9 Months

Your Baby By Nine Months

How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves offers important clues about your child’s development. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age.

Check the milestones your child has reached by the end of 9 months. Take this with you and talk with your child’s doctor at every visit about the milestones your child has reached and what to expect next.

What most babies do by this age:

Social and Emotional

May be afraid of strangers
May be clingy with familiar adults
Has favorite toys

Language/Communication

Understands “no”
Makes a lot of different sounds like “mamamama” and “bababababa”
Copies sounds and gestures of others
Uses fingers to point at things

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)

Watches the path of something as it falls
Looks for things she sees you hide
Plays peek-a-boo
Puts things in his mouth
Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
Picks up things like cereal o’s between thumb and index finger

Movement/Physical Development

Stands, holding on
Can get into sitting position
Sits without support
Pulls to stand
Crawls

If You’re Concerned – Act Early

Tell your child’s doctor or nurse if you notice any of these signs of possible developmental delay for this age.

Adapted from CARING FOR YOUR BABY AND YOUNG CHILD: BIRTH TO AGE 5, Fifth Edition, edited by Steven Shelov and Tanya Remer Altmann © 1991, 1993, 1998, 2004, 2009 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and BRIGHT FUTURES: GUIDELINES FOR HEALTH SUPERVISION OF INFANTS, CHILDREN, AND ADOLESCENTS, Third Edition, edited by Joseph Hagan, Jr., Judith S. Shaw, and Paula M. Duncan, 2008, Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics.