Mid Infancy (7-9 Months Adjusted Age)
Your baby is now exploring the world with newfound curiosity and mobility! At 7-9 months adjusted age, they’re becoming more interactive and responsive to their surroundings. This stage marks the beginnings of “stranger danger,” where your little one may show hesitation or wariness around unfamiliar faces—a sign of their growing attachment to familiar caregivers.
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Fine Motor Skills
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Grasping: By this age, your baby may have improved grasping abilities. They may be able to pick up objects using their hands and fingers in a raking grasp. Encourage this development by offering small, safe objects for them to grasp and explore!
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It’s important to observe your baby using both hands equally to pick up toys and small items. Here are some activities to encourage grasp development:
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Hang toys to encourage reaching, and position your baby in sitting or tummy time.
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Play on the tummy to improve hand strength through weight-bearing.
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Encourage bringing hands together with larger toys like balls or bigger blocks.
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Promote banging toys on surfaces like the ground or table.
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Facilitate transferring toys from one hand to the other.
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Provide different objects like playdough, cotton balls, blocks, and shaving cream for varied tactile experiences. But, be careful about what you use because babies this age like to put everything in their mouths!
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Babies will progress through different types of grips, including power grips and precision grips.
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Power Grips: Holding objects with the palm and fingers, eventually using the thumb.
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Precision Grips: Holding objects between the thumb pad and one or more fingers, known as the pincer grasp, when using the thumb and index finger.
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Motor Development
Mobility
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Transitioning in and out of Sitting: Your baby may now be learning to transition smoothly from lying down to sitting up, and from sitting to lying down. Encourage this by giving them plenty of floor time to practice these movements.
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Crawling: Many babies start crawling between 7-9 months. This touchpoint is crucial for developing strength and coordination in their arms and legs.
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Cruising and Walking: Encourage cruising by placing toys along low furniture. Help your baby take steps by holding their hands at shoulder height or lower.
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Standing Practice: Encourage standing by placing toys on surfaces that require them to pull up to reach. The goal is for them to learn to pull themselves up to a standing position rather than being placed there.
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Manipulating Objects: Babies enjoy exploring how objects work. They might start manipulating toys with buttons, levers, or other moving parts, which helps them understand cause-and-effect relationships.
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Communication
Language Development
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Complex Babbling: Your baby’s babbling will become more complex. Respond to their sounds and describe your actions to engage them in conversations.
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Understanding Simple Words: Babies will begin to understand simple words and commands, especially if they’re used frequently in context. For example, they might recognize their names, “no,” “bye-bye,” and “bottle.”
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Responding to Names: Babies will start responding when they hear their name, turning their heads or looking towards the person who called them; this is a sign that they’re beginning to understand that words have meanings!
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Interactive Reading: Continue reading together, pointing to pictures, and naming objects. Use books with textures and flaps to make reading interactive.
Signs of Hearing Differences
It’s important to watch for signs that your baby might have difficulty hearing. These can include not responding to loud noises, not turning towards sounds, or showing little reaction to voices or music. If you have any concerns about your baby’s hearing, don’t hesitate to discuss them with your pediatrician.
Early Conversations
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Interactive Communication: Engage your baby in “conversations” by responding to their babbling and cooing. This back-and-forth exchange helps them learn the rhythm and pattern of speech. Above is an awesome example of what interactions between caregiver and child can look like before children have clear words! However, every baby is unique, and not all may engage in this way. Personality and temperament also play a role in how babies communicate, and that’s perfectly normal.
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Describing Actions: Narrate what you and your baby do throughout the day. This constant exposure to language helps them understand the connection between words and actions.
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Sign Language
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Baby sign language can be a great tool for your baby’s early communication skills! It allows them to express their needs and identify objects well before they can speak. Using baby sign language won’t hinder your baby’s speech development; in fact, it may even encourage earlier spoken language because signs and words are processed in the same areas of the brain.
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You don’t need to learn a vast array of signs—just focus on a few signs that are meaningful to your baby, like “milk,” “snack,” “mom,” “dad,” or “pet.” You can even create your own signs, especially if your goal is for your baby to communicate with you and those close to them, rather than with fluent signers.
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Baby signs are similar to American Sign Language (ASL) in that they often visually represent their meaning. For instance, the sign for “milk” mimics milking a cow, and “dog” involves a gesture that resembles calling a dog. However, baby signs are simplified to accommodate babies’ developing fine motor skills. Don’t worry if your baby's signs look slightly different—they’re gestures of communication, and understanding their message is what matters most. Acknowledge their effort and respond promptly to encourage further communication!
Social Interaction
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Responsive Play: Babies enjoy social play and will start to respond to the emotions of others. They might smile when you smile, laugh when you laugh, and show preference for certain people and toys.
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Mirror Play: Let your baby play with a safe mirror. They will be fascinated by their reflection and may start to recognize themselves, which is a critical step in developing self-awareness.
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Play: The Work of Childhood
Exploration
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Interactive Toys: Provide toys demonstrating cause and effect, such as stacking cups and shape sorters.
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Social Play: Encourage social play with other babies to develop social skills. Play peek-a-boo and other interactive games to teach about object permanence.
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Remember: It's best for your baby to play on the floor for safe exploration and development!
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Sleep
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Sleep at 7-9 months Adjusted Age: Babies begin to understand that when a parent is out of sight, they haven’t disappeared entirely. This realization can sometimes lead to distress when separated from a caregiver.
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Nap Transitions: Your baby may start transitioning from three naps to two. Pay attention to their sleep cues and adjust their schedule accordingly.
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The Eight-Month Regression (occurrence can range between 8 and 10 months adjusted age): This marks an exceptional period of time when infants are learning an extraordinary amount about how to move and groove—crawling, pulling up to stand, cruising, etc. These are all external signs of extraordinary brain development. Not to mention, the infant is absorbing language from their environment!
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Sleep Training: Sleep training can be hard for parents from the NICU as distress is scary and hard to watch. Consider a slow lesson plan or a faster approach based on your baby’s needs. Consistency is key; if you backtrack, your baby learns to protest. For more sleep training tips, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics’ site here.
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Sleep “Onion”
This concept emphasizes the layers of a baby’s sleep needs and habits. Addressing each layer step-by-step helps ensure a smooth and healthy sleep routine. By focusing on creating a consistent bedtime routine, ensuring a safe sleep environment, and understanding your baby’s sleep cues and patterns, you can help your baby develop healthy sleep habits. Remember, consistency is key, and each baby is unique, so their sleep needs may change as they grow.