Your baby is now 11-month-old! He is on his way to being officially a toddler! He has started to balance his body and use his legs at this stage. This stage shows his eagerness to explore the world around him. Your baby is more mobile. Some dangers to your baby at this stage are risks of falls, poisonous food, and electrical hazards. Thus, it is necessary that you are always on guard as to his movements. Otherwise, baby-proof your house.
It helps to understand your 11-month-old baby’s developmental milestones and activities to be guided with what skills he manifests during this stage so that your knowledge and expectations lead you to an enjoyable time with your 11-month-old baby and a safe environment for him as you prepare what needs to be prepared.
Developmental Milestones
Nothing beats preparations and expectations. Get geared up for his milestones!
Motor Skills
Your baby stands upright most of the time
During this stage, your baby explores around while holding onto furniture or your hands. They even try walking on their own. Some babies also try to stand on their toes or on one leg.
Your baby climbs on things
Your baby becomes adventurous during this month! He climbs on practically everything like stairs, tables, countertops, crib railing, and other things.
Your baby perfects his pincer grasp
As your baby perfects his grasp, he opens anything that he sees with knobs and handles such as cabinets, drawers, and similar ones. Ensure locking up chemicals, cleaning products, or cosmetics that may cause harm to him.
Sensory Development
Your baby bounces to music
Your baby’s body becomes aware of the sound of music. He is aware now of some popular nursery rhymes.
Your baby vocalizes songs
He starts to vocalize songs since he can already say one or two words. Research shows that exposing your baby to music and dance from a young age improves his music and speech development (Grant, 2018).
Social-Emotional and Cognitive Skills
Your baby starts to talk
Your baby continues to build communication skills. Plus, he is starting to understand more of what you are saying, says Dr. Segura.
Your baby becomes conscious of objects
Your baby increases his consciousness of objects around him. He explores what the objects are for and tries them on himself.
He becomes more communicative
Your baby uses his hands more to communicate. He also responds to simple directions.
Activities with Your 11-Month-old Baby
These activities are opportunities for bonding with your baby and discovering more of his skills.
1. Stand, Walk, and Play
As he has started to explore things and places, active toys, blocks, and books are appropriate to play with. An activity gym is a great way to have them interact with different objects and stimulate their minds.
2. Crawl and Climb
Your baby does more activities on crawling and searching for toys. These activities make him stronger in the process.
3. Read and Listen to Stories
A good prop is a puppet and your voice and your gestures. Doing this attracts his attention and makes him enjoy more of what you are doing together!
4. Plan a Trip or an Outing
As your baby’s mobility increases, you can go to a grocery for a short trip, to the local park, to the library, or to the museum for an experience. If you want to stay at home here are some ideas for playsets for your backyard.
Cecilia Yeung is a successful entrepreneur and product researcher. She has a background in psychology and children’s education. As a working mother of two, she loves to write about children’s education and development.