How does a baby develop at 7-9 months?

This period is defined by discovery, the opportunity for free movement, and the strengthening of communication needs and openness.

The baby's vision continues to develop towards small things, details, and depth.

As early as 6 months old, babies notice tiny bits of fluff and crumbs on the carpet, for example, and try to pinch them with their fingers, pick them up, look at them, and even explore them with their mouths. That's why we should be careful and not leave small objects or pieces in the house that they could swallow! 

Thanks to his great need for movement – ​​if we give him enough space – he looks into the distance , recognizes objects , and constantly trains his eyes by moving around. What does he notice? The protruding parts, holes, gaps, different textures. He examines them with his fingers, for example when he puts them in the holes and then puts them in his mouth, and in this way he also gains experience. Touching with his mouth is a very important part of a child's development, as this way he can get to know objects very sensitively.

When giving your baby space, place toys that he or she will likely want to touch 1-1.5 meters away in front of him or her. This will help develop his or her vision and movement. There are many toys that are specifically designed with small details in mind, but you can also find interesting tactile tools in the kitchen, such as a sieve with holes.

What dangers can lurk for the little one at this age?

There can be countless dangers, but the most common ones now are falling, choking on small objects, grabbing dangerous objects, and injuries caused by furniture.

At this age, your child experiences depth, but is not yet able to perceive it properly. Therefore, you should not leave them in high places, as they could easily fall off the bed, for example. 

He will immediately notice and pick up small items on the floor, and he will quickly reach items left behind in the apartment, so always make sure your apartment is baby-proof! You can secure the doors of a cupboard if you think it could be dangerous for him to open them.

Anything exciting that makes a sound

Why are kitchen utensils and spoons so interesting? Because they are great to bang together and hit , and they have a nice, strong, metallic sound. Don't be surprised if your child enjoys spending time in the kitchen and tries to open the kitchen cabinet doors. He knows exactly where to get to these treasures.

Sound-producing toys are also very useful at this age. We should mainly choose a mini instrument that is able to produce beautiful, clear sounds, has accurate tuning , and good intonation. Intonation means that every note of the instrument fits exactly into the given scale, we could even say that it is not false. In order to support the development of the child's musical ear as much as possible, we should pay special attention to this!

Singing continues to be one of the most valuable shared activities, in terms of development, learning, and socialization. The baby quickly memorizes the same melodies and words, and increasingly wants to repeat and sing them himself. These shared moments spent singing together also teach the child to sing boldly when he is happy, when he is tense, or sad. Through it, he can express himself, his feelings , and he becomes musical.

Source: Early Childhood Program

Leaps occur in movement development

Perhaps the most dramatic changes are now occurring in the baby's movements. On the one hand, the movement itself is motivated to such a level that the child is almost unstoppable, and on the other hand, the process of straightening up also becomes pronounced. 

While he gains experience of the outside world, he also discovers the functioning of his own body. He realizes what he is capable of, what he can influence, and this fills him with self-confidence and encourages him. A sense of independence is born, with which he can experience his own abilities and skills. He slowly sits up , or assumes a half-sitting position, gets on all fours. 

What are the ways babies usually sit up?

Some people stick their bottom out from all fours to the side, and some people push themselves up from a side position, leaning on their forearms and then their palms. In addition, there are many other attractions, often the very first sitting up happens by accident, so to speak, and the technique itself remains. By the age of 9 months, the baby can sit steadily with a straight back.

How does crawling start?

Since it takes a lot of effort to move forward, the baby often doesn't realize this, pushes himself backwards with his hands and starts to move backwards. He is then disappointed because instead of reaching the desired toy, he has moved even further away from it. Therefore, he starts to struggle, trying until he succeeds in moving forward. At first, crawling may be asymmetrical, but later it works with opposing hand and foot movements.

The first step in climbing is to get on all fours. In this position, you start rocking back and forth and then take your first steps. 

The period of crawling and climbing is very important. During this period, we should pay attention to not missing these movements. If we see that there is a problem with them, we should contact a movement development specialist as soon as possible, who can provide special and effective help with personalized gymnastics exercises after a preliminary assessment. This way we can avoid the child having learning difficulties later on, since the connection between movement development and learning abilities is strong. It is important that we do not try to solve the problem ourselves and do not look for movement development videos on the internet, because the exercise sequence must be personalized by a specialist!

Source: Development House, Early Childhood Program

The baby chooses the sounds of his native language

As a result of many conversations, the child is now able to incorporate the sounds of his own mother tongue into his own communication. Babble begins to be replaced by babbling . He arranges the sounds more and more consciously (tete, kekeke), as if he were speaking himself. He is trying to communicate with us in this way, and it is important that he gets a response from us. He realizes that he can influence us in this way. The sounds are no longer involuntary, but have a purpose. 

Understanding words begins around 9 months of age. We can show him the names of different objects. We will slowly guide him from babbling to words. 

Playing together is very important  

Although he loves to explore on his own, since he has become independent, he still finds it comforting to snuggle up to his parents, play together, and sing. Use objects for this. Point to the object, then bring it closer and talk about it. This way, the child learns to point .

The role of father and mother in joint play is different, both parties can pass on different values ​​through it and develop differently. You can read about this exciting topic in our previous article, in which we present the value of playing with the father for the child. 

What does the baby learn?

For example, that individual objects can interact with each other. He can touch them together, knock them together to make a sound. He can put the smaller one into the larger container, although at first this only happens by accident. He recognizes the properties of the objects and now chooses them according to his liking. 

During shared play, the baby imitates. The baby experiences success when he receives confirmation from the adult. 

You can read a summary of your baby's development month by month in our previous article, we heartily recommend this reading to you!