Your new born baby is like a toy for you in the initial few days after her birth. You would want to watch over her every movement and take pleasure in doing so.
The development over the first month itself is quite fascinating as you will see from the following sequence of events.

a) Holding her head up

Though she is less than a month old, your baby is able to raise her head and hold it for some time, even as she is lying face down. What’s more, she will also be able to move her head from left to the right and vice versa. When you are travelling in a vehicle, you can make use of headrests suiting her size to enable her to hold her head even as the vehicle is moving and there would be no inconvenience felt by her.

b) Exploring extremities

Your baby is in no position to understand the parts of her body and it is a mystery that she tries to unravel by constantly looking at her arms and legs. You can do your bit by drawing her attention to her fingers, toes and go a step further by trying to count them in front of her. This will spark interest and curiosity in her and that is very important at this stage of her infancy.

c) Learning to soothe herself

It is at this stage that babies love sucking and they have a desperate need to keep sucking on to something. That explains why a mouth fastener works wonders in calming a crying baby instantly. Perhaps this has got to do with their obsession for the nipples and milk. In the absence of any mouth fastener or a similar gadget, your baby will happily take recourse to sucking her own fingers and thumb.

d) Look who is baby talking now?

Your baby is very keen to express herself and her attempts to reach out to you result in a cacophony of various sounds. You must ensure that you respond equally enthusiastically and look her in the eye as far as possible. If you have other pending work, you may continue to speak out aloud and as long as she is able to hear your voice, she is bound to feel reassured about your presence nearby. She will also at this point in time start holding your look for extended periods of time.

Your baby will also actively start acknowledging your presence towards the end of the month. More than 50% of the babies do start recognizing and acknowledging the presence of their parents and almost all of them react to their parents much differently than how they respond to complete strangers. Your baby may also start smiling and show very obvious enthusiasm and happiness at this stage and this is a sure sign that she knows she is in safe hands.

e) Baby listens and enjoys music

Since babies tend to remain awake during day-time, you can make use of such times to gain her attention towards you. You can play music, sing some nursery rhymes and recite poems. Every sound is likely to hold her attention and more diverse the sounds, the better for her sensory development. So, whether it is the ticking of a clock or the ringing of a musical doorbell, they all add to the variety of sounds that will serve to amuse her and hold her interest. Over time, she will develop her own preferences for some of these sounds and will tend to react differently to each one.

f) Eyes can track objects now

Your baby will now be able to look at objects with both her eyes and this also enables her to keep her focus on an object that is on the move. This is one development that she could not manage consistently at the time of her birth. The sound of rattle as well as the object itself engages her attention and you can test the mobility of her eyes by slowly moving the rattle from left to right and vice versa. She is sure to follow the rattle with her eyes. You may repeat this exercise with your head and will discover that at times, she is content looking into your eyes to make contact and satisfy her self that she is in familiar company.
You need not rush to a departmental store to pick up toys to engage your child. Normal household stuff like the ladle will also serve the purpose and you will notice that she is able to move her head sideways quite smoothly. However, vertical movement will have to wait till she is about three months old.

g) Is my baby developing normally?

The above question is a natural concern for most parents and all one can say is that each baby makes progress in her own unique fashion and covers the said milestones at a pace that is distinctly her own. If there is a minor delay or your baby does some of the things much earlier, it is not something that you should be bothered about.
Yes, premature babies do require more time than normal ones and parents of such babies must consult the doctor to monitor progress regularly.

a) The first real smiles

All the hard work put in by you over the last month bear fruit in the form of a wonderful toothless smile that you receive from your baby. Indeed, this one is something all parents will never forget and will forever cherish as one of life’s most wonderful and fascinating moment. You feel so gratified that there is recognition from your baby and there is a sense of exhilaration that all those efforts spent in taking care and looking after your baby by changing the nappies, bathing, feeding and smothering him with your affection have borne fruit. That first smile suddenly makes things look so different and even if you have had the most difficult night, you do not mind anything at all.

