Development Summary 9 - 12 Months
Social-emotional
A baby usually:
Is well aware of strangers and familiar people and withdraws from strangers
May not even go to familiar people for a while – demanding the person who looks after her most
Gives cuddles by 10 months
Enjoys peek-a-boo games
There may be a problem if a baby:
Does not show pleasure when she sees familiar people
Does not show anxiety when separated from the person who looks after her most
Motor skills
A baby usually:
Can move around by crawling or bottom-shuffling by 10 months
Can reach out while sitting without falling over
Can pull up to standing by 10-11 months
Walks with hands held by 10-12 months
There may be a problem if a baby:
Is not sitting by 9-10 months
Is not starting to move around by any means
Understanding
A baby usually:
Is interested in small objects and toys and reaches out for them
Starts to look at, feel and handle objects before taking them to his mouth
Looks in the correct direction for things that have fallen down
There may be a problem if a baby:
Is not interested in toys or objects that are attractive to babies of this age
Speech and language
A baby usually:
Is putting strings of babble sounds together
Shakes head for ‘no’ by about 10 months
Recognises several words including own name (e.g. looks for daddy if ‘daddy’ is said)
Imitates simple sounds made by other people
There may be a problem if:
Babbling has not become more complex and baby does not babble in ‘conversation’ with others