Baby development: In this period, the baby continues to make extraordinary progress. Almost every day brings something new. Fathers, watch out! If you go off for a few days on a business trip, you may miss the moment when
the baby starts sitting, crawling… At this age, the baby is eager to grab and touch everything that he sees, but he cannot do it without your help. He makes various sounds and throws his toys around to get your attention. As soon as you appear, he will forget what he wanted in the first place. He will focus on you – laughing, waving his little arms and imitating your facial expressions and the sounds you make. At this age, a baby quickly gets bored even with the most intriguing toy, but he will never tire of your attention.
Guess how I’m feeling!
Even at the beginning of this period, your baby learns that you are unique and does not want to be separated from you. Separation makes her feel helpless and frightened. When she is left alone with a person she doesn’t know very well, the baby may be anxious and afraid. It often happens that the baby bursts into tears or even screams. She thinks that you have left forever, even though you may only be in the next room. This stage of anxiety over separation (particularly separation from the mother) usually disappears between ten and eighteen months, although it may continue into the second half of the child’s second year. These reactions show that your child has a developed awareness and a healthy relationship with you. It is a good sign that she is capable of emotional bonding, which is an important skill in later life.
React without hesitation to your baby’s signals (crying, smiling, cooing…). This will make her feel carefree and secure.
Mummy, Daddy, look what I can do…
During the sixth and seventh month, babies begin sitting.
In the eighth month, they are able to sit and rock forwards and backwards. If necessary, they can reach out, pick up a desired object, and move back to the sitting position.
As they can now sit, then they should be fed in a sitting position.
Between the eighth and twelfth month, babies can sit unaided and can crawl.
In the tenth month, the baby manages to sit and lean sideways and she can stand while supported.
At one year, most babies can stand and walk holding on to something.
If they like crawling, babies can be highly mobile and move fast.
These newly-mastered skills should be exercised for short periods only. If your baby has just learned to sit up, prop her up with pillows or cushions.
Baby explores the world around him
New objects help your baby develop his exploratory skills. The older the child is, the more he likes objects and toys that can be opened, closed, assembled, dismantled, pieced together… The objects around your baby should be full of warm colours and various shapes.
Children are very inquisitive. They cannot recognize danger. These little explorers need a lot of encouragement. Respond to the signals your child is sending. If he wants to touch something, help your child do so, provided, of course, it is safe. Objects and toys must not be too small (the baby may swallow them), nor too big (the baby may hurt himself). Move all potentially harmful objects out of the reach of children (medicines, disinfectants, small, fragile and sharp objects, etc.) and let the child crawl. When the child starts crawling, you should kneel down yourself to make sure that the room is safe from the baby’s perspective.
In the sixth month, the child first touches an object, and then grasps it with his whole hand. In the ninth and tenth month, the child holds the object with its fingertips and thumb clearly separated (the pincer grasp). Encourage your child to grip various objects. Pass him a cup, a toy – objects which are not fragile and which are suitable for the baby’s age. Play with your child (Bye-bye, Baby; Pat-a-cake; Give me the ball), leaf through picture books… Teach your baby what he can do with an object: grasp it, throw it, open and close it, put it on top of another object, bang it against another object.
At this age, the baby puts everything he can lay his hands on into his mouth. Of course, you will not let your baby put in his mouth any objects that might affect his health (small, sharp objects and the like). Wash all objects and toys before giving them to the baby.
When your baby is about nine months old, he is able to follow your finger when you are pointing at something, and he himself will learn how to use the same skill. By pointing at an object, he is inviting you to discover the world together. Eye contact with you will no longer satisfy your baby. He wants you to look at the same thing together. Your facial expression will tell the baby whether something is scary, funny, or sad. This will help your baby to learn about the world around him more easily.
Look who’s talking!
