Best Way to Help a 9-Month-Old Baby Learn and Develop Skills

Your baby’s personality is really beginning to shine through, and as her physical skills continue to develop and she becomes more confident she’ll start to show you that she really has a mind of her own when she wants something!

Physical development

Your baby may now be able to sit by herself for quite a while, as well as lean forwards for a toy without toppling over Don’t expect her to play like this for too long, though: the physical effort of maintaining her balance is tiring, so after 10 minutes or so she’ll be ready for a change.

Fast mover

Once- your baby discovers how to move herself around – whether she’s crawling or shuffling – she’ll move faster very quickly. It’ll be a question of now you see her, now you don’t, so you’ll need to keep a constant eye on her and check there is no danger.

Hand control

As she now begins to spend less time putting things into her mouth and more time exploring them with her hands, her hand movements are becoming agile and controlled. You may notice, for example, that she turns the pages of her books herself, even though it’s usually several at a time. And she can delicately guide small pieces of food accurately into her mouth with her lingers, making mealtimes slightly less messy than before. She can also bang two objects together by holding one in each hand, and watch her have fun with a plastic bowl and wooden spoon.

Pointing

Your baby may be starting to point, which is an important milestone. Controlling the index finger is the first step to mastering a pincer grip -being able to close the thumb and forefinger together to pick up tiny objects. It also helps her communicate with you as she may be able to point out things she wants. Encourage her by looking at books together and pointing at things as you name them. And let her practise picking up tiny things such as raisins or cooked kernels of sweetcorn.

Activities to develop skills

Around this age your baby can start to show off her problem-solving skills – as long as you can resist helping her when she faces a difficulty! Facing everyday challenges will help her work things out for herself.

•    If your baby is becoming mobile, build a miniature mountain of cushions for her to help develop her crawling skills. Peep out from behind the cushions or use a toy to encourage her to climb over them. Her success will give her a real sense of satisfaction, help develop her sense of body strength, balance, and coordination, and prepare her for climbing real stairs.
•    Satisfy your baby’s urge to explore, and her growing ability to problem-solve, with an activity board. Choose a board with cylinders that can whirl, dials that spin, and buttons that squeak. Show her how it works to begin with, and then let her have a go and investigate it in her own time. At first she may only be able to do the simple activities, like sticking her finger in a dial, but during the following months she’ll soon figure out how to work the other activities.

• Playing peekaboo and hide-and-seek with your baby at this age helps teach her about object permanence, and there are lots of variations: cover your head with a towel and let her pull it off, then let her try; hide behind the door with just a hand or toe showing, before popping out and gently surprising her.
•    Fill a basin with water and, using different spoons, cups, and containers, show your baby how she can fill and pour. Emptying and filling games such as this are good for helping your baby practise her hand movements and develop dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Water games are great for bath-time play, too.
•    Learning how to hear different sounds will help develop your baby’s listening skills – and eventually progress her speech. If you play a familiar tune that she’ll recognize on a xylophone or a toy piano, it will spark her interest and may encourage her to try creating some wonderful sounds herself.