Parent guides · 11 months
Your twelfth month, day by day
Days 331 to 365: the last-month list, pat-a-cake for real, bye-bye and hello, the special name, no understood, hidden and found, cruising and first steps, shoes, family food, choking, whole milk from the birthday, the bottle wind-down, iron, teeth, sleep, the first family jobs, the clean-up song, words for feelings, books, balls, the house at walking height, the car seat, fever, the 12-month visit, what a year changed, and one year, with one new thing to try every day.
Every note draws on the 1-year 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 45: the last-month list
Month twelve, pat-a-cake for real, bye-bye and hello, the special name, no understood, in the cup, and hidden and found.
Day 331Month twelveEleven months old today. The 12-month list as what most babies do by a year, the 15-month list as the look ahead, corrected age, and the first birthday five weeks off.Try: The last-month list
Day 332Pat-a-cake, for realPlaying games with you, like pat-a-cake, is on the 1-year list. Copying is how it starts, and the games they steer are the ones that teach. Pat-a-cake, their turn.Try: Pat-a-cake, their turn
Day 333Bye-bye, helloWaving bye-bye is on the 1-year list, and a wave is a word before words. Every arrival and departure in the house gets a wave with a name on it today. The doorway wave.Try: The doorway wave
Day 334The special nameBy 12 months most babies call a parent mama, dada, or another special name, and few other words is normal. Today, write down what they call each of you. The name they chose.Try: The name they chose
Day 335"No," understoodBy 12 months most babies pause or stop at no. Save it for danger, swap the object, model what you want, and expect it to be tested. The swap, month twelve.Try: The swap, month twelve
Day 336In the cupPutting something in a container, like a block in a cup, is on the 1-year list. In and out, the low cabinet, and why the dumping out matters too. The block and the cup, timed.Try: The block and the cup, timed
Day 337Forty-five weeks: hidden, foundLooking for things they saw you hide is on the 1-year list. Hide-and-find from the 1-year guide, written for an eleven-month-old: one hiding place, in sight. The memory game, again.Try: Hide-and-find
Week 46: steps, plates, and milk
Pulling up and cruising, first steps still maybe, the pincer and the cup, shoes, favoring a side, family food, and choking one more time.
Day 338Pulling up and cruising, month twelvePulling up to stand and walking while holding furniture are 1-year milestones, with standing alone anywhere from 6.9 to 16.9 months. A box to push, with you spotting. Push-and-carry walks.Try: Push-and-carry walks
Day 339First steps, still maybeA few steps alone is a 15-month milestone, and many babies aren't walking alone at 12 months. The honest range, the question worth asking, and three steps with one hand held. The one-hand walk.Try: The one-hand walk
Day 340The pincer and the cupPicking up small bits of food between thumb and finger, and drinking from a cup without a lid as you hold it, are both 1-year milestones. An open cup, your hands on it, three sips. The held-cup sip.Try: The held-cup sip
Day 341Shoes for the first stepsNo shoes until walking outside, and then closed-toe, flexible, nonskid, with room to grow and no special arches. Barefoot inside, shoes for out. The barefoot-inside rule.Try: The barefoot-inside rule
Day 342Favoring a side, losing skillsThe don't-wait list for 12 months: pull up, wave, look for a hidden toy; one side favored; seems not to see or hear; lost skills. Early intervention is free, no referral. The both-hands day.Try: The both-hands day
Day 343Family food, month twelveFinely chopped, from the family's own dinner, on one plate; three meals and snacks; the refused food back again tomorrow. The same-plate dinner, with the birthday three weeks away.Try: The same-plate dinner
Day 344Choking, the last month before oneThe not-before-1 list, read out loud with your partner, and the part of it that stays after the birthday; half-inch pieces, eyes on the baby, back blows and chest thrusts. The list review.Try: The list review
Week 47: milk, bottles, teeth, and nights
Whole milk from the birthday, the bottle wind-down, iron and the anemia check, teeth at one, sleep near one, separation near the peak, and the first family jobs.
