6 Months old? Or the “big half year birthday” 6 months is not an anniversary yet, but it should be celebrated as your baby has achieved so much until now and so did you! Your baby is not an infant anymore, but rather a tiny human who smiles and laughs. In this blogpost, you will find the important milestones for a 6 month baby – the normal growth range, sleep, feeding, activities, must-have toys and a daily schedule. Milestones When researching my content, I use official websites such as the CDC ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). They list the below as the milestones a child should reach by the end of 6 months: Social/Emotional Milestones Knows familiar people Likes to look at self in a mirror Laughs Language/Communication Milestones Takes turns making sounds with you Blows “raspberries” (sticks tongue out and blows) Makes squealing noises Cognitive Milestones (learning, thinking and problem-solving) Puts things in their mouth to explore them Reach to grab a toy they want Close their lips to show they don’t want anymore food Movement/Physical Development Milestones Rolls from tummy to back Pushes up with straight arms when on their tummy Leans on hands to support themselves when sitting By 6 months of age some babies might be able to remain in a seated position for limited period of time and to roll over and pivot ( 360 degrees). Very few babies will army crawl, start to clap , reduplicate babbling ( repetition of syllables like “baba”, “mama” , without understanding the meaning). Baby Growth The normal growth range at 6 months old differs between boys and girls. Length Girls range from 61 – 70 cm (24-27 in.) in height; Boys range from 63 – 72 cm (25-28 in.) in height; Weight Girls range from 5800-9500 gr (13-21 lb.) in weight; Boys range from 6200-9900 gr (14-22 lb.) in weight. Another important aspect is that the growth rate of the baby will slow down after six months: you will expect the baby to gain about 500 gr (1 lb.) per month moving forward. For more info on this, check the Growth WHO Standards table and other baby standards here. Baby Sleep At this age your baby will have 3 naps a day with the below structure: 1st nap after 90 min ; sleeps after every 2 hours ; 7 pm bedtime (with none to 2 feeding times; I personally wait for at least 5 hours from bedtime for the first night feeding). Baby Feeding This is the perfect time for the baby to enjoy one solid meal a day. See some of the solids that can be introduced below; Try waiting at least 2 days after introducing new food to the baby to check for any allergic reactions. If you notice symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting it might mean that the baby is allergic to a certain food type. Don’t forget to start giving the baby water. If you use bottled water, check the level of sodium or sulphate. Look on the label to check the levels: Sodium (Na) <= 200 mg/l ; Sulphate (‘SO’ or ‘SO4’) <= 250 mg/l. Baby Eyes Your baby’d eyesight has improved a lot by now and they are able to see right across the room. Also, if you are wondering what eye color your baby will end up, you might have a good idea by 6 months of age. A baby’s eye color will settle around 11 months of age. Activities Sky is the limit, there are so many activities that you can do without the need of any special toys or materials: Introduce the concept of body parts by showing the baby the major body parts in a mirror, or while naked; Chat as much as possible to encourage the baby make sounds; Show the baby how clapping works; Encourage crawling by making the baby reach for a favourite toy; Allow the baby to play with a spoon and a sippy cup to establish eating habits; Funny faces are so powerful at this age, your baby will enjoy the show and you’ll be awarded with giggles; Introduce new people as often as possible; especially now that separation anxiety might kick in; Peekaboooo; Teach the baby the meaning of NO. Must-have toys (Note: I participate in the affiliate amazon program. This post may contain affiliate links from Amazon or other publishers I trust (at no extra cost to you). I may receive a small commission when you buy using my links, this helps to keep the blog alive! See disclosure for details.) When you exhaust all the activities that use no materials, get some of the below toys (6M +); your baby will love them: Stack of circles. They’re very popular and promote hand-eye coordination and creativity. Get them here. Play mat. If you haven’t received by now as a gift from your friends , buy one yourself. Bath toys. Now that they can sit, your baby will spend more time in the bathtub. Get ready and prepare the setup. Teething toys. The first one or two teeth are coming soon, teething toys help a lot: can be soothing and help alleviate pain. 6 Month Baby Schedule 7:00: Wakes up & Nurse / Receives bottle 7:30: Playtime (activities & toys) 9:00: Nap 10:30: Solid food & Nurse / Receives bottle 12:00: Nap 1:30: Outdoor time 15:00: Nap (usually a cat nap if the first 2 naps were long) 16:30: Nurse / Receives bottle 17:00: Playtime (activities & toys) 18:00: Bath time and pre-sleep routine 18:30: Nurse / Receives bottle 18:45 – 19:00 Bedtime! This is a personal blog. My opinion on what I share with you is that “All models are wrong, but some are useful”. Improve the accuracy of any model I present and make it useful!