To quote an example, for somebody like Rob, the emotion was over powering. He had just had a horrible day at work and nothing had gone right for him. His boss had given him a mouthful and he was generally pretty downcast. To make matters worse, he ran into one of the worst traffic jams on the way back to his house and having passed a week of sleepless nights, he was really on the edge. He got to his house and that was when he saw his six week baby give him that first smile. The tipping point was crossed. All the pent up emotions that had been building up steadily could no longer be contained and they exploded in a gush of tears. He forgot everything and in that one moment of sheer ecstasy, nothing mattered to him. The realization that his dear one was acknowledging his presence through that smile put everything in perspective and he felt on top of the world.

b) A growing preference for complex designs

Your child now wishes to go beyond the bi color preferences to something more varied and interesting. He wishes to explore new designs and forms and also wants to see more color. It would be a good idea to expose him to a greater variety of objects, like colored softballs, intricately designed plastic toys to satisfy his need for more variety and complexity in the objects he wishes to handle.

c) Sleeping for longer chunks of time

Babies normally would prefer a feed or two, sometime during the night and if your baby is not bothering you for even one during the night, then you must consider yourself fortunate. At this stage, babies must sleep for longer hours and must also balance it by staying awake for similar number of hours. Most babies during this time would have a couple to four hour sleep duration intervals and when they awake, they remain so for close to ten hours a day.

d) Movements less jerky

You will notice that your baby is able to co-ordinate some of his movements far better and the earlier jerky flourishes have given way to a more measured and smoother movement. He is able to catch tiny objects on purpose, though some more time would need to pass before he can consciously let go. However, as compared to his instinctive grabbing earlier, this deliberate and purposeful progress towards holding objects is a definite improvement and a milestone that you must recognize.

e) Is my baby developing normally?

The only answer to this oft repeated and understandable query is that you must perceive the progress your baby is making as his own unique way of demonstrating to you that he is different from any other baby and should not be compared against the guidelines that are mentioned above, so minutely, that you start getting tense if a couple of those actions do not take place.
When it comes to premature babies, parents need to exercise greater caution and patience as they will typically take a longer time to enact and cover the milestones. Keeping in touch with your doctor should help you during this testing period. The actions of premature babies are often measured against two different age parameters – the adjusted one and the chronological one. The chronological one is calculated as per their actual date of birth and the adjusted one is calculated as per the date they are supposed to cover specific milestones. The family doctor will be a useful guide and mentor to you during this period.

a) Holding her head steady

In the third month, your baby experiences no problem in raising her head and maintaining that pose for some minutes. When seated, she does even better by keeping her head very motionless and straight. When you put her on her stomach, she still manages to raise her head and you can spur her on by hanging a toy in front of her, such that she has to reach for it.

b) Better arm, leg, and hand co-ordination

Your baby is gaining strength rapidly and her joints at the hip and knee become so flexible that she is able to deliver stronger kicks. You can gauge the strength when you try to hold her upright and she responds by exerting pressure downwards. She is now also able to flex her fingers and also box dangling items. You can further improve upon these milestones by showing an object or toy within her striking distance and check out whether she reaches out for it.

c) Sleeping patterns getting more manageable

After two months of sleep deprivation, parents can now look forward to some relief as your baby’s sleep schedules start getting more consistent and predictable. Babies will now manage to go through a night’s sleep without interruption, though there will be occasions when they do wake up for a feed. Some others may not settle down for four to seven months, but this should not bother you as it is normal behavior.

d) Clear recognition of mum and dad

Your baby is now absolutely comfortable with you and your partner. At times, she would even smile at absolute strangers, particularly when they try to talk or see her in the face. She can now differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar people and starts developing her own preferences for people. The reason for this is the fact that the parietal lobe, responsible for hand-eye movement and coordination is witnessing proper development. Your baby is also able to respond faster to sounds and makes efforts to talk back, thanks to the rapid development of the temporal lobe that makes the sense of hearing and smell possible besides bestowing language abilities.

e) Start reading to her now

You will always do well to read out to your baby and the earlier you do so, the better for her. It enables your baby to develop a feel for different words, the voice pitch, accents and helps you bond better with her. You should not feel discouraged if she happens to lose interest midway; you can always give her a breather and catch her at a different time, when she is more amenable to such reading sessions.