Day 345Forty-seven weeks: whole milk, from the birthdayAround 12 months most babies switch to whole cow's milk: 16 to 24 ounces a day, never more than 24, with meals, water between. Not yet, but soon. The milk measure, in your own cups.Try: The milk measure
Day 346Bottles, the wind-downFinish between 12 and 18 months; the nap and bedtime bottles go first, a cup at meals, a story in the bottle's place, never a bottle in bed. The bedtime bottle swap, if the pediatrician agreed.Try: The bedtime bottle swap
Day 347Iron and the anemia checkThe 12-month visit checks for anemia. Why iron runs low, which foods carry it, and why milk stops at 24 ounces after the birthday. The iron plate: one iron-rich food at each meal today.Try: The iron plate
Day 348Teeth at oneBrush twice a day with a rice-grain smear; a dentist by the first birthday or within 6 months of the first tooth; fluoride varnish; never a bottle in bed. Book the dentist today.Try: Book the dentist
Day 349Sleep near oneTwelve to 16 hours a day until the birthday, then 11 to 14; two naps for now, one after 15 months; separation waking. The routine, written on a card for the sitter and the grandparents.Try: The routine, written
Day 350Separation, near the peakSeparation anxiety peaks between 10 and 18 months. The same goodbye every time, back when you said, a new sitter who arrives early. The sitter's card: the ritual and the routine on one page.Try: The sitter's card
Day 351Forty-eight weeks: the first family jobsToddlers want to help, and most start around the first birthday. Show, then do it together; expect unhelpful help; thank them; keep it unpaid. Laundry basket helper, for an 11-month-old: one sock.Try: Laundry basket helper
Week 48: jobs, words, and books
The clean-up song, napkins to the table, words for feelings, add a word, books at one, balls and bubbles, and outside every day.
Day 352The clean-up songToys into a bin with the same short song every time, 2 to 5 minutes before meals or bed. The song is the cue, the bin is the milestone, and the dumping-out is half the game. Clean-up song.Try: Clean-up song
Day 353Napkins to the tableCarrying napkins or spoons to the table is on CDC's list of jobs for toddlers. Make it a game, find the safe version of every job, and say thank you. The napkin carrier: one napkin, one trip.Try: The napkin carrier
Day 354Words for feelingsName what you think your baby feels, in three words, at the moment it's happening. Naming a feeling isn't giving in. Name the feeling, adapted for an 11-month-old: one feeling, one moment, today.Try: Name the feeling
Day 355Add a wordSay their sound back and add one word: "ba" becomes "ball," "dog" becomes "big dog." Why the turns matter more than the word count, and why the pause after your reply is still the hard part.Try: Add-a-word talk
Day 356Books at oneFive to ten minutes once or twice a day, a thick page they turn themselves, and "Where's the dog?" with a wait. What the trials found about shared reading, and the free building down the road.Try: Point-and-name book time
Day 357Balls and bubblesA ball rolled back and forth, bubbles to pop, and a teddy fed with a spoon: three games about taking turns, and the first pretend. What the research does and doesn't say about them.Try: Ball roll and kick
Day 358Outside, every dayTwenty minutes or more outdoors, every day you can: the stroller as the base, grass and a bench as the gym, and whatever they point at as the lesson. The week-48 habit that outlasts the series.Try: Outdoor explore walk
Week 49 and one year
The house at walking height, the car seat at one, fever and the ER list, before the 12-month visit, what a year changed, the day before, and one year.
Day 359Forty-nine weeks: the house at walking heightGates, windows, cords, tip-overs, batteries, magnets, water, hot drinks, and poisons, checked at the eye level of a baby who stands. The walking-height sweep, and the partner takes half.Try: The walking-height sweep
Day 360Car seat at oneRear-facing until the seat's own rear-facing limit, not until a birthday; most convertible seats allow it to 2 or later, and bent legs are fine. The rear-facing promise, and a sentence for relatives.Try: The rear-facing promise
Day 361Fever and the ER list at oneThe within-24-hours rules and the 104°F line hold past the birthday; what changes at one is the head-injury rule. The fever card, updated, with your own card beside it.Try: The fever card, updated
Day 362Before the 12-month visitVaccines around the birthday on a schedule that differed in 2026, an anemia check, lead by risk, and five things to confirm in writing: milk, bottles, walking, words, and the dentist.Try: The twelve-month list
Day 363What a year changedFrom a newborn to a baby who stands, points, pinches, waves, and pauses at "no": the year in one look, what the 1-year guide covers next, and a letter sealed for the second birthday.Try: The year letter
Day 364The day beforeThe birthday plan, kept small: the nap protected, the cake out of reach with no honey or whole nuts in it, no balloons at floor level, the candle held by an adult. And the same-blanket photo.Try: The same-blanket photo
Day 365One yearThe birthday. The 12-month list as most babies, around now; from today, whole milk, the bottle wind-down, the dentist, and the first family job. The 1-year guide is the next home; the series ends.Try: The first family job, for real