Babies
9-12 Months

Your baby will be experiencing massive leaps in brain development and growth. For the first time babies can be intentional about their behaviour, e.g. playing the ‘dropsie’ game where they will drop something with the anticipation of you picking it up and giving it back (where it is likely to be repeated for much fun!).

The big leaps in brain development may mean some babies feel overwhelmed by the new feelings, learning and experiences and may need extra attention and reassurance. This might happen overnight also, even if babies have not needed this attention previously.

Memory development becomes more sophisticated, and babies are able to recall information and images without any cues.

Your baby may be moving around, crawling or pulling themselves up to standing at this age, so you may need to ‘baby-proof’ your home!

Most babies are having two daytime sleeps during the day, and the rest of their sleep overnight. When babies are closer to 12 months of age they may only be having one day sleep.

About 50% of babies can self-soothe at times, and may be sleeping 5 to 6 hour stretches overnight.

Babies start to understand frequently used words and phrases (such as mum, dad, eat, drink, bedtime).

As your baby becomes more intentional you may have to start setting some gentle boundaries or limits. E.g. When do we say ‘no’ to our baby? What do we do if our baby hits or bites us? It is worth considering what these limits are in your household and family so all family members are on the same page.