It is advisable to choose books that have colorful pictures and big text so that your baby is able to see them clearly and appreciate the difference between pictures and text. In fact, it is not even necessary that you should always have text; just pictures that are bright and colorful will also hold her interest. There are again no specific standard or age restrictions in the sort of books that you should bother about. Anything that enables you to show your baby pictures and gives you the opportunity to read – whether it is prose or poetry, it does not matter. Your baby will learn to decipher the difference in the way you intonate and that itself is a great learning step for her at this tender age. You too will revel in this new avatar and will probably catch up on a dormant talent and rediscover something that you had lost or forgotten.

f) Early language development

Your attempt should be to engage your baby with verbal communication whenever possible so that she gets maximum exposure to many words and sounds. Studies have shown that a child who is exposed to a lot of words in its first year invariably possesses higher intelligence and this stimulation of your baby’s mind should continue by way of outings to the mall or department store, wherein you get the opportunity to seek her attention by pointing to different objects and associating them with their names. While she may not comprehend all the words and sounds you expose her to at this stage, you can be rest assured that they are all getting stored in the appropriate repository of her brain for use at the appropriate time in the future. You must remember that her brain is making great strides in development and every stimulus is being absorbed by it like a sponge.

This superb and amazing capacity of the brain is best demonstrated by the fact that children raised in a house where two languages are spoken, are easily able to grasp the nuances of both languages and are also able to speak them well enough.

g) Touch becoming more sensitive

Of equal importance is the necessity to let your baby discover the joys of touching different things and material like tissue, foam, fur or cloth. Your own constant touch and presence serves as a great comforting factor and is a very important element in making your baby feel safe and cozy. Lifting her in the air, massaging her while bathing her are other ways of getting physical with your baby in a manner that is very relaxing and rejuvenating for her.

h) Beginning to interact with others

Your baby is now ready to receive a lot of inputs; by way of verbal and visual communication from not only you but also from other strangers who visit your house. You must keep her in proximity to everybody so that she is part of the general atmosphere of a lot of bonhomie and joyfulness. This exposure to human interaction is very useful for her development so early on in her life.
She also starts recognizing herself in the mirror and will often try to express something. You can keep this process of receiving communication going by constantly chatting with her and engaging her attention by describing your daily household activities to her.

i) Is my baby developing normally?

Your concern, though legitimate may be misplaced in terms of the expectation that you have from your baby after reading material like the one in this article about the specific milestones. Please remember that your baby is unique and will do things at her pace. There is no cause for any concern if certain milestones get delayed or get achieved much earlier than expected.
Parents of prematurely born babies however need to be in close consultation with their family doctor for a more closer and regular review of their child’s milestones, as such babies typically do things slower than the normally born ones. Your family doctor is the best person at hand to guide you.

a) Feeding less frequently
At 4 months, your baby’s stomach is bigger and can accommodate more. He need not feed very frequently and can make do with feed four to five times in a day. Though he continues to add on weight, the need to feed starts decreasing in intensity and his habits start becoming similar to that of older children. He now wants to divert his attention to people and other objects even as he is eating and that can create problems for you. Feeds take more time to get completed and due to these distractions, you have to put in so much more effort to get his attention to the food once again. To avoid this becoming a daily problem, you must look for a quiet place to feed him and transfer him to another location within the house only once he is finished with the feed.

b) A new talent for rolling over
Your baby now starts displaying a new technique of lifting his head by utilizing his arms as levers, when you place him on his stomach. This sort of a mini push-up enables him to have a better look at what’s in front of him. He is able to roll over front to back and vice versa and this soon develops into a game for him. You can spur him on by dangling a toy at his side, so that he has to roll over to get at it and when he is successful, you must acknowledge his efforts by smiling at him. This reassurance is the key in providing him with the confidence to try such new stunts the next time and is an important facet of his development.

c) Time for solid foods?
Mother’s milk provides all the necessary nutrients in the initial five to six months, yet parents are anxious and wish to introduce the baby to solid foods. While some soft and pureed types of cereals are okay and can be digested easily by your baby, you must wait for at least six months to put him on solid diet. You would have noticed that by now he has better control over his tongue and his digestive power has vastly improved. Waiting for six months ensures that your baby gets the full benefit of breast milk and since this milk contains a lot of antibodies and nutrients, it serves to protect your child from many infections and allergies that he would have otherwise contracted quite easily.

d) Reaching out and mouthing objects
Though he is not often successful the first time, your baby can now reach out and hold on to objects and the inquisitive nature of his surfaces every time he is able to fasten his hands onto something. He is bound to look at it closely and will try to put his mouth to it. At this stage, he is bound to experience a lot more dribbling and that may be due to the fact that some babies start teething as early as into their fourth month. The first tooth however makes its appearance only after the fifth month.

