Physical development of a child at 8 months
At eight months, boys' height reaches from 66.8 cm to 73.1 cm, weight from 7.5 kg to 10.0 kg. Girls' height is from 66.0 cm to 72.5 cm, weight from 7.2 kg to 9.3 kg. The head circumference of small representatives of the stronger sex is from 42.0 cm to 47.0 cm, the weaker sex - from 40.7 cm to 46.0 cm. A child at 8 months gains 400-500 grams in weight, and gains about 2 grams in height cm.
At 8 months, the baby may already have up to 4 teeth (front incisors). But it’s not scary if at 8 months the first tooth just appears or there are no teeth yet: this process depends on genetic predisposition. Sooner or later, a child's teeth will come out.
Movement
The little one easily changes position, turns over from his stomach to his back and vice versa, sits down, stands up. The little explorer actively moves on all fours. The level of a skill directly depends on the age at which the child mastered it.
As a rule, at eight months the baby is just choosing a convenient way to move. He can stand on all fours for a long time and sway, move sideways or along an unpredictable trajectory.
If the child has not yet begun to crawl, it is time to intervene in natural development. The fact is that this skill in children is the first step towards walking.
It strengthens the spine and teaches the baby to support his weight.
In addition, the ability to move independently is accompanied by psychological development. The location and its choice now depends not only on the parent, but also on the toddler himself! What should I do to help him?
- Strengthen your muscles. Any methods are suitable - gymnastics, massage, fitball exercises and other developmental activities.
- Show. Many children begin to crawl after seeing a “live” example. If you don't have little friends who walk on all fours, spread the enthusiasm yourself. Such gymnastics will be useful for you too.
- Get interested. Why crawl if there is no incentive? Place a toy or other item of interest next to the baby (usually a mobile phone, remote control or mother’s cosmetic bag).
Don't listen to those who talk about how happy their children are who have learned to walk without crawling. Such an omission threatens serious problems of the musculoskeletal system in the future.
What can a baby do at 8 months?
A child's development at 8 months can occur more rapidly, or vice versa, at a smoother pace. However, every month parents become interested in what a child can do at 8 months:
- Tries to speak. Now his babble is speech-like, has intonation and is somewhat similar to the speech of an adult, but the child is still difficult to understand.
- He claps his hands and puts the circles into a pyramid.
- Your speech is becoming more understandable to the child. He is already ready to respond to simple requests: give him a toy, take a cube.
- Feels the music and can move to the beat.
- A child at 8 months experiences a strong emotional attachment to his mother, experiences fear and anxiety when she is not around or she leaves. At this age, the bond between child and mother is very strong. The baby will feel safe only next to her. If a child of 8 months is capricious and cries in your absence, this may mean not only that he is hungry or something hurts, but also that he feels restless and anxious. The baby will fall asleep faster if his mother is nearby.
- Knows people by sight, can identify acquaintances and strangers.
- Reacts to sharp and unusual sounds (claps, barking, ringing).
- Can stand up with the help of parents or against a support, and walk with support (however, not all children can walk with support or stand against a support at 8 months)
- Hand motor skills develop better: the baby can hold an object not only with all fingers, but, for example, with the thumb and forefinger.
- Movements become more coordinated, he crawls more skillfully and quickly.
- Able to chew and bite non-solid food.
- Knows his name and responds to it.
- Your speech is becoming more understandable to the child. He is already ready to respond to simple requests: give him a toy, take a cube.
- There is an increased perception of loud noise (vacuum cleaner, hair dryer). Most children at eight months of age begin to become frightened by these devices.
- Having noticed a new object, the child grabs it, checks what it feels like, and begins to stroke it with his entire palm or finger.
- With the help of gestures, a child at 8 months asks to be brought closer to an object of interest to him. Interest appears in the windows, refrigerator, cabinets, the baby pulls his hands towards them, trying to open them.
- The child's own reflection in the mirror makes him smile.
- He knows what a ban is and is offended if he hears strict notes in a conversation with him.
- A child at 8 months adapts to the visual perception of objects from different angles. He already knows how to recognize objects known to him from a distance, even if they are located: sideways, upside down. By this age, children understand the characteristics of things and distinguish them by color, texture, softness, shape, and can handle them in accordance with their properties: a ball rolls, paper tears, a string twitches.
- For 10 minutes, and sometimes longer, the baby has been doing something independently. Even if he is temporarily distracted from his activity, after some time he will be able to continue playing again.
- The child has a goal to learn something new or achieve success in this, he begins to react with positive or negative emotions to his successes and failures. At this age, there is a need to support the child in his endeavors and praise him for new achievements.
- A child at 8 months is trying to demonstrate his skills in manipulating loved ones. In this case, you cannot give in to him; you must strictly show him the limits of permitted behavior.
The child shows a need for emotional contact with other children: he can look at them, smile at them and even try to touch them.
