Your baby’s skills and abilities are developing rapidly as he or she approaches six months. He or she may now be sitting unsupported, enjoying solid foods like cereal, fruit, vegetables and single-ingredient purees.
Babies will begin making sounds (such as “ma” and “da”) that they mimic when hearing others say them, which is an exciting milestone in language development! This period marks an amazing opportunity!
1. Rolling over
Rolling over is a key milestone in child development that most newborn babies reach by approximately six months. The process of rolling over helps build strength in arms, neck, back and core muscles – something new born babies typically do by the time they turn six months.
As one of the first motor skills babies learn, this can be an exciting momentous milestone between you and your infant. Your infant may also explore their world with new perspectives as their vision develops further.
Dr. McAllister suggests giving your baby plenty of tummy time, where they can practice holding up their heads and pushing themselves up with their hands, in order to build strength and build their confidence before testing out new mobility skills, such as crawling. This can help prepare them for this new endeavor.
Spend plenty of time playing on the floor with your baby so they can become used to rolling around on its surface. Try wiggling a toy at their side and see if they roll towards it – be sure to clap and cheer their efforts!
At first, your baby may seem alarmed but quickly become thrilled by their newly acquired tumbling skills. They will use these movements to explore their surroundings, grab toys and close in closer when cuddling you.
As another way of supporting this milestone, try carrying your baby with their legs tucked-in, facing down or sideways, while dancing alongside them – this will get their bodies used to movement so they’ll more likely to pick it up when moving on to rolling over.
2. Sitting up
Learning to sit up is a significant milestone in baby development, providing your little one with practice balancing themselves in a seated position, which paves the way for crawling, standing, and walking later on.
Sitting up is an ongoing process; therefore, some babies may start sitting up early while others might take longer; on average however, most infants learn how to sit up around 9 months old.
Help your baby reach this important milestone with supervised tummy time, an activity designed to strengthen back and neck muscles as well as head control.
Tummy time should start as soon as your child is born and can continue for several minutes daily – all the while providing them with a fun, social experience!
Once your baby has become proficient at lifting their head during tummy time, try encouraging them to transition into sitting positions as part of their play time. This helps build strength in their back and neck muscles that will eventually allow them to sit independently later on.
As your baby becomes ready to sit up on their own, they may use their arms as support to stabilize their torso and prevent their head from rolling forward. This tripod sitting position can be challenging for some babies so it is wise to monitor them closely while they attempt this feat.
Encourage your baby to sit up using toys designed specifically for this task, such as stationary play centers. A stationary play center may be especially suitable for 3- to 4-month-olds who are just beginning this activity.
3. Walking
Learning to walk is one of the most anticipated milestones of infant development up until six months, as it opens up endless possibilities for you and your little one.
Your first weeks of walking can be especially significant for your baby as they build the necessary muscle strength to stand and walk properly as well as prepare them for developing gross motor skills such as running and jumping in later years.
Babies who spend most of the day being carried or swaddled may take longer to master mobility than their peers, and may be more prone to falling when trying to walk if carrying heavy toys or strollers makes them more likely to trip and fall.
Your baby should begin crawling by the end of their first month, although some infants might also scoot on their bellies and roll from side to side without using hands and knees. Some babies might even develop what’s known as an “army crawl” whereby they coordinate movement by grasping furniture or people with their arms and legs while supporting themselves on the floor.
At eight months, your baby should be ready to pull themselves up and stand, supported in a standing position. They might also be able to hold onto furniture such as sofas or even stand from sitting positions without additional help.
As your baby gains the muscle strength needed for walking, they will continue practicing this skill and experimenting. They may move between sitting and standing positions or even squat for play on different surfaces before eventually learning how to carry large toys and run.
4. Talking
Talking is one of the key milestones in baby development. Talking enables them to communicate their thoughts and emotions to you while teaching them control over their mouth, lips and tongue.
Your baby begins developing their speech shortly after being born. From crying to making noises that indicate hunger or discomfort (known as “babbling”), their nonverbal communication lets you know exactly what their needs are.
Your baby may make various sounds while they feed, including sucking, burping and quiet low-pitched contented noises. Soon they may also begin making cooing sounds alongside their cries to help learn which sounds can help them communicate later on.
Your baby’s sounds can also help them explore their environment and learn about other people, for instance when you speak. Additionally, listening to other sounds that people make – for instance when someone speaks – provides them with another means of learning about life around them.
As your baby develops their communication skills, they may become intrigued with all of the sounds that people produce and enjoy listening to them. Over time they may begin imitating these sounds themselves and producing them themselves.
Children begin combining vowel sounds together and beginning to say words such as’mama’ or ‘dada’. Additionally, they become curious about other children’s voices and like to copy other children’s gestures and facial expressions.
At this age, they should be able to understand and follow simple commands with gestures as well as take part in conversation. Children mimic what adults make; try speaking softly while imitating any sounds you make while making babble sounds for them to mimic. Even though they might not respond right away, keep trying giving lots of love as this should encourage talking.
5. Mimicking
Babies around six months of age typically begin imitating others’ actions. They might mirror gestures and movements made by parents and siblings, or mirror anatomically how people move their bodies – these babies begin imitating what others do in an unconscious fashion.
Babies are naturally curious creatures, often reacting to new objects by staring, biting, shaking or banging them – an indicator of learning about their physical properties and how best to utilize them.
Your child will quickly recognize familiar faces and objects around them – an essential step toward self-awareness and understanding what their world entails. This milestone allows your child to understand who they are as individuals while understanding who’s around them.
Mimicking is an integral part of developing your baby’s social skills. Mimicry helps children to become more empathic and relatable to people while at the same time creating confidence within them and making them feel good about themselves.
Studies have demonstrated that newborns can mimic simple behaviors like tongue protrusion and mouth opening shown to them by human models. In these experiments, infants are shown two behaviors and then asked to repeat them before scoring them as having successfully imitated the model’s behaviors.
However, this evidence is limited and does not support the claim that newborns can actually imitate. Infants must first be capable of performing the desired behavior for mimicking it to occur.