You can now expose your baby to diverse objects, which he can hold on and try putting his mouth to. It is up to you now to provide him with different stimuli in the form of objects and watch his behavior with each of them. His behavior towards a rattle may be different compared to a cloth or a ball. Enrolling in an activity center where the folks know how to engage children of this age can be a useful and educating experience.

e) Able to play alone now
Your baby now realizes that he can amuse himself with his own hands and feet and you will be the first one to notice this change. That is because, all of a sudden, there is quiet and your baby is no longer dependant on you for amusement and company. You now have the luxury of finishing that book.

f) Beginning to understand the role of language
Studies have indicated that by the time your baby completes four months, he is able to make out the basic sounds constituting his mother tongue. In the period between the fourth to the sixth month, he starts making sounds like “ma-ma” or “pa-pa”. It is still not possible for him to know that these sounds connect to his parents, though he is very likely to engage in a two way communication with you by repeating along with you whatever you say. You can give this a boost by imitating him and the fact that you do this will provide him the encouragement and knowledge of the tremendous influence that his words or actions have on the opposite person.

g) Appreciation for a full range of colors
Despite the fact that babies are exposed to colors from the time they are born, they would have difficulty in differentiating between red and orange and till they are about two months old, it is only the contrasting colors that they can decipher easily. From the second to the fourth month, the finer differences in colors begin to get understood and your baby starts exhibiting a preference for bright colors. He will now typically reach out for the trendy colored mobile or some wall hangings.

h) Getting more selective about people
By the end of four months, your baby is able to determine your presence, respond to voice and show facial expressions along with waving of his arms and legs. He also starts developing preferences for specific people and when you expose him to a larger unfamiliar group, he could become uneasy. You need to grant him some time to put himself at ease with the babysitter and around this time you will also begin to notice that he gets pretty excited looking at other active older children, safe as he is in the confines of your arms.

i) Is my baby developing normally?
You need to tell yourself that your baby is definitely normal and will cover the said milestones at a pace unique to him. Some minor differences in the time that he takes to achieve them is of no great consequence and that is something that you have to tune your mind to accept.
However, it is a different story with premature babies as it is a known fact that they will take longer than a normal baby and their parents need the guidance of a family doctor to see them through this phase.

a) Sitting up on her own
You notice that your baby is making rapid strides in his physical development and she is able to position her body the way she wants. When you place her on her stomach, she is able to do mini push-ups and when you turn her over, she is able to lift her head and shoulders. At times, she can even sit without support, however you need to be close to her and make sure that there is enough cushion in the form of pillows, foam to prevent any injury. You can motivate her to continue these postures by positioning toys and other objects of interest such that she has to adopt these postures and this is a very good method of strengthening her muscles. You can hold her such that she is suspended, by providing support underneath her arms and placing her feet on the thighs such that she is able to bounce, secure in the knowledge that she would not fall down.
In addition to such physical activity, she also develops the tendency to subject objects of her interest to oral exploration.

b) Repeating her favorite sounds
It is very common for babies at this stage to hold on to their new found abilities and you will notice that your baby’s current pastime is blowing bubbles. She is also adding many more sounds to her rapidly expanding vocabulary and you can not but wonder as to what must be going through her mind, when she does all these antics. Typically babies like to master a particular skill before going to the next one, but some babies manage multi-tasking quite effectively. It can sometimes be exasperating to hear a particular sound getting repeated, but you need to exercise patience and see the lighter part of the activity.