These points indicate everything that a child can do at 8 months. If he doesn’t know how to do something, this in no way means that he is behind: some children develop faster, others slower. This does not mean that someone is smarter or stupider, or that someone is raised better, and someone worse. Of course, if, for example, a child does not speak at 3 years old, this is bad, but if he does not speak at 8 months, you just need to wait and conduct developmental activities with him and read books.
At 8 months, a child can be enrolled in early development groups. This will be useful for both the baby and his parents. But the most important thing that a child can receive, both at 8 months and at any other age, is parental love, attention and support. If you give your baby enough time, he will feel loved and delight his parents with his successes.
Baby development test at 8 months
- It is necessary to put the child down and show him a toy that is distant from him, he must reach for it. A child at 8 months should sit up independently;
- Keep the toy near the child, after he manages to grab it, try to take it away. At this age, the child should show a reaction of resistance in the form of taking away, pushing away parental hands, in the form of protest;
- When, during a game of hide and seek, you unexpectedly appear for the baby, this should make the baby laugh;
- Looking at the photos, the baby recognizes loved ones in them and can say: “pa”, “ma”;
- The moment comes for your baby to copy your actions: if you show him how to play with a ball on the floor, he will immediately begin to repeat;
- Say the names of several objects that surround the child. He should try to find them with his eyes or point to them with his hand.
New hobbies in the eighth month
At the eighth month, the baby begins to develop some ideas about time and space. The sense of time is formed by the rhythm of sleep, feeding, walking, bathing. From the first days, his mother helped him most of all to navigate in space - she was the center of his Universe. Watching her, listening to her voice, he comprehends the concepts: nearby, close, further, very far away. But now he began to undertake some independent experiments. You probably already had the opportunity to trace his new “hobby” - he loved throwing toys out of the playpen or crib. He drops it and looks down with the greatest interest, listening to the sound of the fall. You will pick up the toy, hand it to him, and he will happily throw it again. This can be repeated until you get tired. But you won’t get angry and tell him “no.” You will be glad that the child is tireless in his inspiration as an explorer.
Another discovery of the eighth month: it turns out that an object that is not visible still exists. You have probably already played hide and seek with your baby, either covering your face with a scarf, or revealing it. And every time I am perplexed - where did mom go? - was replaced by happiness: here she is! How tensely he waited for his mother’s appearance, until one day he pulled the edge of the scarf and pulled it off. The effect is stunning!
Try to check how much your child’s search activity has increased. Unnoticed, take the cube from him that he played with and cover it with some kind of napkin. Most likely, the baby will begin to look around in bewilderment, and then carefully lift the napkin and, triumphantly, take the cube. And there is something to celebrate about - after all, this is another step in mastering the outside world!
How to develop a baby at 8 months
Loving parents should devote 20-30 minutes a day for the full development of a child at 8 months. We bring to your attention a small list of how to develop a child at 8 months:
- If a child at 8 months has not yet learned to crawl on all fours, you can train him in water. The next time you bathe, you need to put the baby on his tummy in an empty bathtub, and open the tap, the water will gradually fill the bathtub. As the water level rises, the child will attempt to rise to his elbows and knees. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the child does not choke on water.
- There is another way to help your baby crawl on all fours: walking on your hands. You should raise his legs, at this time the child should stand on his arms. Rock your child back and forth. When he gets tired, you need to finish the exercise.
- To improve a child’s fine motor skills, you should invite him to touch various objects, toys that have buttons and locks, pyramids, soft books, etc.
- A child of 8 months tends to repeat all the actions of adults, so the mother needs to show the baby how to play with new toys. You should show your child how to roll cars, rock a doll, play a drum, he will repeat everything after you.
- You can use several toys of the same type when playing, for example, multi-colored cubes, balls, rings. When they are folded, the child will develop a knowledge of the connection between them.
- Having assembled a small pyramid of cubes, you can show your child how to take it apart.
- Show your child photographs of your family, let him show all the people he knows in it and himself. The baby will love this activity.
- Play music for your child every day and dance with him. This can be music with different rhythms - classics, songs for children and modern songs.
- Train your baby's vestibular apparatus by lifting the child and lowering him. You can spin around with your child.
- The baby would benefit from a shelf for books that would be at the level of his height. This shelf should be filled with bright books for children; let the child choose the book he wants to “read”.
- Don't forget about games when bathing. Let your baby play with toys in the bath, clap his hands in the water, fill the molds with water and pour it into them.
- Do not forbid your child to play with safe kitchen utensils (ladles, containers, lids, etc.).
- A good toy for a child would be a real phone that has been disconnected from the network in advance. Let the baby pick up the phone and “talk.”
- When walking with your child, focus his attention on new sounds made by vehicles, birds, cats. Say the name of the object that makes the sound.
- Introduce your baby to the animal world. Buy toy animals made of plastic or rubber, name them and imitate their sounds. You can study animals with the help of books and on a walk.
- You can give your child a wooden spoon and other objects that can be used to knock. In this way, he will be able to understand that objects not only look different, but also do not sound the same.
