Your baby, 6 months 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 and older

Half of a year has gone by and your baby has grown and learned so much! At this point, she may be sitting up on her own and some babies will try to crawl! Encourage him by setting toys out of his reach. In no time, he will be crawling all over. Some babies also roll across the room! Your baby can turn and twist in all directions. She can transfer objects from hand to hand and will look for dropped objects.

Many babies will start teething at this time. You may notice that she is uncomfortable, drooling and bites down alot. Teething rings often help and the coldness can be soothing to her sore gums. If she doesn't like a cold teether, offer her a warm one instead.

Stranger anxiety usually increases by the time your baby is six months old. She knows the difference between people she recognizes and strangers. When you introduce your baby to new people, hold her and tell her about who the person is. Your baby will be able to sense how you feel about the new person. Don't force your child to sit with the person- let him set the pace. This is especially important with caregivers that take care of the baby while you are away.

Your baby still likes to be read to and likes to hear songs and music. Expose him to various sounds, sights, smells and textures often. Alot of your baby's learning comes from hearing. Because he likes other babies, take him to see other babies as often as possible. Watch how they interact. Your baby is learning about relationships!

Being a warm and loving parent will teach your baby to trust and respect you. If you find that your baby is doing something that he should not be doing, redirect him to an appropriate activity. At this age, your baby still does not know how to obey or disobey. However, he is learning to listen and can begin to understand what he should not mess with. After you have redirected him, remember to praise him for a job well done. Your baby will learn best and can not get into trouble if her world is interesting. Keep fun activities readily available and interact with her. Showing your baby how to do things the right way will also help her learn. If she pulls your hair, show her how to be gentle.

Most babies will have started some type of solid foods at this point. If you give your baby something that he does not like, keep giving it to him. It can take several attempts to get him to like something. The food habits that are learned now will stay with your baby for life. By giving her a variety of foods, you are expanding her taste and encouraging healthy eating habits. Allow your baby to sit in her highchair and eat with the rest of the family at mealtime. Babies will ususally eat until they are full-do not force her to eat if she does not seem interested. Some parents give their babies juice or water in a cup at this time. Because juice is high in sugar, limit her juice intake to 4 ounces a day. Remember, now that your baby is eating foods it is especially important to keep her teeth and gums clean. Wipe them down with a washcloth or use a baby toothbrush. Do not use any type of toothpaste that has fluoride in it.

Developmental Milestones 6 Months Old

Physical

• Can pull an object towards himself
• Tries to transfer objects from one hand to another
• Rolls over in both directions
• Vision and sound senses are almost fully developed
• Sits on her own
• Rocks and pivots while on her stomach
• Digs fingers and toes into floor to push to get something out of reach
• Can pick up a small object
• Looks for dropped items

Intellectual

• Understands cause and effect-likes to put toys in a container and dump out
• Prefers left hand one day and his right hand the next
• Your baby will begin to initiate attention from others
• Understands that his behavior engages you-both good and bad behavior
• Likes playing turn taking games
• Likes to hear different sounds-animal sounds are great to start on
• Can say vowel-consanant combinations

Emotional

• Makes instant friends with strangers
• Craves familiar faces and voices
• Can let you know what he needs, thinks or wants in ways other than crying
• Expresses unhappiness when an object is taken away

Age Appropriate Toys

• Toys that encourage sitting up
• Balls
• Books
• Lighted toys
• Musical toys
• Cause and effect objects
• Toys to bang on
• Stacking blocks
• Containers and objects to put in and take out
• Sensory toys
• Toys to grasp and pass
• Bath toys

Comments:

Comments 51-75 of about 29947 for month 6
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sanner5955 - Thursday, 22 Dec
27 inches 18.9 lbs, she's a meatball! To any mommies who use enfamil, I read an article today that a newborn in missouri died bc of bacteria in enfamil. Walmart was recalling it.

amanda220 - Wednesday, 21 Dec
At Ava's app she was 15 lbs 3 oz and 25 inches.

mugs - Wednesday, 21 Dec
Emree's 6 month stats: 27.5 inches long and 16lbs 11 oz! How is everyone's babe doing?

sanner5955 - Tuesday, 20 Dec
Noname- my oldest daughter is 3, we dealt with ezcema since she was a few weeks old. She has no food allergies. I hated putting steroid cream on her but I did it. I tried every product in stores. In october i switched to all natural products and it is gone! I mean everything, laundry detergent, bath tub cleaner, kids wash, and the lotion that is famous for correcting ezcema. I spent a lot of time on researching this... there is glass in laundry detergent, even dreft. Glass irritates the skin. Even aveeno and johnsons use harsh chemicals in their baby product, including formaledhyde (called quanterium-15 in the kind I had). I removed all bleach, ammonias, harsh chemicals. I am not paying more, I'm actually saving money! I love that if the baby would get into my cleaning products and drank them, she would not be hurt! My advice is to not just accept it. Maybe its a food allergy, but in our case it was environmental and unsafe products I was using on/around her. I love not putting medicine on her little body and not hearing 'mommy my itchies are bad'. Good luck!