Tag: Baby Feeding
Introducing solids to babies Solids are an important milestone for babies. Some will love it, some will be a bit reticent at the beginning. So there are 50-50 chances to have a successful food diversification start. Having 2 kids, I can tell you that we experienced both situations: Bianca gave us signs that she’s ready to eat around 6 months of age, but she wasn’t so thrilled: With Giulia it was totally different: she sat in an upright position at 5 months of age and was reaching for our food even earlier. She gave us many signs that she’s ready to eat. We started diversification with her a few days after she celebrated her 5 months birthday: HOW? You have to know that there are 2 main ways to give baby food: baby-led weaning (BLW): solids are introduced as finger food; it is recommended to start with this method when babies are 6 months old or older; puree (Note: I participate in the affiliate amazon program. This post may contain affiliate links from Amazon or other publishers I trust (at no extra cost to you). I may receive a small commission when you buy using my links, this helps to keep the blog alive! See disclosure for details.) Of course, you can do a mix of the two. This is what I did. I used a pressure cooker to soften the food and if I decided to give purees, I used a fork to smash the food until soft with no or small lumps. If you don’t have a pressure cooker yet, I recommend this one, we’re using it on a daily basis. WHEN? Different countries have different recommendations related to when to start giving food to your baby. My Data Science intuition tell me that the 4-6 months milestone is positively correlated with how much maternity leave a parent can take. For example, when we were based in Ireland, the general advise was to give food to babies starting with the 4 months of age (I believe that this is related to parents going back to work earlier). Now we’re in Romania and here you can have a long maternity leave (it’s paid by the Government and you can take up to 2 years). So here, the paediatricians advise to start with solids at 6 months of age. HOW MUCH? I followed a super easy rule for both Bianca and Giulia: gradual increase of food: started with a spoon and reached a cup at each meal; number of meals by age: 4-6 Months old: 1 meal / day; 7 Months old: 2 meals / day; 8-9 Months old: 3 meals / day; 10-12 Months old: 3 meals + 1 snack / day; 1 Year+ : 3 meals + 2 snacks / day; WHAT? I’ll start this section with what NOT to give the baby: salts, sugar and honey are forbidden in the first 12 months. 4-6 Months old – 1 meal / day : LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins Vegetables: sweet potato, parsley, zucchini, carrot, parsnip, green beans, pumpkin, bell pepper, onion, garlic, leek; Proteins: homemade cheese, chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, beef, egg (hard boiled); Others: Olive oil, parsley leaves, lovage, dill; 7 Months old – 2 meals / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins Fruits: apple, pear, avocado, apricot, peach, nectarine, plum, banana, blueberries, watermelon; Vegetables: same as month above; Proteins: same as month above; Others: caraway, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, thyme, oregano,inactive yeast 8-9 Months old – 3 meals / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products Fruits: same as months above plus grapes, cherries, sour cherries, papaya, dehydrated dates, raisins, kaki, mango, cranberries Vegetables: same as months above plus red beets, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, red lentil, green lentil, celery, lettuce, endive; Proteins: same as month above plus yogurt, butter, sour cream, liver, white fish (trout, cod, perch, hake, gray mullet, dorada); Cereals/ Pseudocereals: millet, rice, bulgur, couscous, oat, barley; 10-12 Months old – 3 meals + 1 snack / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins SNACK: Fruits DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products Fruits: same as months above plus quince, figs, kiwi, chestnuts, pineapple, strawberries, raspberry, blackberries, orange, lemon, grapefruit, pomelo, pomegranate in a smoothie, goji, olives, nuts – peanuts – cashew – pistachio- almond crushed; Vegetables: same as months above plus tomato, aubergine, spinach, mushroom, wild garlic, turnips, white potato, asparagus, cucumber; Proteins: same as month above plus ricotta, mozzarella, mascarpone, kefir, pork, mutton, goose, duck, lamb; Cereals/ Pseudocereals: same as month above ; 1 Year – 3 meals + 2 snacks / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins SNACK: Fruits DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products SNACK: Vegetables Fruits: everything ; Vegetables: same as months above radishes, peas, artichoke, sorrel, cabbage, nettles; Proteins: same as month above plus fish, cheese, cream cheese, cheddar, parmesan, edam, gouda, svaiter, grana padano, emmental, pecorino, goats cheese; Cereals/ Pseudocereals: everything ; WHAT? I’ll start this section with what NOT to give the baby: salts, sugar and honey are forbidden in the first 12 months. Get a long bib that attaches to the highchair and let the baby explore the food, it will be fun! This is a personal blog. My opinion on what I share with you is that “All models are wrong, but some are useful”. Improve the accuracy of any model I present and make it useful!