Baby development at 6 months

The first significant date in a child's life is six months. Starting from this age, the baby gradually turns into a person. Every day your baby will amaze you with the emergence of new communication skills, the manifestation of her individuality and character. The development of a child at 6 months brings tremendous changes in the mental and physiological spheres of the baby, especially with regard to changes in nutrition and regimen.

Physical development

In order to assess the physical development of the child, pediatricians use centile tables, which indicate the norms by month. They are different for boys and girls. In addition to body weight and length, the tables contain indicators of head and chest circumference, which are also important to consider when assessing the physical development of a baby. A child at 6 months should have the following indicators: weight 6.8 - 8.4 kg (± 1 kg), height 64 - 67 cm (± 3 cm).

What a 6 month baby can do

The child has already mastered the coups from the back to the tummy and vice versa.
By this age, all children lose physiological hypertonia both in the arms and legs.
Lying on his stomach, the child can lean on one hand and grip the toy with the other.
Holds your hand tightly with your fingers when pulling up from a prone position. It pulls up on its own so that you hardly have to make an effort. Some toddlers are already able to sit on their own (when does the child start to sit on their own?).
He tries to crawl on his bellies or on all fours, crawls to the toy (when does the child begin to crawl?).
When supported by the armpits, it rests and pushes off with its legs, "dances".
Some babies try to stand up by holding onto the edge of the crib.
Grabs objects with one hand, takes from one handle to the other. Holds a toy in each hand. Feels the thing with his whole palm. Picks up the fallen toy and throws it again.
If you hide a toy, he starts looking for it. He himself finds an object covered by something.
Plays on his own for up to 10 - 15 minutes. Many times he repeats what he does: he opens and closes the box, wraps and unfolds the handkerchief.
In six months, the first tooth can hatch, as a rule, this is the lower central incisor (about when the teeth begin to cut). At 6 months, the child visits the dentist for the first time, who will assess the correct structure of the jaw and frenum under the upper and lower lips.

Psycho-emotional development

The child's babbling is becoming more and more perfect. Screaming and crying recede into the background and appear with physiological discomfort. In a baby's speech, a fusion of consonants and vowels occurs in various combinations. Because of this, it may seem that the baby is already pronouncing the words and speaking, but this is not so yet. It's just that the child is already masterfully imitating the sounds he heard, but the “speech” does not yet carry the semantic load. By the end of the 6th month, the child pronounces up to 40 different sounds.
Now the baby not only maintains a "dialogue" with you or repeats, he tries to understand the meaning of what you said. The child is able to find with a glance the thing that is being said.
The kid can recognize the parents by their voice, without seeing them. If the child hears the mother's voice in another room, then by screaming he makes it clear that he knows about her presence. Asks for pens.
Many children are already capable of showing affection and tenderness. They can snuggle up to mom when they sit on her lap. They are no longer afraid of outsiders as they used to, but they keep their distance in communication with them and do not show activity.
The simplest cause-and-effect relationships are formed in the child's thinking. For example, a baby understands that if you press a button in a toy with your finger, music will play, the toy will fall - a knock will be heard, if he screams, his mother will come up. But it will be possible to think about real progress in intellectual development only when the baby has fear - a sign that the child not only grasps the connection between events, but can also anticipate them.
The child becomes interested in the practical application of the surrounding objects. Because of this, communication with him now has not only an emotional character, but acquires the features of cooperation: the baby attracts your attention with babbling in order to get the object of interest to him and to know with your help its functions and qualities.

Baby development test at six months

Hold the toy at a distance of 20-30 cm from the child. He should be able to shift his gaze from the environment to the toy, distinguishing it from everything else;
Offer the baby a bottle of milk first and then a toy. The baby's reaction should be different: when he sees the food, the baby opens his mouth and can make sucking movements, at the sight of the toy there will be a revival reaction;
When the baby is lying, ring a bell in front of him, and then slowly move him away. The child, with your help, will begin to rise and move into a sitting position;
Talk to your child by changing facial expressions. The baby will start repeating after you: wrinkles his forehead, smile;
Try to take the toy away from your baby. At 6 months, the baby will hold the object tightly and resist, expressing dissatisfaction;
If you often call the baby by name, then at this age the baby should already react to him with a revitalization complex.

What should be alarming

The child cannot and does not try to sit, even with support;
When you support the baby by the armpits, he does not "dance";
Does not transfer an object from one handle to another;
Does not respond to sounds that are out of sight;
Does not ask for handles;
Doesn't babble, doesn't smile, doesn't recognize parents.

Detailed information: what a child should be able to do at 6 months

Mom Lara: Child development at half a year

Introduction of complementary foods

The most favorable age for starting the introduction of complementary foods is six months. Until that time, breast milk provides the child's body with all the necessary substances. When feeding with a mixture, the first complementary food is introduced a little earlier - from 4 to 5 months. When it comes to the timing of the introduction of complementary foods, it means the end of the month in which it begins.

After 6 months, neither breast milk nor formula can no longer compensate for the energy costs that are spent on intensive growth and physical development. The baby's body begins to need a large amount of minerals, trace elements and plant proteins.

