What are babies doing at 8-9 months?
Babbling, clapping hands, crawling, pulling up to stand – there’s a lot happening for your baby.
Growing brains
Your baby is having a growth spurt in their brain. This increases your baby’s memory, and you might notice your baby forming stronger attachments to their favourite people, toys and books.
Playing and exploring
Your baby will be exploring everything around them. For example, they might ring bells and bang blocks together. They’ll also enjoy looking for and finding hidden objects.
Feeling
Your baby might prefer a particular person – this could be you, your partner, or another close family member or carer. Separation anxiety and fear of strangers is pretty common at this age. It might help to know that these are typical parts of child development.
Your baby’s emotions are maturing. For example, your baby can express fear.
Communicating
Your baby is starting to link words with their meanings. They can understand and respond to your body language and facial expressions. For example, if you point at a dog and say ‘dog’, your baby might look towards it. Or your baby might stop what they’re doing when they hear you say ‘No!’
Your baby’s babbling is louder now, and you might hear words being repeated – for example, ‘mama’ or ‘dada’. Your baby might also copy sounds, watch you closely and make noises to get your attention.
Eating
Your baby might want to practise their eating skills by holding, biting and chewing food. They might even start feeding themselves with their fingers or a small spoon.
Your child’s brain develops connections faster in the first 5 years than at any other time in their life. Stimulating and caring environments with plenty of different activities help to build these connections and lay the foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life.
How can you help your baby grow and develop at 8-9 months?
Have a chat
Your baby is interested in conversation, so the more talk the better!
You can help your baby understand what words mean by talking as you do everyday activities like bathing your baby or changing nappies.
Also, listening and responding to your baby’s babbling builds their language, communication and literacy skills. You can respond by talking or making sounds in your own warm and loving way. Your baby enjoys hearing your voice go up and down and loves watching your face as you talk. This helps your baby feel ‘heard’, loved and valued.
Play together
Play is how your baby learns. You could try:
When you’re outside, remember to be safe in the sun.
Read together
You can develop your baby’s imagination by reading, talking about the pictures in books and telling stories. These activities also help your baby to understand language and learn to read as they get older.
Get moving
Moving and exploring build your baby’s muscle strength for more complex movements like pulling to stand and walking. If your baby is crawling, you can try getting down on the floor and crawling around with them or playing a game of crawling chasey.
If your baby is on the move, always watch them and never leave them unattended on a sofa, bed or change table. It’s a good idea to look at making your home safe for your baby to move around in.
Introduce new foods
Breastmilk or formula should still be your baby’s main source of nutrition, but your baby might enjoy homemade foods like cooked egg, vegetables and pasta. As your baby gets better at eating solids, they can move from pureed food to roughly mashed, minced and finger food. Just make sure solids are small and soft enough to prevent choking.
Sometimes your baby won’t want to do some of these things – for example, they might be too tired or hungry. Your baby will use baby cues to let you know when they’ve had enough and what they need.
How to care for a 9-month-old baby and look after yourself
As a parent, you’re always learning. It’s OK to feel confident about what you know. And it’s OK to admit you don’t know something and ask questions or get help.
It’s also important to look after yourself. Looking after yourself physically, mentally and emotionally is good for you, and it’s good for your baby. When you’re well, you can give your baby the loving attention they need to grow and thrive.
Part of looking after yourself is asking for help, especially if you’re feeling stressed, anxious or angry. There are many people who can support you and your baby, including your partner, friends, relatives, child and family health nurse and GP. It’s a good idea to have a list of these people with their contact details. Put the list on your fridge, so it’s easy to find if you need it.
Never shake a baby. If you feel like you can’t cope or you might hurt your baby, gently put your baby down somewhere safe. Take deep breaths to calm down. Get support by talking to a family member or friend or by calling a parenting helpline or Lifeline on 131 114.
When to be concerned about baby development at 9 months
You know your baby best. So it’s a good idea to see your child and family health nurse or GP if you have any concerns or notice that your 9-month-old is having any of the following issues.
Seeing, hearing and communicating
Your baby:
- isn’t making eye contact with you
- isn’t following moving objects with their eyes
- has an eye that’s turned in or out most of the time
- isn’t babbling
- isn’t turning their head towards sounds or voices.
Behaviour
Your baby doesn’t look at your face, smile at you or show whether they’re happy or sad.
Movement
Your baby:
- isn’t rolling
- can’t sit up on their own
- uses one hand much more than the other.
See a child health professional if you notice that your baby has lost skills they once had.
Also see your nurse or GP if you have signs of postnatal anxiety, postnatal depression in birthing mothers or postnatal depression in non-birthing parents. With help and support, you can manage symptoms, feel better sooner, and give your baby what they need to develop well.
Development happens in a similar order in most children, but skills might develop at different ages or times. If you’re wondering whether your baby’s development is on track, or if you feel that something isn’t quite right, it’s best to get help early. See your child and family health nurse or GP.
Languages other than English
- Easy English (PDF: 3.8mb)
- Arabic (PDF: 192kb)
- Dari (PDF: 248kb)
- Dinka (PDF: 156kb)
- Hakha Chin (PDF: 147kb)
- Karen (PDF: 178kb)
- Persian (PDF: 242kb)
- Simplified Chinese (PDF: 366kb)
- Swahili (PDF: 108kb)
- Tamil (PDF: 312kb)
- Vietnamese (PDF: 169kb)