- In front of your child, hide the toy under the blanket, and then invite him to find it.
Games
The eighth month of life is a period of new opportunities for children. Now your baby is able to grasp and hold objects using the “tweezers” method, that is, with two fingers. This suggests that he can do a lot of new things - control small parts, disassemble toys.
Fine motor skills need to be developed. You can start classes with the baby - make simple applications, get acquainted with plasticine. It is believed that the more skillfully a little man controls his fingers, the better he speaks.
Favorite hobbies of the eight-month-old baby:
- move objects from one place to another (favorite thing is a box);
- knocking toys against each other;
- spread food on the table, clothes, body (familiarity with consistency);
- throw objects and watch them fall.
Such activities have a beneficial effect on the growth of the baby’s intelligence and satisfy the research interest. So encourage these fun activities. Patiently pick up the rattles, watch how the baby sits and knocks on the pan with a spoon, and transfers small toys into your shoes.
Nutrition of a child at 8 months of development
At the 8th month of life, it is already worth introducing meat into the baby’s complementary feeding diet - a valuable product for a growing body, rich in various vitamins and microelements. Minerals such as phosphorus, iron and potassium strengthen the child’s immunity, maintain normal levels of hemoglobin in the blood, and help proper physical and psychological development. And the article about feeding a child at 8 months will help you create a menu for your child and find out what foods can be included in complementary foods.
Nutrition
If complementary foods are introduced to a child at 6 months, then by 8 months he should already be eating one-ingredient vegetable and fruit purees and a variety of cereals. Now you can let your child try beef and turkey purees. And also by the end of the month you can gradually introduce dairy products into your diet: cottage cheese, kefir. You also need to continue to introduce your baby to various vegetables and fruits. Now the puree can already contain several components. Before introducing new foods into your child’s diet, you should consult your pediatrician.
8 month old baby's daily routine
The daily routine of an 8-month-old baby is different in that the period of active wakefulness prevails over sleep time.
- From 6:00 to 8:30 - Rise, first meal, morning procedures and light massage, followed by a walk in the fresh air.
- 8:30-10:00 — The time of the first sleep can be combined with a walk.
- 10:00-10:30 — Second meal.
- 10:30-14:00 — Active activities that include morning exercises, massage and games for general development.
- 14:00-14:30 — Third feeding.
- 14:30-16:00 — Second nap during the day, preferably while walking.
- 16:00-18:00 — Time for active leisure: learning about the world around you, development activities and physical exercise.
- 18:00-18:30 — Fourth meal.
- 18:30-20:00 — An evening walk.
- 20:00-22:00 — Quiet games with the family, evening bathing for the baby.
- 22:00-22:30 — Meal.
- 22:30-6:00 — Night sleep time.
A child at 8 months has a phase of shallow and deep sleep, which is already more similar to adult sleep. If the baby is fast asleep, then he has no reaction to external stimuli; his reflex reactions at this time are significantly reduced. During night sleep, brain activity is reduced to a minimum.
- A child's night sleep at 8 months is the longest period of rest, as a rule, it is about 8 hours;
- A baby's daytime sleep at this age has two phases. Most children switch to two daytime naps lasting one and a half to two hours, although there are children who sleep for only 40 minutes. Many children at 8 months switch to one daytime nap, the duration of which is about 4 hours;
- In total, a child needs 11-13 hours of sleep during the day.
New positions
By the eighth month of life, the child begins to try to maintain balance in an upright position, standing on two legs. Of course, if your weight allows it. Fat women usually master this position later, because it is not easy for them to hold their body.
If the baby stands with support, great. No? So I'm not ready. Do not try to teach a little person to stand up on his own at this age; he will master this skill when the muscles are developed enough to support his weight.
Is your baby not sitting up yet? Most likely, he will master this skill any day now.
Check how ready the baby is. Lay him on his back, grab him by the arms and let him pull himself up. If your toddler does not sit down, bring this to the attention of your pediatrician. Perhaps the issue is weak muscle tone, which gymnastics and massage will help eliminate.
Remember that the back of children at this age is still very weak. Even if the child sits independently, he does this for no longer than 5 minutes. There is no need to teach him to hold the position even longer. It is also not recommended to place the baby in pillows or other soft objects if he still does not hold his back well.
Some useful tips for the 8th month of development
- To help your child fall asleep faster, you need to give him a short massage before putting him to bed. Massage his legs, arms, stroke his tummy.
- To potty train your child faster, choose a brightly colored accessory. This will attract the baby and interest him.
- Since the child is already crawling well and walking a little, secure all corners, wires and sockets, remove all heavy, small and fragile objects from the access area. To reduce your child’s interest in dangerous objects, you can make a special educational board with your own hands.
- From 8 months, a child can already draw on paper with his fingers. But the paints are not at all safe, and children always try to taste everything. Therefore, fruit puree is a good alternative. With it, a child can safely create masterpieces.
