Baby development: Your 7 month old baby
At seven months, your baby becomes independent and develops its own
personality. Whether it's picking up his favorite toy, walking, or crawling
from place to place, your 7-month-old is learning to control his environment
and is discovering that control can be fun. Over the next month, you should
find plenty of opportunities to continue encouraging your child's mobility,
creativity, and curiosity.
Motor skills
Seven-month-old babies learn to move, although not everyone does it the
same way. Your baby can crawl, waddle, roll over, crawl, or a combination of
all four movements. You can encourage this new mobility by placing toys out of
your child's reach. Make sure the child is safe during the examination by
removing any toys or other items with small or sharp pieces.
Since the child can now sit unaided, reach for and pick up toys, play
requires much more independence than before. Give them toys with sounds and
textures that they can hold, flip, and shake. This is their way of connecting
with the world! They put everything they catch into their mouths, so make sure
there is no choking hazard.
The ability to hold and drink from a cup and possibly eat with a spoon
means they are also more independent when eating. They may begin to use their
thumb and forefinger to pick up small objects such as bites.
Your 7-month-old should now be strong enough to stand on his feet while
supporting him. Practicing this skill will strengthen your leg muscles and help
prepare them for walking.
Teething
Between the fifth and seventh month of your baby's life, you should see
the first buds of teeth emerging from the gums. You will know that your baby is
teething because he will drool more and probably be more restless than usual.
To reduce gum discomfort, have your child chew on a cold washcloth or teether.
As soon as the first teeth erupt, brush them daily with a soft baby toothbrush,
water, and a grain-sized drop of toothpaste.
You will most likely see the bottom two middle teeth appear first,
followed by the top two middle teeth. The lower and upper posterior teeth
should fuse within the next 3-4 months. Don't worry if your baby is 7 months
old and doesn't have teeth yet. Teething patterns vary greatly from child to
child. Some babies are born with teeth, while others don't start teething until
they are a year old.
Eating
Your seven-month-old should have started eating solid foods by now. Now
you can probably enter larger products. Offer them 4 tablespoons of
iron-fortified cereal daily. Adding these thicker foods will help your baby get
used to the new texture and learn how to chew. Whenever you introduce a new
food, wait a few days before trying anything else and watch for signs of an
allergy such as diarrhea, vomiting, rashes, or wheezing.
Communication
At seven months, babies begin to understand the meaning of language.
Your child should respond when you say "no", although children this
age do not always follow this command. You should also receive a response each
time you say the child's name.
At seven months, babies become experts at non-verbal communication. They
can create all sorts of facial expressions, and they can tell how you feel by
tone of voice and facial expressions. Your child also needs to communicate
vocally, making many different sounds.
Some parents use baby sign language at this age to help understand their
little ones. If you want to try:
- Teach signs for practical words like more, mom, sleep, diaper and done.
- Practice regularly to help your child remember the signs.
- Continue to talk to the baby so that his speech does not linger.
- Ask your partner and other caregivers to use the signs you taught your child to get them to understand what they want.
The memory of a 7-month-old child has developed dramatically, and with
it comes the concept of object permanence. Just a few months ago, when you hid
an object or your face while playing hide and seek, your little one thought he
was gone forever. Now they understand that people and objects still exist even
when they are hidden.
Object permanence means that when you're out of sight at work or running
errands, you haven't lost your child's mind. At seven months, your baby may
start to worry about separation, cry and cling to you every time you try to
leave, or resist being left with a babysitter. Since the familiar is more
comfortable for your child, stranger anxiety can also become a problem at this
age.
Your child is likely to be separated from separation anxiety at age 2 or
earlier. At the moment:
- Try to schedule the start of classes when your child has already taken a nap, eaten and is less grumpy.
- Let the new nanny come early. This way you can play together and give your child time to warm up with the caregiver before you run off.
- Your child will follow you looking for clues, so show her that you love and trust the new person.
- Say a short and sweet goodbye and ask the caregiver to distract your child with a toy or a book until you are discharged.
- And don't feel guilty.
Tips for your baby's seventh month:
- Now that you've switched to solid foods, involve your child in family meals by pulling the high chair up to the dining table.
- Make a break a regular part of every day. A tiny spider, a peek-a-boo, a pig, and other toys from your childhood are great ways to have fun with your child.
- Get on all fours and make sure the playground is out of the reach of children. if your baby is not yet mobile, it will be very soon.
- It's not too early for games. At this age, babies are more likely to be engrossed in looking at and touching each other for a short time, and then happily playing on their own. The kids don't really play together until later.