Development milestones 8 to 10 months

[mme_highlight] By the end of the 10^th month, the baby has developed depth perception. The baby tries to put everything to mouth. Your baby should be able to crawl and stand with support. During this period, the baby develops stranger anxiety. An 8 to 10 month old baby typically babbles and speaks one or two words. [/mme_highlight]

Developmental milestones are not absolute, but they nevertheless give an idea about the pace of growth and development of children. June M. Reinisch (1) conducted a study with 4653 infants to study the factors that may influence the developmental milestones and identified that development is faster in male infants as compared to female infants.
He also found that 3 out of 10 primary milestones are achieved earlier in male children as compared to female babies. He suggested that sex differences, physical and social and environmental factors greatly influence the age at which developmental milestones are achieved.

Cognitive development

By the end of the 10^th month, the baby has developed depth perception.

Hand- mouth coordination is established, and therefore the baby tries to put everything in his/her mouth and also may try to feed himself with hands. In addition, baby uses one or more fingers to point objects around him/her.

Motor skills

By the end of this period, your baby should be able to crawl by using his/ her hands on the ground while knees support the weight of trunk. Crawling is initiated mostly in the backward direction but progressively baby learns to move forward while crawling. The baby is also able to stand with support and can hold objects with his/her index finger and thumb.
Now, a baby can sit without support and spends fair amount of time in a sitting position. According to a research report presented by Joyce S. Salls (2):

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50% of babies can sit without support at the age of 5.9 months ;
99 % can sit without support at the age of 10 months (unless they have a serious developmental condition).

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Regarding eating habits:

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11 % of children can use spoon without spilling too much;
10 % of children can drink from a cup;
70 % of 9 months old children can eat bread or biscuit.

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Social/Emotional skills

During this period, the baby develops stranger anxiety, which means your baby may not feel comfortable in the presence of unknown faces and she/ he may cry or get agitated if he/she is separated from his/ her parents. Between 8 and 10 months, a child responds or reacts to simple vocal commands and may have his/ her favorite toys.

Baby is interactive and shows interest in playing games like pat-a- cake and peek- a- boo. In addition, baby can play by himself by banging toys together to make noise. A baby also learns to wave bye-bye.

Language/communication skills:

An 8 to 10 month old baby typically babbles and speaks one or two words like “bababababe” or “mamamama”. Baby also tries to copy or imitate others by making different noises.

Parents should expect that their baby understands the meaning and context of “no” and may respond to his/ her name.

What are the alarm signs parents should be aware of?

By the end of 10th month, the intensity of weight gain and height slows down, suggesting the baby is maturing. Your baby’s bowel and eating habits also become regular. Make sure to seek the pediatrician if your baby presents with one or more of the following issues:

If your baby does not put on weight;
If your baby cannot stand with support;
If your baby cannot sit properly (even with support);
If your child does not say anything;
If he/ she does not play any interactive games;
If your child does not show any activity or response to name;
If your baby does not seem to recognize familiar people.

What are the risk factors that can impair development?

If the baby does not turn or look up when his/ her name is called;
If the baby does not respond to the word “no”;
If the baby does not listen when spoken to;
If the baby does not know common words like “cup”, “shoe”, “mom”.

What can parents do to stimulate development?

Parents should make the physical environment around the baby as stimulating as possible. You can give him/her colored story books and take him/ her to different places to enhance his/ her memory. Parents should also try to enrich his/ her vocabulary by naming different objects.

Besides, parents can provide to child large toys that he/ she can drag or push in order to learn standing with support or walking.

Finally, parents must keep up with regular pediatric visits and take care of the immunizations of the baby. Healthcare providers suggest regular screening of infants at 6, 9 and 12 months of age. According to the reports of CDC, 1 out of 6 children has developmental disabilities.
According to CDC, a rise of 17.1% has been observed in the prevalence of developmental disabilities over the course of past 12 years; the overall prevalence of developmental disabilities being 13.8%.

Summary and Recommendations

Between 8 and 10 months, your child will show developmental progresses every day. Knowing what to expect makes it easier for you to recognize the progresses and help the child to achieve them.
Cognitive Development: Babies develop depth perception. Putting everything to mouth is normal and indicates eye-hand coordination has developed.
Motor Development: Sitting without support, crawling and standing with support are major features of this period. The baby uses spoon and holds objects between index finger and thumb.
Social/Emotional Development: Your baby loves to play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo. Stranger anxiety is very common.
Language Development: Babies babble and imitate sounds. They may say 1 or 2 words.
Your child moves more and more, so parents must ensure safety of the environment where the baby stays, preventing falls, shocking, poisoning and drowning.
Each child has her/his own pace, but if you think your child is not developing adequately, seek for medical advice.