YOUR BABY AT SIX MONTHS
This month you'll see an acceleration in your baby's development. It's an exciting time for all the
family as she starts to sit unsupported, respond to her own name and start
eating solid foods in earnest.
This month your baby may:
This month you'll see an acceleration in your baby's development. It's an exciting time for all the
family as she starts to sit unsupported, respond to her own name and start
eating solid foods in earnest.This month your baby may:
• Roll over from front to back and vice versa. You can encourage rolling from back to front by teasing your baby with her favourite toy, bringing it from above her head to one side or the other. With luck, she'll turn and roll to grab at it. Don't tease for too long, though, or she'll become frustrated. If she doesn't roll, hand her the toy to explore.
• Propel herself along on her front by kicking her legs:
this is a
preliminary to crawling, although she's probably a few months off this stage,
if she doesn't bypass it altogether. Again, you can drag one of her toys along
in front of her when she's on her tummy to encourage her to try and get mobile.
• Pass objects between her hands. Offer
her different textured things to play with: soft toys, sets of keys, a
lightweight wooden spoon and a baby safety mirror may all fascinate her enough
to explore them with both hands. Don't leave her unsupervised or give her
anything breakable to play with, though.
• Enjoy sitting in a highchair. Now's the time to try and interest her in first solids. Start with veg purees thickened with a little baby rice. You can introduce fruit purees a few weeks later, once he's got used to the taste of vegetables.You can also offer her bread fingers, soft pasta shapes, cucumber sticks and pieces of cheese. Again, make sure you supervise her when she is eating as she could choke on small pieces of food. (See more in our baby weaning section below.)
• Release and drop objects. It can be a frustrating time for you, as your baby will delight on dropping things on the floor for you to retrieve for her! Try to be patient, though: it's a time of exploration and experimentation for your baby, and she's learning about cause and effect as well as developing her hand skills.
• Enjoy sitting in a highchair. Now's the time to try and interest her in first solids. Start with veg purees thickened with a little baby rice. You can introduce fruit purees a few weeks later, once he's got used to the taste of vegetables.You can also offer her bread fingers, soft pasta shapes, cucumber sticks and pieces of cheese. Again, make sure you supervise her when she is eating as she could choke on small pieces of food. (See more in our baby weaning section below.)
• Release and drop objects. It can be a frustrating time for you, as your baby will delight on dropping things on the floor for you to retrieve for her! Try to be patient, though: it's a time of exploration and experimentation for your baby, and she's learning about cause and effect as well as developing her hand skills.
• Interpret
your facial expressions and varying tones of voice: she'll
begin to understand when you're pleased, amused, frustrated or cross, and will
respond accordingly. She'll laugh along with you; try to please you more when
you encourage her; show anxiety if you're displeased and perhaps cry if you
sound angry.
• Begin to understand that she's a separate entity from you and everyone else. She might want to reaffirm this by pinching or squeezing your face, pulling your hair or pushing herself away from you when you cuddle her. She'll also cuddle you back, though, which is a lovely development.
• Begin to understand that she's a separate entity from you and everyone else. She might want to reaffirm this by pinching or squeezing your face, pulling your hair or pushing herself away from you when you cuddle her. She'll also cuddle you back, though, which is a lovely development.
ENTERTAINING YOUR SIX-MONTH-OLD BABY
Here enjoy baby songs:
Your baby will enjoy all sorts of amusements from this month. Here are some of the games babies of this age take delight in:
• Peek-a-boo: the sight of you disappearing behind an object (a cushion, his board book etc) then popping out again will probably provoke peals of laughter from your baby, who will want you to repeat the action again and again.
You can do the same with your baby, by showing her own reflection in a mirror, then covering the mirror with a cloth and asking 'Where's [your baby's name]?'. Whip the cloth away and she'll be delighted to see her own reflection again. Eventually she'll go to grab the cloth herself when you ask the question.
All this helps to develop the idea of 'object
permanence' - a phrase used by psychologists to describe the concept that just
because something (or someone) is hidden, doesn't mean it's gone for good.
It's an important stage in your baby's cognitive development and one he'll find reassuring, especially as you begin to leave him in a room alone for short periods while you answer the phone or go to fetch something for him.
• Clapping games: his hand-eye coordination is coming on fast, and soon he'll be able to bring both hands together and clap. Meanwhile, clap along to the rhythm of songs you sing him; give him a little round of applause when he tries something new; clap a simple pattern, then repeat it over and over.
It's an important stage in your baby's cognitive development and one he'll find reassuring, especially as you begin to leave him in a room alone for short periods while you answer the phone or go to fetch something for him.
• Clapping games: his hand-eye coordination is coming on fast, and soon he'll be able to bring both hands together and clap. Meanwhile, clap along to the rhythm of songs you sing him; give him a little round of applause when he tries something new; clap a simple pattern, then repeat it over and over.
You could count along as well: 'One, two,
one-two-three'. Your baby won't understand the significance of the words at
first, but will enjoy repeating patterns of sounds of all sorts.
• Sing 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' while you touch these parts on your own body, then repeat the song touching your baby. Repeat often and in a couple of months' time he'll spontaneously join in with the actions.
• Teach your baby parts of his face: touch his nose and say 'nose'; do the same with his eyes, lips and chin. He's taking in all this information long before he can talk, and will soon surprise you by touching his nose when you simply say the word.
• Sing 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' while you touch these parts on your own body, then repeat the song touching your baby. Repeat often and in a couple of months' time he'll spontaneously join in with the actions.
• Teach your baby parts of his face: touch his nose and say 'nose'; do the same with his eyes, lips and chin. He's taking in all this information long before he can talk, and will soon surprise you by touching his nose when you simply say the word.
• Nesting
cups and building bricks will encourage your baby to stack,
improving his hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Express your
surprise and pleasure if he managed to stack one or two objects, and laugh if
the tower falls down. Either way, your baby will gain lots of enjoyment from
the challenge.
• Play with toy phones: give your baby one handset and talk into your own. Repeat his name often as you talk and make yourself different familiar characters: his granddad; his childcarer; his favourite TV character.
Soon he'll grasp the concept of conversation and he'll babble back into his handset. Make sure you leave gaps in your chat for him to respond to you.
• Play with toy phones: give your baby one handset and talk into your own. Repeat his name often as you talk and make yourself different familiar characters: his granddad; his childcarer; his favourite TV character.
Soon he'll grasp the concept of conversation and he'll babble back into his handset. Make sure you leave gaps in your chat for him to respond to you.
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