Did You Know at 6 Months I Can

Language Development

• Babble the p and m sounds
• String together vowels like “ah,” “oh,” and “eh”
• Make sounds in response to other sounds
• Express happiness and displeasure
• Point to objects
• Make sounds like “bababa,” “dadada,” and “mama”
• Understand “no”

Talk, sing, and read to me so my language will continue to develop. Play repeating games with me by talking to me and allowing me to try and repeat your facial expressions and words. When you speak to me, use different voice levels and speak either quickly or slowly. Also, try to mimic my sounds.

Cognitive Development

• Respond when I hear my name
• Search for things that fall out of sight
• Show interest in different objects
• Look around to see things in my environment
• React to sounds of different levels
• Start to increase my memory for learning

Point out items nearby and identify them for me. If we are out running errands, identify new objects to help me learn.

Physical Development

• Sit up while using my arms for support
• Scoot and crawl
• Roll over from stomach to back
• Bring hands together quickly
• Rock back and forth
• Begin to pass objects from one
  hand to the other

To support my physical development, make sure to give me safe toys and plenty of room to move and explore. Make sure I am eating the right foods. I should still be breastfed or using formula. It is important to keep me up-to-date with my shots. To help me begin to develop fine motor skills, give me something thin and small (something that is not a choking hazard) that is easy for me to grab hold of, like a cracker or rattler, to help strengthen my grasp. Also, pass two toys between you and me. This will help me learn to grab one object while I hold onto the other.

Social/Emotional Development

• Recognize familiar faces and strangers
• Feed off others’ emotions
• Begin to play well with others, especially my caregivers
• Look at myself in the mirror

To help me become familiar with new, strange faces, make a puppet from a paper bag. It will interest me in other faces and help me not be afraid of strange faces. Also, expose me to new, exciting things by placing three or four toys in front of me. If there are too many, it may confuse me.

Sleep helps me grow and develop. I should get 12–15 hours of sleep a day. To reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), place me on my back in an empty crib.

Play with me!

Place a small, nonbreakable mirror in front of me. Point out what we see and parts of my body. Encourage me to repeat you.

Help me explore the outside world. Collect different leaves and place them between two sheets of contact paper. Trim the edges around the leaves and allow me to safely investigate the real leaves.

Teach me this “Open and Shut Them” fingerplay:

Open, shut them (open and close hands)

Open, shut them (open and close hands)

Give a little clap, clap, clap (clap hands with each “clap”)

Open, shut them (open and close hands)

Open, shut them (open and close hands)

Put them in your lap (hide them in lap)

You can also teach me “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”!

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Here are some books I may like:

All of Baby, Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler

Peek-a-Who by Nina Laden

Baby Touch and Feel Animals by Dorling Kindersley

Keep me safe!

• Since I am moving around and exploring, make sure to keep all electrical sockets covered.
• Make sure my toys have no sharp edges.
• Isolate me from dangerous areas. Put up baby gates near stairways and open doorways that are not safe areas for me.
• Put locks on cabinet doors.
• Keep guns, knives, and other dangerous equipment in a locked cabinet, out of reach, and out of sight. Make sure guns are unloaded and that I am unable to pull up on shelves where dangerous equipment is located.
• Since I can roll over, do not leave me unattended on elevated areas, like a bed or changing table.
• Keep breakable items on high shelves and out of my reach.
• Keep me away from hot things, like heaters and stoves.

Safety note: Any toys or materials that can fit inside a paper towel roll can be choking hazards for infants and toddlers. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, any object handled by young children should be at least 1.25 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches long.

Remember that each child develops at his or her own rate, and this handout is meant only as a guide of what to expect of your child’s development at this age.

For more information about parenting and developmental milestones, contact your county Extension office or visit extension.msstate.edu.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics. 2010. Policy statement—prevention of choking among children.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Birth to one year: What should my child be able to do?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your baby at 6 months.

National Sleep Foundation. 2020. How much sleep do we really need?

Safe to Sleep. 2018. Babies need tummy time!

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Publication 3908 (POD-08-24)

By Louise E. Davis, PhD, former Extension Professor; Elizabeth Thorne, PhD, Project Manager; and Mary Hannah Mills, MS, Project Manager, Human Sciences.