c) Strong enough to feed herself
Your baby may have the strength to grip a bottle and hold on to it, but you must not allow her the liberty of feeding herself just as yet. You need to wait for a couple of months and at that time, she will be able to grip objects and support her self better while sitting. At this point in time, you need to continue cuddling her, holding her despite her obvious reluctance. Your baby will also exhibit an interest to take in solids, since she has better control on her tongue and the fact that she is observing others take in different food as compared to hers. Please remember that you must stick to breast milk till six months are over, as that is the best nutrient for her.

d) Learning about cause and effect
Your baby is growing more social by now and has realized that certain actions will bear certain results. She may thus deliberately drop objects to see you pick them up and will keep repeating it to check for herself as to how these objects fall and how each time you are picking them up. This could continue for some time and is sure to tax you, but for your baby, it is just a game and you need to play along with her.

e) Able to see small objects and subtle colors
Your baby has now perfected the art of picking out tiny objects and keeping an eye on anything moving. She is also able to identify objects by just looking at a part of it and this is a good starting point for the typical hide-and-seek games that are in the offing within the next couple of months. She has now graduated from making out contrasting colors to differentiating between subtle shades and is able to sort them out.

f) Honing in on sounds
Since she can now hear properly, your baby will immediately respond and look in the direction from where a particular sound emanates and one of the best ways to test her hearing and response time is to jingle key sets or dangle wind chimes. She will also start observing the movement of your mouth in greater detail and try to come out with consonant sounds like “m” and “b”. At five months, she is able to respond to her name and you will notice her immediate reaction whenever her name is taken by you or by others.

g) Easily distract able now
You can distract and make her look away from something pretty easily by making sounds, showing her new objects or by making funny faces. This will distract her for a short period of time and she will get back to what she was up to once again. You can also hand over something to grasp, so that her hands are occupied.

h) A growing range of emotions
Babies in the first four months will not be able to show certain subtle emotions in the manner that adults do and while you can make out when she is stiff bored or happy, expressions of humor or love are difficult for them. In the fifth month, she tries to convey her affection for you by raising her hands as an indication for you to pick her up and will also convey her displeasure when you leave the room. She also kisses you and hugs you and will at times laugh at some of the funny faces you make. This is her way of conveying her approval and as parents; you will just love this phase of becoming child like and pantomiming your baby to get her approval and expressions of glee.

i) Is my baby developing normally?
As long as your baby appears normal and achieves some of the milestones mentioned above, you should not have cause for worry. It is not necessary that she will do exactly what is mentioned and in the same sequence.
Parents of premature babies must however take the guidance of a doctor to monitor progress as such babies are known to do things slower than the normally born babies.

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.

a) Bouncing up and down
Your baby is able to now take her body weight on her legs and she seems to love that feeling as is evident in the manner she chooses to bounce on her feet. She is also able to now sit without any support and that leaves her hand free for catching hold of an object of her choice. You will notice that at times, she is even able to raise herself from a sleeping position and sit comfortably using her hands as levers.

b) Learning to grab
Her motor skills are showing rapid progress and by now, she is able to pick up and transfer things from one hand to another. She takes particular joy in picking up things and banging them together and this shows that she is able to coordinate both her hands to achieve a task.

You can do your bit to encourage this development of motor skills by deliberately placing toys beyond her reach, such that she has to stretch and get them. If she expresses her resentment, you need not immediately hand over the toy to her but keep encouraging her to strive for the same. It is important at this stage to not make things very easy for the baby and any success that she enjoys by stretching herself beyond some limit will only serve to boost her confidence. Your tacit encouragement will make her keep trying for the toy and she might also come out with some innovative thinking and action to get at the toy faster. Make sure that she is dressed in loose clothing to enable her to crawl about and be mobile without any hassles.

c) Teething
By now, you must have observed signs of teething in your baby and can now hope to see two upper incisors, followed by two lateral incisors. There will be gaps between teeth and that should not be of much concern. These spaces tend to disappear when all the 20 baby teeth erupt and at this stage, your baby will experiment with more sounds and indulge in a lot of drooling, as a means of adjusting to the new development in her oral cavity.

d) Testing your authority
In the days gone by, there would have been many occasions when you have cautioned your baby about playing with certain objects like the telephone, the remote of the television etc. Do not be surprised if your baby decides to test your authority by deliberating disobeying you and doing exactly what you have cautioned her against doing. This is her method of finding out things for her self and it should be misunderstood for disobedience. You only need to distract her from a particular activity and she is bound to stop.

e) The beginnings of separation anxiety
Your baby is likely to experience far more stress and anxiety of separation at bedtime, if she has gone through such an experience during the day time. You must ensure that you pay her a lot of attention and indulge her by scooping her up and cuddling her. This will serve to compensate the feelings of anxiety she had experienced during the daytime to some extent and make her feel comfortable and much better. If you are sleeping away from her, you must get her to your bed and sleep with her. This is not going to spoil her and in subsequent days, you will notice that she slowly adjusts to the fact that you are just nearby.

