Developmental Milestones and Behaviour: 9 to 12 months
By now your baby will be babbling, crawling and /or walking, sits in a high chair at meal time, wants to feed himself, can learn to drink from a cup and will have 8 teeth by 12 months. He can pick up objects and often wants to put them in his mouth and even knows his name.
By 12 months your baby will have tripled his birth weight and his length will have increased by 50%.
Sleeping
Your baby will need a couple of sleeps during the day as well as sleeping all night. There will be times when sleep will be interrupted - like their parents, babies sleep well sometimes and not so well at others.
Bathing
Bath time will really be fun - but never leave your baby alone in the bath - it sounds obvious but just a couple of seconds is all it takes for your now very active baby / toddler to get into mischief.
Safety
Because your baby is so mobile, never take your eyes off him, even for a second. At this age, babies don't understand danger, so it is best to remove all dangerous objects and situations. Indoor plants can sometimes be poisonous, and some babies tend to want to chew on everything. Small toys that baby can choke on should be removed. Power points need to have safety covers as at this age babies love to poke things into holes! Stairs need safety guards and swimming pools must be fenced. Don't forget that a bathtub or even a bucket of water can be potentially dangerous to a mobile and unsupervised baby. Child proof your home - and while you might argue that your baby needs to learn to live with certain things, remember that children do not understand logic until around 8 years of age.
Choking is a big danger for babies of this age. Look out for small toys and objects and hard foods such as raw carrot and apple, sausages, popcorn, nuts and hard lollies.
* NB: Every baby is different so don’t be concerned if your baby is slower at reaching some of these guidelines.
