The first year of a child’s life is a difficult time, at the same time happy and nervous for mothers and fathers. The baby is changing before our eyes, he has a lot to learn, in order to eventually turn into a fun, healthy “year-old”. The turning point of the second half of the child’s development is 8 months. What should a baby be able to do at this age? Let's talk about it.
Child development at 8 months: height and weight
These indicators depend on a number of factors: heredity, individual characteristics, diet. Nevertheless, we can talk about the end of the period of rapid physical development. The weight of the child at 8 months increases by an average of 400-500 g and varies between 8-9 kg. In this case, deviations of 1 kg are permissible. Usually boys are larger, girls are more miniature.
With the correct development of a child of 8 months, growth increases by 1.5-2 cm. Boys grow to 66.5-73 cm. Girls are slightly behind: their growth ranges from 66 to 72 cm.
Physical development and daily routine
If your baby is hyperactive - this is absolutely normal. Difficult times come for mom, as the child can now stay awake for 5-6 hours, and all this time he explores the world around him. Night sleep should be at least 8 hours. In the afternoon, the baby sleeps twice for 1.5-2 hours. True, some children have enough and 40 minutes. You can stack the baby 1 time, but then he should sleep about 4 hours.
The child eats 5 times a day, the intervals between feedings are 4 hours. Twice a day with crumbs need to walk. If at the same time the baby is awake, actively communicate with him, pay attention to interesting sounds, objects, smells. Accustom to the swing, it is useful for the development of the vestibular apparatus. Find a platform where many young mothers walk. Children like to look at and touch each other, tinkering with toys together.
Many kids already have their teeth cut. At 8 months, the infant may have 2 front incisors on the upper and lower jaws. Be sure to purchase teething toys. You can also scratch the gums with a cracker, a piece of apple. In the clinic you may be advised special ointments or gels to relieve inflammation.
Food
The development and nutrition of an 8-month-old baby is closely related. The baby should receive a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. Breastfeeding at this age should not be stopped, but the proportion of mother's milk is only one third of the total amount eaten per day.
The child is already familiar with milk porridge (buckwheat, oatmeal, corn, rice, semolina), with vegetable and fruit purees, cottage cheese, kefir, juice. It's time to introduce meat into the diet. Choose low-fat varieties: chicken, turkey, rabbit. Since the baby is just learning to chew, the meat is crushed into crumbs and mixed with mashed vegetables. Another good option is meat broth soup.
By the end of 8 months you can get acquainted with low-fat fish (hake, pollock, pike perch). They are boiled, crushed in a blender, cleaned of bones, seasoned with milk, vegetable oil, mixed with mashed potatoes. Fish should appear on the table 2 times a week. Phosphorus is very useful for a baby of 8 months.
Development and nutrition are inseparable, so teach the baby to wash their hands before eating, drink from a cup. Remove books and toys from the table for meals. Here's what the kid’s menu should look like:
- the first feeding is milk;
- breakfast - porridge, half the yolk, fruit drink or juice;
- lunch - soup or vegetable puree with meat, compote;
- afternoon snack - cottage cheese, fruit puree or milk;
- dinner - milk or kefir.
Motor skills
What should a child be able to do at 8 months? Development proceeds normally if the baby:
- flips from side to side, from back to stomach and back;
- sits down and lays down on his own initiative;
- actively creeps;
- gets up, holding his hands on a support;
- moves along the wall of the crib;
- steps over when an adult holds it under the armpits;
- takes toys in both hands.
It is important for a baby to master dynamic actions. Teach him to sit, not sit, stand, and not stand in one place. Attracting attention to the toy, encourage to crawl to it, to walk, holding on to the support. The more the baby crawls, the better. Catch the ball, look for the object that mom hid under a scarf and put it at a distance of 2 meters from the baby. Children really like "catch-ups" when an adult tries to catch a creeping baby, and then kisses him, tickles him or throws him up.
Fine motor skills
The real revolution takes place in the development of a baby of 8 months. What should tiny fingers be able to do? Right now they are mastering two captures:
- tweezers (thumb and forefinger close, capturing an object);
- plucked (only the fingertips touch).
If earlier the baby took objects with his whole palm, now he acts more selectively. At this age, give him ribbons, bright shoelaces. Pull them out of the handles (“look, creeps away!”), Prompting the crumbs to hold the escaping object with their fingers. Play with shreds of fabric of different textures. Put small items in the bottle through the neck. Fill the bucket with small toys, teach the child to pour them out: "Buh! Fell!". Then fold everything back.
Teach the baby to put on and take off the rings from the pyramid, play with the inserts, hide the machine in the "tunnel" (inverted box with a hole) and ask to pull it out by pulling the ribbon. Make sure that the toys have a different shape, texture, color. This is the key to successful sensory development of the baby.
