are safer. Object permanence You hold a bright object in front of her, then let it fall into your other hand. At six months, she looks briefly at where the object was, then quickly loses interest. At nine months, she follows it with her eyes and finds it; if you put it behind your back, she may bend around to look there. This cognitive milestone--the understanding that things still exist when out of sight--marks an important change in the way she sees the world. It is no longer just a string of interesting moments. She now knows that there is a whole reality taking place outside her immediate experience. Object permanence brings with it both positive and negative behaviors. On the one hand, peekaboo becomes a source of delight. Each time the face reappears, she is delighted because she knew it would be there. The ability to predict what will happen is truly heady stuff for a not-yet one-year-old. On the other hand, she now wakes up in the middle of the night crying. She wants company. She remembers that you are in the room next door, even though you are out of sight. Language At six months, she delights in different vocal effects--cooing, growling, blowing bubbles. More and more, the sounds take the form of a consonant followed by a vowel: baa, maa, daa. At first they are single syllables, then she strings them together: ba-ma-maaa-ba. By eight or nine months, the sounds of statements and questions begin to emerge, although there are no real words. By nine months, you begin to suspect that some of these sounds really are words, but you can't understand them at all. But she communicates emotions expertly with gleeful laughter, excited screeches, contented sighs, and furious wails. While we have been listening to our infant babble, she has been listening to us. For months she has been a skillful conversationalist, paying attention to the rhythms of speech, waiting for the pauses. She also pays attention to gestures. By nine months, if you hold out your hand and ask nicely, she might put a toy into it. Social and emotional development Somewhere between six and nine months, she changes. Before, she was everybody's friend. Now she eyes strangers with concern, if not suspicion. She studies her mother's face to learn whether or not each new person is OK. For the first time, she acts shy (although another baby remains cheerfully outgoing). The easygoing six-month-old is also being replaced by a more willful nine-month-old. The first area in which she asserts herself is eating. It is her mouth, and she will be in charge of it! This growing drive for autonomy will become the leading theme of social and emotional development as she approaches her first birthday.
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