Brisbane-mama - Sunday, 18 Dec
Noname: my experience with eczema is that it is an allergy. Have u tried putting baby on a dairyfree probiotic, one with the bacteria strand LGG in it? And maybe some good quality fish oil tablets, I would give it a go first. Of course speak to your doctor first, I find most docs though wont try natural products

Brisbane-mama - Sunday, 18 Dec
Shabs78: have you thought she might be teething?? Ava used to sleep till 5 am and now she wakes around 2-3am again. She had surgery on Friday 16th to remove a skin tag from her ear (birth defect) she has done so well with it but I find she wakes up now and won't settle so I think she maybe in pain. My suggestions are: 1. Try paracetamol (give it a go for a couple of nights when it's at it's worst), if no improvement stop. It maybe a growth spurt. Ava won't take paracetamol so when she wakes I have to feed it to her with her solids, so at night it means another feeding session, but I must say she goes back to sleep settling by herself. 2. Try feeding more solids, maybe just start feeding 3 times a day but larger quantities. It could be stranger anxiety, I here u say well there are no strangers here but babies around this age develop preferences for people (usually mums) and don't want them to leave there sight, it's normal and natural, bad news is it can last till they are 2 1/2years, up to u how u handle that one. But, a worn t-shirt of yours one with your smell on it may help. 3. Put a worn t-shirt under the sheet in the cot. They are also getting smarter now and starting to know what they like and dont like, if you are happy to continue the way that works go for it, if it's not working for you persist in making baby stay in there cot for naps, that means settling them using the process below, rock and hush in the cot, remove from cot if too unsettled then put back in the cot when settled. I know it's hard especially when you are tired. I to say if you are going to crack and allow baby to come into bed with you then don't bother putting yourself through lost sleep every night just allow baby to come into bed when they wake. Also baby maybe happy even without sleep during the day but this could be making the nights worse. It sounds funny but if they don't get the sleep they need during the day they will wake up more at night. So try to make sure baby is getting around 14-15 hours of sleep a day. That is if baby sleeps approx 8 hours at night they then need about 6-7hours during the day. Ideally baby will sleep from 7-7am with maybe one wake up, then have one 1 hour nap and one 2 hour nap. Hope this helps!

2babywax - Friday, 16 Dec
noname~ my oldest son (who is now 6) had to be put on the steroid cream. Have you tried California Baby's Calendula wash and cream? I've discovered it now that my youngest has eczema and it works so well! He started showing signs at 6 weeks and we started using the wash... and when it gets pretty bad on his face, we put the cream on. Within a day, it's nearly gone! It's expensive, but it goes a long way. *The steroid helped, but you have to be careful where you put it because it can bleach the skin... and don't expect it to go away completely!

noname - Friday, 16 Dec
Has anyone's baby had ecxema so bad that he/she has to go on a steriod cream? I think mine is geting close to this point, as nothing seems to help :(

shabs78 - Friday, 16 Dec
Oh and during the day she will only nap as long as I'm holding her and maybe only an hour at a time, twice and last few days three times. If I even put her down on the bed next to me she'll wake up and only once she's snuggled up to me will she sleep again. I've tried putting a pillow there, lol, she just wakes up. She's such a happy baby, not at all grumpy, even when she wakes up after a short nap.

shabs78 - Friday, 16 Dec
Really appreciate reading your comments Brisbane. It was a great question coz I'm really struggling with my little one sleeping at the moment. She was such a great sleeper, sleeping through the night until about three or four weeks ago (around the time solids were introduced) and now it's just got so much worse. She wakes up about an hour and a half after she's put down and will scream reaching the point of being hysterical until I pick her up at which point she quietens down immediately. I'll then rock her for maybe ten mins and an hour later same thing. I've tried timing it around five mins, patting, comforting without picking up but it doesn't work. Eventually around 1 am I keep her in bed with me and she usually sleeps through, occasionally looking to nurse. Any advice would be appreciated.

redding2009 - Thursday, 15 Dec
Thanks so much, Brisbane-mama. Yes, I have a couple more questions, so I'll just send you a message; I really apprechiate it!