If you are sharing a family bed then these problems do not arise at all. This behavior of your baby may make you happy as well as frustrate you and you must compensate for your absence at times by spending maximum time with your baby and her stuff.

f) Recognition skills
Your baby is able to differentiate between tones and may even start crying when you occasionally shout at her. She indulges herself and amuses you by hiding herself.

g) Figuring out how objects relate
She is now able to understand the concepts of space and sorts out her toys and other objects by groups and size. When you get behind her while she is admiring herself in front of a mirror, she is able to understand that you are behind her and it is your reflection that is in the mirror. She also starts loving games where objects appear and disappear and you will do well to indulge in such games with her to keep her occupied.

h) Stimulating toys and games
She enjoys playing some games repeatedly as she prefers the predictability. You can add other time tested games like round the garden and pat-a-cake. She is also likely to develop an affinity for specific stuffed animals and carries them everywhere she goes. When you buy toys for her, ensure that they are soft and washable. Other choices could be dolls and soft balls.

You will also notice that it is no longer easy for you to take away anything from her as in the past and she raises a loud cry of protest when you do try to take away specially an object that is very dear to her.

i) Is my baby developing normally?
Your baby has the capacity to achieve any of the above mentioned milestones, but you must remember that she will do so at her own sweet time. The guidelines mentioned above are mere indicators and you must recognize them as such.

For premature babies, doctors do factor in their pace of development from their intended date of birth and understand the fact that they tend to do things more slowly than normally born children.

In this article, we look at the developments that you can expect in the eighth month.

a) Sitting, crawling, and standing
Now into the eighth month, he is able to seat himself without the need for any support and can even make his way about by using his bottom along with a hand and foot in front as levers. He would be able to pull himself up holding to furniture and you can test this by placing him next to one. You will find that he will try his best to stand up taking support from the furniture and hang on to it till he is able to stand on his feet. Despite falling down in the process, he is in no mood to give up and will persist till he is successful.

This acquired mobility invariably leads to many falls and in the coming days; you will have many reasons to feel apprehensive about his safety. You will however discover that he does well by himself and is able to keep within his limits of safety. By remaining a spectator and watching the action unfold in front of you, your baby learns things by himself and becomes more confident. On your part, you only need to ensure that certain fragile and unstable furniture does not get in the way of your child’s movement.

b) Using his hands
He now starts scouting for objects that have fallen down and makes use of his fingers to pick up food and hold it within his fist. He now knows that he can use his fingers to hold and release items and what’s more starts perfecting the art of picking up tiny objects with the help of his thumb and forefinger and middle finger. Finger dexterity is something he starts exhibiting more and more on a daily basis.

c) Getting more emotional
He now starts showing his emotions very openly and may even throw kisses to people he is comfortable with and is likely to repeat the act when encouraged by applauding. He may start showing initial signs of feeling empathetic towards someone crying by shedding tears himself. These are all signs that he is now in a position to display various moods.

d) Dealing with separation
Babies are bound to display very apparent signs of separation anxiety at this stage. Your baby will tend to become irritable around strangers, especially in your absence and often become withdrawn. You need to let him go through this stage as every time you do return, you are demonstrating to him that you will always be there for him and instilling in him trust and confidence. This subsequently loosens him up to be himself even in front of unfamiliar people and in your absence.

Do make sure to hug and kiss him before you leave him and if he protests, take the time out to cajole and pacify him before leaving. You will make matters worse if you also cry along with him. If you can find someone familiar who can be next to him when you leave, it will be ideal. During bedtime, make sure that you spend extra time with him so that he does not feel the pangs of separation. They can be pretty nasty at night time.