If you start complementary foods later than the deadline (6-7 months), then it will be difficult for the child to adapt to the new food and its consistency. Late introduction of complementary foods is fraught with the occurrence of deficiency conditions (hypotrophy, anemia, rickets), poor development of chewing skills and taste perception, as well as the need for the simultaneous introduction of several products, which can cause an allergic reaction or indigestion.

It is important that the baby is ready for complementary foods. Be sure to check with your pediatrician before giving new food. If the baby chokes or spits out food, then wait a little with the innovation.

So, it is more convenient to start complementary feeding in the first half of the day, before feeding. For children prone to constipation or overweight, it is better to start with vegetable purees from squash, cauliflower, broccoli. Skinny people can start with gluten-free cereals: buckwheat, rice or corn, boiled in water without salt and sugar. The first mashed potatoes and cereals should be monocomponent, that is, contain only one vegetable or cereal.

In summer and autumn there is usually an opportunity to find quality vegetables. Before eating, they must be processed and cooked, preferably steamed (this way more nutrients remain). The puree should be homogeneous, that is, not contain lumps and not very thick. To do this, use a blender and, if necessary, add water or the broth on which the vegetables were cooked. Or use ready-made baby purees in jars. Teach your baby to eat from a spoon right away. Use nipple bottles only when necessary (on the road). Do not give hot food or from the refrigerator, the optimum temperature is 37⁰C.

They begin to enter with 1 2 - 1 teaspoon, and then supplement with milk or a mixture. For 5 - 10 days, bring to 150 - 180 g and completely replace one breastfeeding. Continue to feed on demand the rest of the time. New products are introduced only after getting used to the previous one. You cannot introduce more than one new product. Multicomponent purees and cereals can only be given from about 7 months.

Lure. Helpful tips for moms

Monitor your child's bowel movements and allergies. If you are allergic to something, then cancel this product and try to re-enter later.

We read: About the first feeding

Weaning off the nipple

Weaning from the nipple: if the baby has already had its first tooth, be sure to try to wean him from the pacifier. The pressure that the nipple exerts on the gums can lead to crooked teeth. Better buy your baby a teether ring. During the introduction of complementary foods, it is easier to wean from the nipple, since the baby begins to learn to drink from the cup, and night feeding from the bottle is already becoming rare or completely disappears.

We read in detail: How to wean a baby from a nipple

Baby sleep at 6 months (mode)

After 6 months, the child sleeps about 14 hours a day: two naps of 1.5 - 2 hours - day and night - up to 6 - 7 hours in a row. But all the same, the regime remains individual. Many babies continue to breastfeed several times a night - this is normal and may last until you stop breastfeeding. Be patient. To keep your child asleep at night:

The interval between the last daytime sleep and bedtime should be at least 4 hours.
Bathe your baby before bed. Warm water relaxes and soothes.
After bathing, feed your baby.

How to help your baby develop: games

Continue to stimulate your baby's speech as you did in the previous months. Buy some small, colorful books with cardboard pages for your child to turn over. It is better if the books are not just with pictures, but with short rhymes or nursery rhymes, in which words and phrases are repeated. Children who have read rhymes from 6 months begin to speak earlier.

The centers that are responsible for fine motor skills and speech are very close and interconnected in the brain, so it is important to conduct activities with the child aimed at the activity of the fingers:

Kids at this age adore playing with boxes or molds of different sizes, nesting dolls.
Make several bags with different fillings: dried peas, beans, coarse salt, millet, pebbles, buttons.
Take a ball 5 - 6 cm in diameter, place it in the baby's palms. With your own hands, squeeze the outside of its handles with the ball inside and roll it there. Walnut can be rolled. Do 3-4 minutes daily.
Massage your fingers: gently massage them one at a time and sip gently. Do 2 - 3 minutes every day.
"Brushing": take turns lifting the child's arms and smoothly move them along the head back and forth.
Squeezing and unclenching the squeaky toy.
Spiral toys along which you need to move the figures.

The games in "Magpie-crow", "Ladushki", "Ku-ku", "There is a horned goat" remain relevant.

If the kid succeeds in doing something new, be sure to praise him. The child already feels that you are happy with him.

The exponential increase in the number of toys is a problem that all parents face. In order not to litter the house with ten regular tumblers and cubes that bore the baby already on the 3rd day, divide all toys into two parts. Leave one part for the baby to play, and hide the rest. Change toys every 4 to 5 days. Please note that at 6 months, a baby can play with a maximum of two toys at the same time.

We read the reviews: inexpensive online stores of children's goods and toys

The baby will soon begin to crawl, so it becomes cramped in the crib or playpen. Provide the baby with a carpet on the floor and lay several toys on it, let the baby try to crawl up to them.

Continue to do gymnastics and massage with hardening treatments daily.

Try to keep all activities and games with your child simple and useful. Do not overload the baby, his psyche is not yet ready for long-term activities. Now your child needs your love and attention even more. If you want to make his life joyful, follow your every word and action, which are now imprinted in the subconscious of the little person.

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