Parent guides · 9 months
Your tenth month, day by day
Days 271 to 300: pulling up and getting down, cruising, the push box, walking's honest range, the pincer, letting go on purpose, pointing, hand it to me, waving, first words, separation anxiety, child care, nights, cups and bottles, cow's milk, finger foods, water, hot drinks, medicines, screens, and three hundred days, with one new thing to try every day.
Every note draws on the 7 to 12 months guide and cites its sources. Babies don’t keep calendars: read each day as “around now”, and let your pediatrician’s read of your baby beat any note.
Week 37: up and along
The twelve-month frame, pulling up, getting down, cruising, push the box, walking's honest range, and shoes still no.
Day 271Month tenNine months old today. The 12-month list is the new frame, read as 'by 1 year, most babies'; what the 9-month visit left you with; and corrected age, still.Try: The twelve-month frame
Day 272Pulling upPulling up to stand is a 12-month milestone that often arrives before the way down. Which furniture is safe to pull on, why the crib is the first gym, and the pull-up spot.Try: The pull-up spot
Day 273Getting downUp is the easy half. How to help a baby who's standing and stuck without lifting them, the honest count of falls once walking starts, and the soft landing.Try: The soft landing
Day 274CruisingWalking while holding on to furniture is a 12-month milestone, and it starts as a sideways shuffle. A line of sturdy furniture, the corners and edges at face height, and the cruise course.Try: The cruise course
Day 275Push the boxCDC suggests letting babies push things around, like empty boxes, and says walkers aren't recommended. Why a diaper box beats a walker, where the route can't go, and the push-the-box walk.Try: Push-the-box walk
Day 276Walking: the honest rangeHealthy babies walk alone anywhere from 8.2 to 17.6 months, steps alone is a 15-month milestone, and many aren't walking at 12. The standing count: seconds at the sofa, written down, no goal.Try: The standing count
Day 277Thirty-seven weeks: shoes, still noThirty-seven weeks. A cruising baby doesn't need shoes until they walk outside, and 'supportive' shoes have no proven benefit. The sock-off hour, and the fit rules for the day shoes do make sense.Try: The sock-off hour
Week 38: hands and gestures
The pincer, letting go on purpose, in the container, pointing, hand it to me, waving and arms up, and the first word.
Day 278The pincerThe thumb-and-finger pincer usually arrives around 9 months; picking up small bits of food with it is a 12-month skill. One pea at a time to invite the pinch, and the floor, cereal to dust balls.Try: The pea pick
Day 279Letting go on purposeOnce a baby can let go on purpose, dropping and throwing become favorite games, and the high-chair edge is the lab bench. Cause and effect, the drop zone, and when to stop picking it up.Try: The drop zone
Day 280In the containerPutting something in a container is a 12-month milestone, and the dump comes before the fill. Wooden spoons, pots, and plastic tubs as the best toys, the low cabinet, and the cup and the block.Try: The cup and the block
Day 281Pointing is comingPointing to ask is a 15-month milestone, but gestures start toward the end of the first year, and what babies point at often becomes their words. The point-and-name walk.Try: The point-and-name walk
Day 282Hand it to mePassing a toy back and forth is a 9-month turn-taking game, and the urge to help is starting: 12-month-olds point to show an adult where a lost object is. Hand it to me, with a thank-you.Try: Hand it to me
Day 283Waving and arms upLifting arms to be picked up is a 9-month milestone; waving bye-bye is a 12-month one. Gestures talk, and babies copy the ones they see. The gesture trio: wave, arms up, head shake, each named.Try: The gesture trio
Day 284Thirty-eight weeks: more sounds, first "word"Syllables like 'ba,' 'da,' and 'ma,' a baby who understands more than they say, and the AAP's rule that any sound used the same way each time counts. The consistent-name day, for every adult.Try: The consistent-name day
Week 39: people and nights
Answering, reading, separation anxiety in full, child care if it's starting, new people, nights, and cups in, bottles out.
Day 285Answering, stillYour baby is now the age of the babies whose babble changed when it was answered right away. Talk with, not at: every babble gets three turns today, and the pause counts as one.Try: The three-turn rule
Day 286Reading, month tenBoard books with simple pictures, one word per page, and a baby who turns the pages now, however badly. The page turn is the activity, and the library is the field trip.Try: The page turn
Day 287Separation anxiety, in fullIt peaks between 10 and 18 months and it's a sign of attachment. Never sneak away, keep the goodbye short and the same, come back when you said. The timed goodbye: two minutes by the clock.Try: The timed goodbye
Day 288Child care, if it's startingIf you can, avoid starting child care in this window or ease in slowly, with extra time at drop-off. A familiar sitter helps; a new one arrives early. The drop-off rehearsal, you in the next room.Try: The drop-off rehearsal
Day 289New people, still slowlyShy, clingy, or fearful around strangers is on the 9-month list, and the fear usually keeps rising for a while. Visitors go slowly, from your arms first. The slow handoff, one step at a time.Try: The slow handoff
Day 290Nights at ten monthsTwelve to 16 hours a day, 9 to 12 at night plus two naps, and separation anxiety bringing the 2 a.m. cry back. Reassure quietly, then leave. The quiet return: two sentences, no lights, every time.Try: The quiet return
Day 291Thirty-nine weeks: cups in, bottles outThe AAP's bottle plan: a cup at meals now, off bottles between 12 and 18 months, meal bottles kept longest, nap and bedtime ones dropped first. The bottle map, written tonight.Try: The bottle map
Week 40 and three hundred days
Cow's milk not yet, finger foods, redirecting, water, hot drinks, medicines and batteries, screens, what changed, and day three hundred.
Day 292Cow's milk: not yetAround 12 months most babies switch to whole milk; before that, no cow's milk or substitutes as a drink. After the first birthday, about 16 ounces a day. The milk question, written down.Try: The milk question
Day 293Finger foods, month tenFinely chopped textures, half-inch pieces, the AAP's finger-food list, and the refused food offered again: tasting daily for 8 to 10 or more days raises acceptance. The refused-food return.Try: The refused-food return
Day 294Redirect, month tenModel what you want, use positive words like 'Time to sit,' save 'no' for safety, and swap the object. By 12 months most babies pause at 'no.' The positive-words day: every 'don't' rephrased.Try: The positive-words day
Day 295Water, month tenBabies can drown in 1 or 2 inches of water, silently, within seconds. No bath seat, buckets and wading pools emptied, toilet lids latched, pools fenced on 4 sides. The water sweep, one walk.Try: The water sweep
Day 296Hot drinks and burns, month tenHot liquids cause 27% to 60% of scald burns in children under 5, and a cruising baby reaches the table edge now. No hot drink while holding the baby, mugs back, 120°F. The table-edge clear.Try: The table-edge clear
Day 297Medicines, cleaners, batteries, magnetsLock up cleaners and alcohol, keep every medicine out of reach including the ones in your bag, don't trust child-resistant caps. Poison Help, the battery hotline, magnets. The high-shelf hour.Try: The high-shelf hour
Day 298Fortieth week: screens before one, againThe WHO recommends no screen time under 1; the AAP calls TV and apps a bad idea before 18 months, with video chat the exception, and background TV cuts parent talk. The video call, named.Try: The video call, named
Day 299What ten months changedStanding, cruising, pinching, waving, maybe a first word: ten months in one look, the 12-month visit ahead with its anemia check, and the notes that continue. Ten-month photo and letter.Try: Ten-month photo and letter
Day 300Three hundred daysTen months old. The 12-month list as what most babies do by a year, the guide for the stretch to the first birthday, hotlines once more, and where the notes go next. The standing video.Try: The standing video