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6 MONTH BABY DEVELOPMENT |
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6 MONTHS DEVELOPMENT: All babies have definite personalities. Some will play with anyone who is willing to play along. Some do experience stranger anxiety and are frightened by people they don't know. Be calm; babies usually warm up to you and smile. They often enjoy games involving repetitive sounds and toys that are colorful or noisy, such as play pianos, wooden spoons, and pots and pans! Make sure you continue to read aloud to your baby. Some babies are already sitting with minimal support at six months and will begin to scoot around the room and crawl. Babies are transferring objects from hand to hand and trying to pick up small objects by raking at them. Everything is explored with the mouth, so to prevent choking make sure no small objects are left in the play areas. At this age sleep problems may develop and teething may be in full swing. Your baby should be sleeping through the night. Put babies to bed on a schedule so that they know dark is for sleeping. If your baby awakes and fusses, try not to turn on lights, and avoid feedings. See to your babies basic needs. Never leave a bottle in bed with your baby as this promotes tooth decay and ear infections. Some babies fight sleep and being allowed to cry it out never hurt a baby. If your baby is teething you may use Tylenol or infant Motrin. Cold or hard teething rings may be helpful. FEEDING: Formula and breast milk continue to be the cornerstone of nutrition, though solid foods now begin to play an important part. Start to add soft, mashed fruits and vegetable, and juices, but only 2 to 4 ounces per day. Again, add them at a rate of one or two new foods per week. Towards 8 months of age, meats can be added. Babies should tolerate three meals per day and enjoy eating them from a high chair. Babies now often have good head control, so you may begin to use a cup and then use the bottle for formula only. Remember, sucking is an instinct but drinking from a cup is learned so be patient. Ask your doctor about fluoride if your water supply has none. PREVENTION: With mobility, the danger of poisoning and injury from falls increases. Keep all poisons, cleaning supplies, and medicines well out of the reach of children and lock all cabinets and cupboards where these items are kept. You should post your local poison control information phone number. You may go to our POISON CONTROL PHONE NUMBERS PAGE, verify your local poison control number, and then print the sheet and post it near your phone. Keep some IPECAC at home, but call poison control before giving it. Use child gates near stairs and try to remove any furniture with sharp edges, or exposed staples or nails. Burns are a common injury so keep them away from hot coffee, grease, cooking pots, curling irons, or any other hot item in your house. Set your hot water heater no higher than 130 degrees. Since everything goes into their mouths, choking presents another danger. Continue to keep small objects they could swallow out of the play areas and watch other objects such as grapes, raisins, popcorn, nuts, and coins. You may want to review some other ACCIDENT PREVENTION measures. WELL BABY CHECKUP: Make sure you take the 6 MONTH MILESTONES ASSESSMENT for your baby and take the answers with you to facilitate discussions with your baby's doctor. The last Hepatitis B shot may be given at this point along with the third HIB and DTaP. Review the RECOMMENDED VACCINE SCHEDULE. Again you may find Tylenol helps any soreness associated with the shots. Baby should tolerate these well overall, especially if the first shots were tolerated. Make sure you are comfortable with advancing your baby's feedings and if not review that with the doctor at this checkup. Written by Greg Clark, MD and Mark Ludes, DO |
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