When your baby is between four and seven months old, he will respond to his own name and to the word “no”. He can distinguish emotions by the tone of voice and he responds to sounds by making his own sounds. Babies discover the wealth of sounds they can produce with their tongue, palate and vocal cords. They practise making these sound combinations endlessly, in much the same way as they practise grasping objects or rolling over. The sounds ma, ta and ba very soon will develop into mama, tata (dada) and baba (nana).
During the first year of life, all infants babble. But for babbling to develop further, infants must hear human speech. The baby realizes the principle of communication – while he is speaking, you are listening, while you are responding, he is listening.
Baby’s words will delight both you and your children. With his first words, the child may show a richer fund of gestures: shaking his head, pointing at something/somebody, imitating the no-no caution, clapping his hands, etc.
Help your child learn how to express his feelings. Listen carefully to what your child has to tell you and respect his wish to communicate with you.
Let’s play!
In the first year of life, infants are also ready to play different games: hiding and showing their faces, searching for a hidden object, mimicking your actions, imitating animal noises, and so on.
Toys made of different materials, of various colours and shapes are indispensable for a child’s development. Suitable toys include toys that are mobile or produce sounds. Toys where changes can be made, pull-and-push toys or toys into which something can be inserted are particularly interesting. Make a little house of pillows, cushions, covers and blankets so that the child can hide inside and play. Children may play with the most common household objects (boxes, clothes pegs, plastic cups, etc.). When in the open air, let your child play with leaves, fir cones, chestnuts, apples, and flowers – these will help him learn colours, smells, shapes, appearance, size, roughness, etc.
Play with your child and help her focus her attention. For example, I’ll show you how to open this box, and then you will try on your own. Look through picture books and assemble jigsaw puzzles together. Give your child tasks that are slightly more difficult than the task she already knows. If you are doing something, keep telling your child what you are doing. Children are always fascinated by what adults do.
high-energy (as infants grow fast, they need additional energy)
easy to digest (mashed food)
fresh and clean
easy to prepare
Complementary feeding begins with semi-solid foods such as mashed and puréed fruit, vegetables and cereals. The consistency should be thick and food should be given twice a day, with a spoon from a small cup.
In our climate, it is best to begin with a vegetable purée (about 20 g of potato or carrot, boiled and mashed with a little oil, 5–8 g). A fruit mash means puréed apple, pear, peach or apricot. Seasonal fruit and vegetables are the healthiest food. The baby can take fruit in the form of a purée or freshly squeezed juice. You can give your baby mashed cereal (for example, mix 10–15 g of boiled rice with breast milk).
Introduce new foodstuffs gradually and in small amounts (one or two teaspoons at a time). Give only one type of food for a week. In this way, you will find out easily and quickly which foods your baby likes and dislikes.
By introducing increasing amounts of milk-free food, the daily amount of milk for the baby is gradually reduced. In the seventh month, the child has four to five breastfeeds and in the twelfth, at least two breastfeeds.
In the seventh and eighth month, introduce meat broth and meat into your baby’s diet, in addition to mashed food. For easier digestion, use young, non-fat meat (lamb, chicken, veal). Meat is rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals (vitamins A, D and K, B vitamins, Folic Acid, Iron and Zinc).
Eggs are also a good source of proteins. An egg yolk is more nutritious than an egg white. Eggs are introduced in the baby’s diet gradually. You should start with one eighth of a hard-boiled yolk, mixed with milk. If the baby shows no allergic reaction, the following week you may give her one quarter of the yolk. Every successive week, increase the amount by one quarter. By the end of the eighth month, rye or wheat bread and biscuits are introduced.
In the ninth and tenth month, your baby’s nourishment includes new food: cauliflower, pumpkin, lentils, spinach, cheese, yoghurt, white fish meat and a strong meat soup. The child now eats by herself, sitting in her chair at the table with other family members.
In the eleventh month, introduce peas, beans, cabbage, onion and minced beef. You can now add a little salt in the food.