Brisbane-mama - Saturday, 10 Dec
Ohh I also forgot to say if your baby has short naps he/she may need more naps during the day. 2 may not be enough for your baby. If they show tired signs get them into bed ASAP!

Brisbane-mama - Saturday, 10 Dec
Ohh I also forgot to say if your baby has short naps he/she may need more naps during the day. 2 may not be enough for your baby. If they show tired signs get them into bed ASAP!

Brisbane-mama - Saturday, 10 Dec
Redding: Ava can most times put herself back to sleep. I admit it has a lot to do with their personalities, my son was terrible and I tried every technique I know. He still is a bad sleeper but is now at an age where he can turn on the TV so when he wakes, usually at 5:30am, he turns on the TV and watches it till I wake up. Here are some universal things that help. But baby on a flexible schedule, that way you know when they are getting tired. If they get too tired they won't be able to self settle (keep this in mind)!! Put baby in the cot before they become overtired. Make sure they are full, clean, and comfortable (not hot or cold). Leave and let them try to fall asleep by themselves, this will give them a better longer sleep, allow them to whinge, whine and cry a little before you return to them as some babies need this before falling asleep. Don't let them get to screaming though because the idea is for them to settle into sleep and screaming will not allow them to settle. Return if they start to cry for longer then a few minutes and rock the cot or hush them, try not to pick them up. When they settle and before they are asleep leave again to see if they will fall asleep on their own. Try not to pick them up. If they become really upset pick them up and settle them then return them to their bed. If they are really upset Breastfeeding, rocking and anything they find comforting is okay but only until they are relaxed then return them to bed. If they wake early ignore them until they cry. Let them whinge and whine they may settle back to sleep. You may need to repeat the process a few times before they settle it is okay and this way you are teaching them to settle themselves without to much intervention. If you have questions or if you want to speak about your child please just send me a message. Good luck!!

redding2009 - Saturday, 10 Dec
Hi all! I was wondering if any of your babies are able to go to sleep on their own at bedtime or go back to sleep when they wake up at night or during naptime without any soothing techniques ( rocking to sleep, pacifier, nursing/bottlefeeding)? If so, what sleep training method did you use, how did you use it, and at what age? If not, what sleep training method do you plan to use and at what age?

LadyJade - Monday, 5 Dec
Chase got his first tooth on Friday and I can see the one next to it is almost through. He is crawling all over the place and can put himself into a sitting position and sit. I feel its all happened so fast! too fast..:( awww boo....hope all are well...

brookefree - Tuesday, 29 Nov
WOw, I barely made it back on here from my week 40 during pregnancy!! But life has been busy! I haven't been able t view everyone's comments but i read down the page and boy to I feel fortunate! Malachi is my first and everyone has told me what a good baby he is but now I believe it! He was sleeping 8 hours a night from about 2 1/2 months to 5 months!! This past month he started waking once at night for a feeding which was odd but I think it was the daylight savings change and his teething. He goes to bed every noght now by 7:30pm, and most nights sleeps until 4am (81/2 hours!) then after a change and feeding which takes only 20 mins and he goes back to sleep until 6:30! He only takes 3 small naps a day about 20-30 mins each. He he barely ever cries. We are totally boat people, so he took his first trip to havasu with us at 2 1/2 months and the 2nd trip at 3 1/2 months. He cracks up laughing and loves to be tickled and is always smiling. I couldnt be happier. Congrats to all the mommies out there! I hope you all are having as much fun with your little ones as I am! It sucks because I was only home for the 1st 3 months and have been back to work full time, but my husband has an in home business and has been home with him this whole time and my little sister also comes over during the week to give him a break. I am hoping we can avoid public daycare unti he is at least 1 year old.Haven't had the 6 months check up yet, appt is next week, but he is already a big boy, weighing in at over 21 pounds! I will post what the actual numbers are after his appointment! :)

