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Your baby's age: 9-12 months

Development

Your baby will usually start crawling at this age, and a few will even start walking. Once your baby crawls, she will want to explore everything – it can be very exhausting looking after a baby at this stage. Some babies never start crawling, but shuffle around on their bottoms.

Babies often learn to stand at this stage, using a chair or low table to pull themselves upright. Some will start walking while holding onto furniture.

Your baby’s fine motor skills will improve too. She will pick up objects with her thumb and fingers, and transfer them from one hand to another. She may be able to drink out of a cup without a spout.

Some babies say their first words at this point, usually something simple like “dad” or “no”. Your baby will begin to recognize some words too. She will usually look up when you call her name.

Eating

Your baby will probably be eating three small meals a day by now and not everything has to be mashed or puréed any more. Try and introduce variety into her diet, by offering soups or casseroles, for example. Vegetables you could try include peas, spinach or brussel sprouts. You could offer things like cottage cheese, pasta, white rice and toast. Don’t worry too much if she rejects food – you can try again another time. Avoid foods she could choke on, such as grapes. (Grapes are a particular hazard because they are soft and could stick in a baby’s throat.)

You will probably give her occasional snacks between meals, such as a small sandwich.

As she eats more, she will probably require less breastmilk or formula milk.

Sleeping

At this age, your baby is probably sleeping for about 10 to 12 hours at night and napping twice a day for about an hour or two hours. Some parents find that life is calmer if they have a regular routine, both for bedtimes and for daytime naps.

If your baby still wakes up at night and there is no obvious problem (such as illness or a full nappy), then you could try the techniques already suggested, such as controlled crying. Don’t offer your baby food or milk, though you could try offering water.

There is no golden rule, however, that says your baby has to sleep through the night. If you can cope with cuddling your baby and getting her back to sleep when she wakes up, don’t feel you have to try any techniques to get her to sleep through.

Playing

There are lots of activities that babies enjoy at this age:

Playing with soft bricks
Looking at simple picture books
Banging on toy drums
Peek-a-boo

Make sure you talk to her lots. Nursery rhymes, clapping games and being bounced on your knee are all fun at this age. See "Play" for more information.