Six Months – All about Options!
What most babies do at this age:
Social and Emotional
• Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger
• Likes to play with others, especially parents (they like variety!)
• Responds to other people’s emotions and often seems happy
• Likes to look at self in a mirror
Language/Communication
• Responds to sounds by making sounds
• Strings vowels together when babbling (“ah,” “eh,” “oh”) and likes taking turns with parent while making sounds
• Responds to own name
• Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure
• Begins to say consonant sounds (jabbering with “m,” “b”)
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
• Looks around at things nearby (options of visuals helps them stay stimulated)
• Brings things to mouth
• Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach
• Begins to pass things from one hand to the other
Movement/Physical Development
• Rolls over in both directions (front to back, back to front)
• Begins to sit without support
• When standing, supports weight on legs and might bounce
• Rocks back and forth, sometimes crawling backward before moving forward
We recommend you seek counsel from your babies doctor if your child:
• Doesn’t try to get things that are in reach
• Shows no affection for caregivers
• Doesn’t respond to sounds around him
• Has difficulty getting things to mouth
• Doesn’t make vowel sounds (“ah”, “eh”, “oh”)
• Doesn’t roll over in either direction
• Doesn’t laugh or make squealing sounds
• Seems very stiff, with tight muscles
• Seems very floppy, like a rag doll
You may not know this, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children be screened for general development using standardized measures at 9,18,24 and 30 months and for autism at 18 and 24 months or whenever a parent or child care provider has a concern. We find that unless parents are proactive in asking for a screening or describe actions or lack thereof that give them concern, most pediatricians are unaware of your child’s developmental delays. Many take a “wait and see approach” but you should request a screening if you as the parent have an unsettled feeling about your child’s growth and development.
This information was taken from the CDC’s website and meant to give you guidelines for development. For more information or if you are concerned, log onto the CDC’s “If You’re Concerned” website.