LadyJade - Monday, 28 Nov
Well Mr C was 6 months yesterday. He is suffering so badly with his teething. I feel so bad for him. Teegel is a joke really and lasts for a bout 10 seconds! I give him panado but i cant keep giving it to him (can I??) He is waking 3 times at the moment, twice to eat which is a new thing and once to cuddle. Im feeling tired to say the least but Im sure he is feeling worse. He was SO grumpy yesterday!...shame man..how long until all their teeth come through???!!! lol ...awww shucks man sure it wasnt this tough with my first two...well perhaps my brain just stored it somewhere my maternal side couldnt find so I'd have more babies!!...he can crawl , we have gone from scooting around on our head to actually putting arms and knees forward, he did it without realising it yesterday..!! this morning he seemed to have forgotten and so was scooting around on his head again lol..man he can make me laugh...

lovelybaby2 - Monday, 14 Nov
Awe Bellablue that is so sweet!! We will not be putting up the tree until after thanksgiving, lol I don't like to step on thanksgiving. Although im not sure when we will be now, bcuz DH has to go out of state for work for two to three weeks. Really pisses me off that they are doing this during the holidays, he's going to miss so much. He will be here on the days, but he's gonna miss everything else. Grrr I can't even think about it without being upset. Anywho we took Little Man for his 6month check up, he did so good with his shoots. He cried for about 30sec and then was right back to smiling. Doc says he is teething for sure, so at least we know that really is causing the crabby-ness. He is 18pounds 29 1/2 inches!! he is in the 100% lol my little fat boy. HE has also been doing much better with the sleeping. Back to sleeping 5 to 6 hours now. And I have been putting him in his crib for naps (he sleeps in a pack in play in r room) I have just been laying him in there at nap time, the first day he cried for about 20min and since then I just put him in, he moves around a bit and then goes to sleep. =-) I think he's about ready to be in his room at night (now just to get daddy ready). O and he started waving this week, and saying what sounds like hi when he does it. He did it at the doctors office and the doc was like, looks like we have are first word. I really wanted it to be mama, lol but I guess I should just be happy he's talking. I cant believe how big he is getting already!!

DianaWilcox - Sunday, 13 Nov
7 months today! See u there

bellablue - Saturday, 12 Nov
lovely that is so good to hear glad LO is doing better :)--Hope all our having a great weekend we are putting are tree up next weekend lol the day we found out we were having a girl nov 20th! Be our tradition as i did it last year the same day we new lol happy weekend all

lovelybaby2 - Thursday, 10 Nov
bellablue~~ Thank you, DH got up with him that night so I got some sleep and im much better now. He seems to be in a better mood as well, but still chewing on anything that comes near his mouth. He slept 6hrs last night!! Im super excited about that and hoping it stays that wasy. Truns out I think I have not been giving him the right amount of food, so he's waking up hungry. It is crazy how different every baby is, so there is never just one answer on how to handle things, he is so much different then his sister. Im hoping he starts to sleep like he did last night, and stays in a good mood. Im going to take the kids out for a walk, hoping the fresh air will do them both some good.

bellablue - Thursday, 10 Nov
Lovely i was told to that keeping them up make them sleep longer i don't think it works to be honest at least for my LO. At this age stil they need naps alot still i tried it keeping Arianna up she was over tired and couldn't fall asleep. But all babies are different isn't so crazy they all have there own little personality's so funny! I think all mom's have one of those bad days out of all the days which are almost all fantastic we all have one day where we are exhausted hang in there hun :) I bet it is the teeth coming in once that pain goes away will be sleeping thru the nite xxx

lovelybaby2 - Tuesday, 8 Nov
bellablue~~ He sleeps in his pack & play in are room. Im trying to keep him from napping as much, but he is so crabby. I finally gave him some med for his tooth, and he's back to him self which is a good thing cuz im so out of it today, I would loss my head if it wasn't attached. Today is the first time since having him that I have wanted to cry. Not so much bcuz he is cabby but more bcuz I cant seem to do anything to make him feel better. I didn't want to give him the meds cuz I wasn't sure it was his tooth. But it must be bcuz after the med he was much better. Hoping if I keep him from napping it will help him sleep tonight

bellablue - Tuesday, 8 Nov
Kodyz boo awesome hun i will definetaly love that! i drive so i could meet close to you!! :) Exciting!! let me know when you settled and have time :)Weird Arianna has a tooth that came out on the bottom the top of it she did well cause she hasn't been cranky at all i didnt even know it was there till the other day when i checked her mouth- She sleeps from 8pm till 6 or 7am then feeds then 2 more hours nap i thought she would never STTN!!Then around 5 1/2 months she did yay! Could be the 6 month gowth spurt to @lovely maybe inteferring with LO's sleep :) i'm sure LO will be back soon STTN! Do you co sleep?

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