7 - 9 months: what your baby’s doing

Sitting on their own, shuffling and crawling are all in store. Learn how finger foods can help their development too.

At around 7 – 9 months your baby may start to experience a bit of ‘separation anxiety’, becoming scared and clingy when you try to leave – even if you’re just popping out of the room for a moment. 

Sticking to a regular daily routine can help ease your baby's fears. Whether it's giving them milk on waking, or planning snack times around naps, making things predictable helps give them a sense of security. 

Playing hiding games with your baby can help with separation anxiety. Babies never tire of peek-a-boo, even long after you've got bored! Try hiding one of your baby's favourite toys and asking them to find it. 

At 7 months they’ll also find loads of new objects to pick up and throw! If your baby suddenly starts repeatedly dropping and throwing objects across the room, don’t worry. They’ve finally learned to release things from their hands at will and are enjoying practising their newly acquired skill!

They’re becoming increasingly active and need lots of space to discover and move around in. That means more work ahead for you too, as baby-proofing the house will take on a sudden new urgency. At the moment, it’s all about crawling and learning the word, “No!” 

By now, your baby will probably be into everything, but don't worry if they don't seem interested in crawling. They may just prefer to shuffle around on their bum, even going backwards at times! 

Turn your home into an exciting playground by creating obstacles with cushions and throws for your baby to crawl or shuffle over and around. This will help encourage their explorative nature and strengthen their muscles at the same time. 

Your baby’s becoming much more involved when you read to them now; trying to turn pages, listening closely to your voice and following the colourful pictures. But it will still be a while before they can connect the pictures to the words you’re reading. Animal books are great at this stage, giving your baby lots of interesting new sounds to learn! 

The simple everyday environments of indoors and outdoors are exciting for your baby at the moment. Crawling under the table, opening and closing doors and looking out the window while naming the things you see will all help encourage their explorative nature.