Emotional and social behavior
At this age, an important round of development begins. What can a child do at 8 months? He is actively forming an attachment to loved ones, and especially to his mother. The baby needs to feel loved. He reacts very painfully to quarrels in the family, to parting with his mother. Therefore, do not swear with him, communicate in a positive tone, do not leave one for a long time.
Children very well distinguish between "their" and "strangers", they feel the attitude of a new person to themselves. Often strangers scare babies. Help them get comfortable while being around. If a person is friendly, the child will soon agree to play with him, will go hand in hand.
Finally, the kids begin to understand the words "no," "no." They rejoice if praised, and offended when scolded. Infant is only learning to control its behavior. Therefore, switching attention at this age is more effective than a ban.
Another innovation is the emergence of "business" communication. The child imitates the actions of adults. He rolls the ball, picks up a spoon, copies movements, listening to the amusement. With pleasure, he fulfills the requests: “give”, “take”, “show”, etc.
Speech development
In infants, the passive vocabulary is actively replenished. They know the names of familiar objects, show them in response to the question “where?”, And respond to their name. It is important to constantly talk with the baby, giving him time to answer, comment on what is happening, consider pictures in books.
The presence of complicated babble is a sign of the correct development of the child at 8 months. Girls are usually more talkative than boys. Toddlers first pronounce syllables ("ma", "ha", "de"), then chains of syllables with different intonations. By the end of the month there will be complex combinations: "ata", "ama". Such long-awaited “mother”, “father”, “woman” can slip in the speech, but the child does not yet give them the corresponding meaning. "Mom" can be anyone who is bent over the bed.
Repeat after the baby his syllables with different intonations. A healthy child will enter into a dialogue, will copy new sounds after the adult.
Useful games
Scientists have proven that all kinds of developmental programs for babies do not contribute to the development of speech. Children need contact with close adults. Introduce your baby to the following games:
- "Where?". Look in the mirror for mom, dad and baby. Find familiar objects in the room, clearly and slowly pronouncing their names: "Where is the kitty meow meow? Here it is! Where is the BBC machine? Find it soon!". Choose the onomatopoeias that your baby can make.
- "Speech bouncers." Sit on a fitball or sofa with your baby in your arms. Jump, repeating various syllables: "Gop-gop. Ta-ta-ta. Du-du-du. Tpru-tpru. Mu-mu." Pause so your child can speak after you.
- "Song". Hum any tune, rattling to the beat with a rattle. Then hide the toy behind your back. "Oh, there is no rattle! Vanya, where is the rattle? Here it is!" Perform the song again, singing one syllable. Choose the one that is available to the baby. Hide the rattle at the end. The game continues until the baby is tired.
Intellectual development of the child at 8 months
At this age, infants begin to use gestures. They wave their hand when they say "bye-bye", rub their eyes at the word "sleep". If the baby wants some object, he is able to show it. Many children try to manipulate adults, testing their strength.
Kids are actively developing memory. If you distract them, they can return to the interrupted game. The next day, the child reproduces the fun he likes, remembers which button to press so that the machine flashes its headlights. Looking at the photo album, he recognizes family members.
Spatial thinking is improving. Children distinguish familiar objects at a distance, turned in profile, upside down. They like toys that can be put apart. A good gift will be a matryoshka, a pyramid, large designers, cubes.
All children like repetitive games when they throw a ball out of the crib or crush a tower of cubes dozens of times. So babies learn to predict the results of a particular action.
Girls and boys: is there a difference?
Scientists assert that gender differences affect the development of the child. Girls, at 8 months old, learn walking skills, actively babble, well distinguish the emotions of other people, more often look into a person’s face.
Boys at this time only learn to get up, lag behind in speech development, recognize emotions worse. But they more actively move around the apartment, prefer noisy games, show interest in the study of surrounding objects. They like mechanical toys, designers.
According to studies, boys are more attached to their mother, they are more sensitive to parting with her, easily irritated. Girls are calmer, respond more quickly to a comforting coo, but are more often afraid of loud noises. Of course, these statements must be treated with a share of healthy skepticism. After all, every child is an individual.
Troubling signs
However, there are symptoms that cannot be attributed to the characteristics of individual development. A child of 8 months needs urgent care if:
- You do not notice his physical activity. Such kids do not try to roll over, sit down, stand on their feet.
- No interest in toys. The baby does not pick them up, refuses to play with his mother, is naughty.
- There is no babble, no attempt to pronounce syllables, imitate adults.
- The face of the baby does not express emotions.
- The baby does not recognize relatives, is frightened of them.
Such behavior may indicate a serious developmental delay. The cause can be either a disease of the nervous system or emotional trauma.
The development of a child of 8 months largely depends on the microclimate in the family. Constantly communicating with the baby, watching him, you will notice the lag in time and quickly adjust it.