Parenting - Helping Your Child

6 to 12 Months

Your baby continues to grow!

During the second six months of your baby's life, physical and intellectual growth continue to develop at a rapid rate as your baby becomes a toddler. Your baby will learn to sit, crawl, stand and perhaps even take their first few steps! Most babies start to say a few words between 9-12 months. Curiosity about people, places and things is also starting to develop as your baby starts to remember and think.

Growth and Development

Your baby is learning quickly and is gaining more control over their body!

During these six months, your baby will start to crawl and sit without support. At 9 months, your baby will be aware of both strangers and familiar faces and they will show interest in their surroundings. At 12 months, your baby will be able to pull to a standing position and will walk holding onto furniture.

By 12 months, your baby will express likes and dislikes through facial expressions, actions and sounds. The imitation of sounds by lip smacking and tongue clicks at a young age will be replaced with squeals and screams to get your attention. Your baby will also express different emotions such as anger, fear, joy, and affection.

What you can do to help your baby grow and develop:

Read, talk, sing and play with your baby
Offer a variety of containers to play with during supervised tub play
Provide a safe place for your baby to crawl and explore their world
Play hide and seek with objects

Toys to offer:

Toys to bang together, like pots and lids
Soft toys to throw and drop
Nested plastic cups
Cloth books
Push toys
Stacking toys
Squirting bath toys
Squeaky toys, balls to roll and chase

Speech and Language Development

The development of your baby's speech and language skills begins long before your baby can say their first word!

You can start to encourage your baby's speech and language development as early as birth. By talking with your baby, singing with your baby and reading with your baby, you start the process for life-long learning.

Your baby's communication skills will develop over time. At first you may have difficulty understanding your baby's first words and you may rely on hand gestures to communicate.

By 12 months of age your baby will:

� Understand their own name

� Understand simple words (example: bye-bye)

� Say simple sounds (example: ba ba, na na, ga ga)

� Laugh and try to make sounds like you

You can encourage your baby's speech and language development by singing or saying a simple rhyme with them. Remember to maintain eye contact with your baby, relax, and have fun. Learn the words and actions to The Grand Old Duke of York. You can find more communication tips for this age group at the York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program website.

For more information on growth and development or speech and language development, visit Programs & Resources.

6 to 12 Months

Growth and Development

Speech and Language Development

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