When Your Baby is 6 Months Old

There you are. Your baby is into the sixth month and you have greater expectations about the developments that are likely to take place in this month. The past five months have been nothing short of an amazing though tiring experience for you, both mentally and physically. However, every parent will be the first to admit that all of it was worth every moment.

Let us examine the developments that take place into your baby’s sixth month.

a) Exploring with his hands
You will notice that your baby’s control over his hands is much better and he will often try to pull some of the objects towards him. As soon as he is able to hold on to an object, he would try to switch it from one hand to the other and in the process discovers the joy of dropping a particular object and picking it up again. He is slowly able to understand the cause and effect principle.

b) Left or right handed?
It may be a bit too early to judge whether your baby is right or left handed, as most babies prefer the usage of one hand and then keep switching to the other. They do not seem to have a specific preference and this can only be determined when he is about two years old.

c) Learning to roll over
Your baby has by now mastered the art of rolling over and that experience must have given you a lot of reasons to smile. Though he appears to have acquired sufficient balance, you must not leave him unattended on the bed or on any high level surfaces as it could prove disastrous.

d) Your little social animal
Babies at this age have reached a stage where they crave for attention and often do their best to invite attention towards themselves. Your baby will be no exception and will accept anybody with a slight grin. He does not seem to fear strangers. He however will require and craves much of the attention from you and you must ensure that he does not feel neglected at any point in time.

He will also now start doing things that you approve and disapprove, just to get your attention and this is a period of extreme joy for parents as the baby endears himself to just about everybody and his actions acquire a cuteness beyond compare. You must continue to lavish your attention on him and keep him motivated. He also now realizes that it is not necessary for him to cry to get attention and over the next 90 days, you will see him develop unique methods to let you know his thoughts and requirements.

e) Playing turn-taking games
Your baby will love games that make use of language and sounds. You can let him take the initiative and just try to mimic his actions. This will motivate him to come out with more creative actions and noises and after some time, you can show him the way with some original actions and sounds yourself. One easy way to get their attention and make them laugh is to imitate animal sounds like that of the dog or cat.

f) Your baby the babbler
At the sixth month, your baby is able to see as well as hear quite well and that is also observed in his communication abilities. The sounds he starts making include bubbling, squeals, changes in the voice pitch and a lot of babbling. He will keep repeating a particular consonant time and again, as if to perfect it and on your part, you can keep the game going by mimicking him. You may associate some of the sounds he makes with an animal and also pretend that you are able to comprehend everything that he is trying to convey. At this stage, he is also able to understand various sound patterns and inflections and will even cry when you speak loudly or reprimand him.

One effective and time tested method to engage him and make him squeal with delight is to take a glass filled three quarters with water and with a straw blow bubbles.

g) Stimulating his senses
You must ensure that your baby is surrounded by many objects that are safe to touch and manipulate as per his desire. They must not cause him any harm while mouthing them and this way, he could have a ball squeezing a soft ball and playing with a stuffed animal. They all help to stimulate his senses.

h) Getting a kick out of story hour
Do continue the habit of reading out to him and this will surely create a very cozy and positive feeling in your child as he snuggles into your lap and looks at the various colorful pictures in the book. This habit of reading gives rise to moments of extreme relaxation and bonding between the parent and the child and you can rest assured that he will look forward to this session on a daily basis with excitement. The habit, besides creating such wonderful moments of togetherness, does a lot of good in adding to his vocabulary and the way certain words are pronounced. You will notice that he looks closely at you while you are doing the reading to understand how your lips move when uttering certain words and these are tips that he will pick up pretty fast.

i) Is my baby developing normally?
Your baby is different from every other baby and will do things his way. What is mentioned above are just guidelines to let you know the capacity inherent in your child, which he may exhibit. The timing of the achievement of some of the milestones could be different in each baby and that is not a danger sign.
When it comes to premature babies however, the parents are advised to take the help of the doctor, if they notice something abnormal. Such babies usually take longer than normal children and that is normally taken into consideration by the doctor while advising the parents about what they should expect from their child during specific milestones.

When Your Baby is 6 Months Old

There you are. Your baby is into the sixth month and you have greater expectations...