Your baby's developmental milestones at 9 months
Everything you need to know about your growing 9-month-old.
By 9 months, your baby is much more mobile and likes to explore. Babies at this age are crawling and can raise themselves to stand, so safety in the home becomes an important issue as your baby's curiosity (and mobility) grows. Your baby now responds to their name, loves to cuddle with family members and may show shyness or fear of strangers. Games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake are sure to be a big hit with your 9-month-old.
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Social and emotional milestones at 9 months
Some of the ways you’ll see your little one learning to connect with the people around them at 9 months:
- Starting to cling onto adults they're familiar with
- Might be afraid of strangers
- Has favourite toys that they reach for often
Tips for parents
- Follow your baby’s signals by letting them take the lead during playtime.
Language and communication milestones at 9 months
How your baby is expressing their needs:
- Pointing at things with their fingers
- Understands the word "no" and makes lots of different sounds
- Starts to copy movements they see and sounds they hear
Tips for parents
- Because your baby loves to point, read some board books with pictures. They’ll be able to show you what they're interested in.
- Cut out pictures from magazines and create your own story about the objects or people in the picture.
- Identify the objects your baby notices in their everyday environment or in the house and name them. This will help with their linguistic and communication development.
Brain development milestones at 9 months
How your child’s brain is growing:
- Likes to play peek-a-boo and look for things you hide
- Tracks objects as they fall
- Moves things from one hand to the other, and likes to put objects in their mouth
- Picks up small objects with their thumb and index finger
Tips for parents
- Support and encourage your baby during playtime.
- Help them develop their fine-motor skills by giving them small objects to pick up while under your supervision.
>>Discover learning activities for 9-month-olds
Movement and physical development milestones at 9 months
How they’ll move through their environment:
- Can get into a sitting position and sit without support
- Pulls up (using furniture for support) to stand
- Starting to crawl
Tips for parents
- Place your baby close to furniture so they can try to raise themselves up.
Food and nutrition milestones at 9 months
What mealtimes look like at 9 months:
- Enjoys teethers
- Beginning to eat thicker pureed foods and stays full for a longer period of time after eating
- Reacts strongly to new smells and tastes
Tips for parents
- Try giving your little one half a cup of food three to four times a day, plus a healthy snack. For more ideas, read our article on Feeding your baby: 6-12 months.
Things to look out for
While all babies develop differently, you should speak to your paediatrician if your 9-month-old:
- Can’t sit without assistance
- Doesn’t babble
- Won’t respond to their own name
- Doesn’t put weight on their legs
- Doesn’t play any games involving back-and-forth play
- Doesn’t recognize adults they know
- Doesn’t look where you point
- Can’t transfer toys between their hands