In the twelfth month, your child should be eating all the basic foods, but, of course, not under compulsion. Foodstuffs can be divided into four basic groups:
cereals (rice, wheat, maize, rye, barley, oats) and cereal products
1.fruit and vegetables
2.meat, fish and eggs
3.milk and dairy products
For children to develop properly, it is important that their meals contain foods from these different groups. For example, you can prepare a meal combining the following:
sweetcorn + spinach + carrots + chicken
rice + veal + spinach
To ensure healthy child development, food must contain enough proteins, vitamins and minerals. The best source of proteins is meat. Aside from fruit, vitamin C is also present in leafy vegetables, tomatoes, capsicum peppers, and potatoes, while calcium and iron are present in spinach, lettuce, carrots and pumpkin.
Unfortunately, foodstuffs may lack some vitamins and minerals essential for the proper development of infants (e.g. iodine, iron, fluoride, zinc, and vitamins A and D). Paediatricians recommend a daily supplement of vitamin D drops for babies (200 to 400 IU) in the first year, to prevent rickets. Dentists recommend fluoride pills for 6-month-old babies (0.25 mg daily) to prevent caries. Paediatricians prescribe the appropriate treatment for anaemic children (anaemia is diagnosed at medical examination when the baby turns 6 months). In any case, the problem of possible vitamin and mineral deficiency should be addressed individually and any deficiencies noted should be corrected exclusively on the advice and under the supervision of your paediatrician.
Due to the possible occurrence of allergies in the first year of life, children should not be given the following: fresh tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tangerines, kiwis, honey, yeast, walnuts, almonds, hazel nuts, peanuts, chocolate cream spreads, egg white, shellfish, tinned fish, and all food containing preservatives.
A healthy diet largely depends on the child’s eating habits and behaviour. It is precisely at this age that children acquire the correct eating habits. Your baby will often give you different signals, so observe them carefully. The baby’s negative experiences (hunger before starting to eat, choking during eating, vomiting after eating, etc.) may result in his rejection of food long after the problem has been eliminated. This usually creates a vicious circle – the baby refuses food, recalling a former unhappy incident, you go on forcing him to eat, and the end result is the child’s even more adamant refusal to eat. As soon as you alter your behaviour, ignoring the child’s negative reactions and praising the positive ones, you break the chain and re-establish a harmonious relationship.
During the period of complementary feeding, children wish to eat unaided. In the course of the meal the child plays by throwing his food all over the place.
Don’t stop this game. Instead, try to encourage your child to feed himself. This is a very important stage in developing the child’s independence and self-confidence. Your task is to teach the child through positive example (how to sit properly at table and how to use cutlery correctly).
Let your baby:
decide by himself how much he will eat
choose his food
eat together with you
have three main meals by the end of the first year – breakfast, lunch and dinner
get meals at approximately the same time
have a snack between meals (if the snack reduces his appetite for the main meal, it should be left out)
Food should not be diluted with water because then the baby does not experience the natural taste of the food.
While eating, the baby should be sitting comfortably in his chair. She should be fed solid and mashed food from a plastic teaspoon (not a metal one). Switch off the radio and TV during the meal. Talk to your baby. Do not rush him – babies eat more slowly than adults.
Do not limit the intake of liquid.
Avoid heavy meals before going to bed.
Regularly clean your baby’s teeth as soon as they come out.
Remember:
Cuddle your baby, sing and talk to him.
Never leave your baby alone.
The more you talk to your baby and the more carefully you listen to him, the better his speech will develop.
The baby realizes the principle of communication – while he is speaking, you are listening, while you are responding, he is listening (we adults seem to have forgotten that principle).
A baby gets bored quickly, even with the most attractive toy, but he will never tire of your attention. Play with your baby.
In the sixth month, babies begin to sit up.
You should breastfeed your baby on demand.
Begin giving complementary food in the sixth month, but do not stop breastfeeding.
The baby should be first given a purée made of vegetables, fruit or cereals.
Washing your hands is the most important and simplest measure of personal hygiene.
And More Post:- From Newborn to Six Months: A Parent’s Guide to Baby Growth and Care