While some babies are able to take separations in their stride, others cannot and this is where the reassurance and confidence along with the time the parent is able to spend with the child comes into play. If your baby requires more attention, you need to give him that attention and not bother about spoiling him.

e) Exploring objects
Babies will get into the habit of looking at objects from an exploratory angle and are bound to bang them and throw them. They also begin to realize that it is possible to mend broken objects through gumming and you can encourage him by putting him at an activity centre where they provide access to such objects. He will surely love the feeling of being able to squeeze, bend, band and drop objects at will.
Babies will also love to see objects dropped by them picked up by parents like you and they will want to pursue this activity simply because they find it very amusing.
Your baby can also now understand that you can fit smaller objects within bigger ones and he is able to correlate real objects to their pictures. You will also notice that he has started mimicking actions of drinking from a cup by using an actual cup or the action of making a call by using his play phone.

f) Improving vision
Your baby is now able to see clearly and he can easily identify people several feet across the room. He is also able to fetch objects that he wishes to play with from across the room.

g) Is my baby developing normally?
You must be aware that the development cycle of each baby is unique and some of the milestones given in the above article are indicators to look out for. Actual pace of development may vary and that should not worry you too much.
Babies born prematurely are known to develop slower than the normal children and the doctors do factor this in when estimating their pace of development.

Let us see what the ninth month has in store for your baby.

a) Almost walking
Your baby has now developed the confidence to crawl up the steps, walk erect while holding onto furniture for support and even manages to walk a few steps without any support. This is not a general occurrence though. She can now sit slowly from a standing position without falling down and that means taking her body weight on her knees. This is a task that seems very easy but takes time to master and your baby is now able to do exactly that. You should feel proud about her, when you see her sitting down slowly from a standing position and does not fall down in a heap.
If your baby still finds any difficulty in walking, you can facilitate this activity by clasping her hands and moving her towards you. Nowadays, you also have nice and comfortable “walkers”, which help a baby walk without falling down.

The time has come to make sure that your house doors and cupboards have proper latches as babies typically head for these places celebrating their new found mobility.

b) Shoes? Not yet
It is at this time that you start wondering whether you need to buy shoes for her. It is not necessary to do that till the time she actually starts walking outdoors and it is actually advisable to let her walk bare feet so that her leg and feet muscles gain strength and there is uniform development of the arches. It also makes it easier for your baby to find her footing and reduces the chances of slipping. Moreover, the feel and texture of the surface on which she is walking is something you must make her experience.

c) Playing and learning
She is now able to gather objects, put them into a container and take them out with out any difficulty. You can assist her by providing some small colorful objects along with a bucket made of plastic. Make sure however that the objects are not so small that she can swallow them. It is also time to introduce her to toys that have levers, doors, wheels like the automobile toys. Even large plastic car toys are attractive play items for your baby and she is sure to love playing with them. The fact that they are harmless and safe is another good reason to purchase such toys.
You will notice that it is not easy separating her toy from her and your baby is able to convey her wants and dislikes very effectively.

Most nine month old children like playing passing games and you can also try this out with your baby by rolling a ball towards her and see if she rolls it back towards you. Other stuff to amuse her and keep her busy would be stacking rings or sorting out toys.

d) Coping with separation
Separation anxiety is bound to increase from now on, as she is in a position to understand and her attachment towards you is at its maximum. When you have doting grandparents or babysitters, the situation is better managed and your baby is able to make the transition with less anxiety. You should not mind if your baby resorts to thumb sucking as a means of coping with this phase of anxiety.

e) Trying to travel
You will find it difficult to go places with your baby as she does not take kindly to change and wants predictability in her day to day routine. When you do travel, you need to be ready for a child who is grumpy and you have to take along a lot of things that will serve to keep her distracted; things like toys, books with a lot of pictures and definitely her mouth fastener.

f) Language comprehension
At this point, you will realize the significance of the many words that your baby has been exposed to since her birth, as your baby starts trying to use them and some of her babbling begins to make some sense. She is also able to discern your mood from the tone of your voice and from your side; you need to keep communication going by constantly talking to her while you are going about your daily chores. It is a fact that the more you expose your baby to words, the better her intelligence at a later date. This communication should not be one way but a positive attempt to indulge her and get her also to respond.

