8-Month-Old Baby
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Highlights
Your 8-month-old baby is busy, busy, busy — busy exploring, learning, moving around and engaging in more sophisticated interactions and play.
That means you’ll be plenty busy keeping up with your little one too. Milestones like crawling are on the horizon if he isn’t scooting around on all fours already, and he’s probably baby-talking up a storm. Plus playtime is more fun all the time.
Here’s what’s coming up for your 8-month-old.
Your 8-month-old baby's development
Month 8
Baby’s Development
Your baby’s ability to communicate is expanding daily, and you’ll notice him attempting to use sounds, gestures and facial expressions — not to mention those adorable laughs and squeals — to get your attention and let you know what he wants.
As he strings together more vowel and consonant sounds, you’ll start to hear “real” words — including the all-important “Mama” and “Dada.”
You are certainly the most important people in his life right now, which makes it unsurprising that your little one has likely developed a fear of strangers.
Why has your social butterfly all of a sudden become antisocial with strangers? This social snubbing isn’t snobbery — it’s a sign of maturity, and it’s perfectly normal at this stage of development.
This sudden shyness and newfound clinginess will pass. So give your little one the space to socialize at his own pace, and on his own terms.
Speaking of clinginess, you may also notice your cutie has become more attached to a comfort object, like a blanket or stuffed animal. This, too, is perfectly developmentally appropriate.
With independent mobility comes the realization that he can separate (or be separated) from you at any time, and that epiphany is partly exciting and partly unsettling.
A comfort object acts to fill in as a parent substitute, allowing your baby to bring that comfort along wherever he goes. For now, let your baby have the security he craves.
At a Glance
Your 8-month-old baby's growth
Your 8-month-old baby girl will hit the scales somewhere between 13 and 23 pounds, while your baby boy will be weighing in at 14 to 25 pounds. On the length charts, look for your baby to fall somewhere between 25 and 30 inches.
To keep up with that growth, baby will be interested in expanding his food repertoire and trading in that spoon for finger foods and self-feeding.
Sure, the transition from spoon to fingers will be messy and frustrating on both sides of the high chair. But as your baby nears his first birthday and perfects the pincer grasp, his ability to hold smaller objects, like peas and small pasta shapes, will improve — considerably expanding the menu and the amount of self-feeding that can be done.
For now, stick to finger foods that can be gummed before swallowing or that will dissolve easily in the mouth: whole grain bread or waffles; oat circle cereals; cubes of cheese or tofu; avocado, banana, pear, melon or mango slices; small chunks of cooked carrot, sweet potato, or cauliflower florets; baked or poached fish; meatballs; chicken; pasta; smashed beans; and scrambled or hard-cooked eggs.
Avoid uncooked raisins; whole peas (unless they are smashed); hot dogs; nuts or popcorn; grapes; hard or gooey candy; chunks of peanut butter; raw, firm vegetables or fruit; and large chunks of cheese, meat and poultry.
Your 8-month-old baby's health
Postpartum & new baby tips
Stimulate your 8-month-old by describing how things work, how they are used and how they are different.
For example, “When I turn on the faucet, water comes out,” “The car will help us get places faster than walking with you in the stroller,” “The doggy says ‘woof’ and the kitty says ‘meow.’”
Spend time talking, singing songs and reading books to boost his language skills. And play games that help explain concepts like cause and effect (fill a cup of water in the bath and let baby turn it over) and object permanence (play peekaboo).
The scene: your dinner table. Your 8-month-old is in his high chair with an enticing array of foods before him. Your baby has his bib and his spoon. So is he eating? No!
Instead, your baby is merrily tossing his spoon overboard — over and over and over again — and giggling with glee every time you pick it up and return it to him.
Is your baby simply enjoying watching you stoop down to the floor? Is he trying to drive you crazy on purpose? Nope. Your baby’s brain is just busy working on two big concepts: cause and effect (“When I throw this, Mom picks it up! Cool!”) and object permanence (“I can’t see this while it’s under my chair, but wow! There it is again!”).
As annoying — and hard on your back — as it may be, this drop-it-again-and-again routine is a sign of the crucial cognitive development of memory and abstract-thinking skills.
Finger foods are especially welcome now, since babies this age like to feed themselves — or try to. It’s not pretty, and it’s not neat, but it’s gotta happen.
Just make sure you’re always supervising when you graduate to finger foods.
And remember, even babies who have teeth aren’t ready for steak yet: Those first teeth aren’t for chewing, just for biting. Make sure everything you give your baby can be easily gummed, for safety’s sake.
Exercise boosts energy along with immunity, so try to fit it in between all that caring for baby you’ve been doing. Shoot for at least 20 minutes of sustained activity three times a week, although 30 minutes, four or more times per week, is better in the long run for stronger bones.
How? Now that your baby is older than 6 months, strap him in a jogging stroller and go for a run. Or use a front pack or backpack if he can sit unsupported and take a brisk walk (no jogging with your baby in a pack).
If you’re inside, try an exercise video or mini-trampoline. Or just put on some music and boogie — your baby will find watching you endlessly entertaining!
Turn your baby into a fruit fiend by giving him squished blueberries or small pieces of soft fruits like bananas or very ripe, peeled and skinned pear.
To make it easier to pick up slippery banana pieces, try dusting them in crushed Cheerios first.
Ripe mangoes, peaches, apricots, kiwis, honeydew and cantaloupe are also likely to appeal to your baby’s sweet tooth (or gums), but make sure to take off any skin first.
Not all fruit is baby-friendly, though. Avoid pieces of apple, even without the skin, for now. Ditto any other harder-textured or unripe fruit that could get stuck in the windpipe.
There’s a reason why blocks have been around forever — they can do so many things. Before your little one learns to stack them, they’ll be good for grabbing, holding and mouthing, so get simple cubes that are made of cloth but can still be easily stacked.
The best ones have colorful pictures and make a soft, jingly sound when squeezed or shaken. Early on, before he’s sitting up, you can show him the pictures on the blocks, talk about them and let him listen to the blocks as you squeeze or shake them.
Later, boost his gross-motor skills by stacking the blocks and letting him knock them down with his arms or legs. Or show him how to toss the blocks at a safe target — the sofa, say, or the rug.
Your baby’s large-motor skills will be tested as he learns to sit up comfortably and steadily and works on pushing himself up into a seated position from his tummy.
Some babies begin to creep or crawl this month, or even discover that they can move around quite well by scooting on their bottoms.
If your baby was an early crawler, he may now move on to standing (pulling himself up the sofa — or your legs — to get upright).
Encourage this new view of the world, and maybe even those first wobbly steps, by arranging the furniture (like chairs and low-lying tables) in a row so he can inch his way across with steady support — a motor skill called cruising.
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