9-Month Old

You may have noticed that your baby does not have an initial affinity towards any particular food. Her food preference depends on what you start feeding your child. The choice of eating in all stages of her life depends mainly on the first foods that you set before her. You can guide her towards good and healthy feeding habits starting from when you make the transition from breast milk and formula to solids.

A couple of baby teeth may have formed by this time. Usually your baby's two front teeth in the lower jaw appear by this time.

Your baby creeps on her hands and knees. She can remain in the sitting position as long as she wants to. The baby is capable of pulling herself to standing position using crib rails and may “cruise” (movement by holding on to support) by moving her feet. She may be able to stand from sitting position. She may also be able stand with support. She pokes at objects with her forefinger and may pick up an object with any part of her thumb and forefinger. She enjoys playing peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake games. Get her some beads and pass a string through them. Encourage her to pull the beads apart. Clap her hands together. She will also enjoy the hand clapping game. Hide her hands under a blanket and take them out again. She will enjoy watching the hands disappear and appear.

Your baby can uncover a toy that she saw you hide. You can play some interesting games with her to enhance her problem solving skills. Place her toys upside down in front of her and encourage her to turn them up. Put a cap on her head and seat her in front of the mirror. She will enjoy trying to take the hat off. Name her toys and ask her to give a toy that you specify. Hug her if she gets the toy right. Play contingency games such as puffing the cheeks. Puff your cheeks and get your baby to press them. As he “punctures” your cheeks, put your tongue out. When she removes her fingers, pull your tongue back in. The baby will try to reason this out.

Your baby begins to recognise patterns such as lights arranged to resemble a human walking. She exchanges gestures with you. Blowing bubbles is a good way to enhance her vision and coordination as her eyes follow the bubbles. At this stage, your baby will love taking things out and putting them back in. Encourage her to do this with a variety of toys of different kinds. This helps her get familiar with different textures. She will say ma-ma and da-da indiscriminately (sometimes discriminately). She can object to your taking her toy and will usually understand “NO” though she may not obey it. She may be able to respond to one step instructions given with gestures such as “Give me that ball” with your hand stretched out. She may communicate her wants in ways other than crying. Puppets and sign language are great ideas of enhancing your baby's communication skills. Reading books with large pictures also benefit her greatly. She may imitate cough, tongue clicks and kisses. She understands some words and associated gestures (may say 'NO' and shake head) and use holophrases (single words that represent a complete thought).

Develop the concept of imaginative play by giving her favourite toy a sip from the cup as you try to teach her to use one herself. If you follow a routine for your baby, she will remember it. By repeating the daily activities in the same order, the baby will be able to predict what comes after one activity. Very soon when she encounters one activity, she remembers the entire routine.