Crawler: Your 08-month-old
As your baby starts to crawl, this is another big month for locomotion. Although most babies naturally go through this scooting phase, some never learn to crawl—or only crawl briefly before learning how to walk.
In a matter of weeks your baby may also begin to try to pull herself up and stand alone, or move into a sitting position from her tummy.
Your baby’s growth
At 8 months old, babies usually range from 25.25 inches long and 15.25 pounds (10th percentile) to 28.5 inches long and 20.5 pounds (90th percentile).
This month your baby may:
- "rake" small objects toward her and pick them up as her coordination skills and dexterity continue to develop
- clap and bang objects together as her muscle coordination improves
- use her arms to invite someone to pick her up
- reach for the spoon when you feed her at mealtimes
- turn away when no longer hungry
- babble random consonants: "di, ba, ma"
- understand "no" (although your baby may understand the meanings of other words by now, the word "no" is key because she’ll also understand the actions she must take when hearing it)
- understand a rough idea of "in" and "out" (the first instance of recognizing a spatial relationship)
- add tongue movement to change the sound of a word
What you can do
As your baby’s manual dexterity improves, you can begin to let her feed herself. Provide a cup and spoon, but keep in mind that things will get a little messy.
