Which are your baby's development milestones in the 6 to 9 months stage? The first six months of your baby have been very dynamic. Before reaching the crawling stage your baby learned to establish trust; adjust to the outside world; lie on the tummy; getting control of the head and the mid-line (rolling). And you probably know that the pace won’t be slowing down any soon.
Between 6 to 9 months of age, your baby acquires different movements. Gradually, it switches to a vertical position and independent movement. This is an exciting time since its perspective of the world changes during the transition to crawling and later on sitting. Similarly, the dynamics at home change accordingly.
Developing the motor abilities for crawling is the central baby development milestone focus of the 6 to 9 months stage of development. However, there are other important milestones as well. With the transition to a more vertical position, your baby gets ready to eat solids. The more upright it stands the more it is able to digest the solids.
Another exciting and important change is babbling. Your baby starts expressing itself with funny and cute babbling. Soon you will understand better its needs and wants due to the emergence of speaking. Check First-Step Method Class on communication baby development’s milestone
Your baby enters this stage being prepared to perform the movements that are at focus. Our previous roller course focused on rolling, raising the bottom and stomach slithering. In other words, your baby built the necessary basis for crawling.
Crawling, although looks easy, is indeed a complex movement. Our way of seeing this complexity is by breaking it down into its individual components. Each of these plays a unique role in the formation of crawling as a whole movement. In our courses, we touch upon these aspects of the movement and enable parents to better comprehend the inner dynamics of baby development.
Many parents ask us if they can join the crawler course if their baby is already crawling. Yes, definitely! We look at the crawling movement in terms of its timing, strength, coordination and flexibility. In fact, each movement requires three crucial conditions: bending, strengthening and rotation. The absence of one of them might not prevent your baby from crawling (or performing any other movement). So you see your baby crawling despite the missing piece. However, this leads to a different experience. This lack can surface later on as an inhibitor to the development of a subsequent movement. Your baby might be crawling but it is equally important “how” it is crawling.
When your baby starts more independent movements its behaviour changes accordingly. This happens due to the connection between movement and independent behaviour. Thus, crawling brings along a different attitude for your baby and this is a significant topic that we discuss in our course. Questions such as “When should I stop nursing?”, “How do I cope with solid food and the mess?”, “What should I do when baby touches everything, and puts it all in its mouth? ” and many others are answered. We give you professional advice to create an environment in which your baby’s sense of curiosity and exploration are encouraged within boundaries that ensure its safety.
Another important and exciting movement is sitting. Sitting requires a stable balance system and the baby’s ability to keep stability, yet another preceding milestone. We know how parents look forward to seeing their little ones in the sitting position, facing the world. This sometimes might trigger the use of some enablers such as the bouncer. Indeed, facilitating your baby’s ability to sit naturally is different than doing it with a tool and prematurely. Because the latter leads to a rigid sitting instead of flexible stability - like a tree bending with the wind.
The importance of touch is another topic of focus in our course. As in our previous courses, we continue using touch for meaningful contact with different kinds of touch providing the baby with different sensory experiences. There is a whole world to discover in terms of communication with touch!
Maybe the most puzzling aspect of this stage for parents is how to react to the baby’s increasing activity, independence and different requests. We know that each developmental stage has its milestones and different aspects of the environment. For instance, in the first three months of life, the baby needs a womb-like environment for the establishment of basic trust. Similarly in the 6- 9 months stage, the baby needs a little frustration and self-expression, not always an immediate response. Because if parents do everything for the baby, she will not see any reason why she should do them by herself. Accordingly, the development of some of her skills will be hindered.
In our course, we will elaborate on appropriate responses that stimulate (and won’t delay) your baby’s development. At this age, parents can start encouraging important life skills, which help the baby manage frustration and conflict in the future.
There are many topics on the agenda for the crawler stage, and this is exciting news! This dynamism is also reflected in our courses, our exercises and our activities. Like we always say, we encourage and enjoy your participation. For us understanding your concerns and answering them is key for us in supporting your baby’s development.
Are you interested in knowing more? Click below to join a course. We are excited to meet you and your little bundle of joy.
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