Your baby is now able to respond when her name is called out and she will even try to identify the source. You can keep boosting this behavior of hers by mentioning her name and calling her name on a regular basis.

g) Is my baby developing normally?
If your baby is a normally born one, then you only need to be aware that she will achieve some of the milestones detailed in the article at her own pace. Remember that your baby is different from every other baby and will do things at a pace that is unique to her. Minor delays in achieving some of the milestones or achievement of some of the milestones before time should not worry you and there should be no anxiety caused due to this.

Studies have shown that prematurely born babies however tend to pick up things a bit later than normally born ones and as long as your family doctor is in the loop and able to guide you during your baby’s development process, you should have nothing to fear. Doctors normally factor in the fact that a premature baby will be slower in the achievement of the milestones and will provide the necessary support to anxious parents.

a) Showing more mobility

Babies in their tenth month can normally crawl along comfortably using their hands and knees as supports while keeping the legs and torso aligned firmly on the surface. Though some of the babies start this activity much earlier, it is around this stage of their development that they are able to gain control over this movement without any problems. Your baby will also be able to seat himself comfortably and will even try walking by taking the support of furniture every now and then to check for himself whether he is able to stand on his own and without any prop.
When he is able to stand, he will instinctively now reach out to any item and prop to find support and will also want to try to start crawling up the steps. He will also try to climb steps without crawling and will try to reach out to toys while maintaining his standing position. These are indications of him wanting that freedom to do things on his own and are also signals that you now will have your hands full managing him.

b) Using his fingers to grab

Your baby will now be able to hold on to tiny objects with his thumb and one of his fingers and will not need any support for his wrist in doing so. Since he would have started on cereals at this stage, picking up small items is not a problem for him. He is also in the mood for investigation and will try to check out some of the tiny items by tasting them. This is okay as long as these objects are of the edible type and are not so tiny that they can lead to choking.

c) Displaying traits of his Personality

You will notice changes in his demeanor and he would be both engaging as well as withdrawn depending upon the visitors he encounters. He will try to be communicative by making similar sounds as that of the visitor, try to win your attention and will even indicate his understanding of your departure by waving to you when you go towards the door as if to say goodbye. He now wants to assert himself and be more active, as is evident from the sounds of protest when you try to place him in his seat.

d) Comforting your baby

You will run into situations when you will need to be near your baby and comfort him, when he is faced with things that did not bother him much previously. These could be the ringing of the telephone or the doorbell and to prevent him from getting too hassled about these sounds; you have to be in close proximity to him to enable him to understand that there is nothing untoward that is happening near him.

e) Constantly chatting with your baby

Since your baby has now reached the stage where he is beginning to comprehend some of the simple words and actions, it is necessary to maintain verbal communication with him and this can be done by repeating what he says in a language that is real and comprehensible and not babyish, so that these new words and your expressions while saying them can contribute to his mental development. This is a very interesting and enjoyable stage in his development when he tries to say a lot of things all at once and they end up as gibberish. Your contribution at this time should be to acknowledge in adult language what he is trying to convey and that will keep him interested and motivated to continue trying to speak. You will soon notice that over time you are beginning to understand his words and other gestures like pointing towards something or grunting disapproval over something not in his favor.

Communication is the key and you can now take it a step further by actually telling him your plan for the day or by detailing the activities you have already finished. You can also follow up specific actions by speaking about them, sing some rhymes and play some games. These actions will increase his sense of identifying words to actions and add to the repository of vocabulary in his brain. Very soon, you will begin to notice that he is able to connect and imitate your actions and also starts identifying people when they walk into the room, though he may still use one name for the other.

f) Is the development proceeding along normal lines?

You need to appreciate that every baby has got its own personality and will achieve milestones at a specific pace. The information given above should be treated as general guidelines corresponding to the development of an average 10 month old child and is not sacrosanct. You can always have some differences in the way each child develops and that is no cause for any worry.

Prematurely born children tend to usually do the same activities a bit later than children born normally and you only need to keep in touch with your doctor, who will monitor his progress and keep you posted on what should be your behavior towards your child at specific stages of his development.