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Your baby at seven months of age finally laughs, understands basic gestures and emotions, is starting to crawl and be playful and is a treat to watch. He has started having basic solid food (textured to preference) and filling your days with surprises. From this age group onward your child will get more inquisitive, will begin to form words and gain a broader perception of the world around him.
Video: 7 Months Old Baby Milestones
A Seven Month Old Baby’s Milestone Chart
| Achieved Developmental Milestones | Emerging Developmental Milestones |
| Good at locating hidden objects | Is able to find the objects |
| Understand the word ‘No.’
|
Will begin to understand one-word instructions |
| Identify tone of voices | Starts creating recent memories and remembers the different tone of voices |
| Starts holding things more firmly
|
Develop pincer grasp |
| More likely to reach for items and move it towards the mouth | Use hands more often to pick up objects |
| Is able to understand reflection and mirrors | Is better able to identify self and the adults |
| Identify cause and effect | Will remember the result of some actions |
Milestones your Child Should Reach by 7 Months of Age
Once your baby hits the seven-month mark, watch out for the following developments:
Cognitive Development
Your infant’s ability to grasp and understand things grow consistently. It is therefore important to know that your baby’s brain is growing at a rapid rate compared to his/her body in order to equip him to adapt to the environment around him/her. Your baby will also begin to test cause and effect and will begin to understand the relationship of things.
You can aid your child’s cognitive development by recognizing the following things
- Start developing memories of recent events.
- Start babbling in conversations with people around them from parents to caregivers.
- Love bright colours and patterns on things and will reach for it.
- Display curiosity about the world around them especially items that are out of reach.
- Understand the word ‘no.’
- Some babies can start recognizing their own names in conversations.
- Follow moving objects more closely.
- Will try to find hidden objects in blankets or elsewhere.
Physical Development
While your baby starts looking at himself/herself in the mirror and is able to read people’s expressions closely due to the growth of cognitive abilities, he or she will also start getting stronger and steadier physically.
Here are some signs to watch out for in your baby and encourage their motor skills
Will start holding food/ small long pieces of item firmly between the forefinger and thumb also known as ‘Pincer Grip’.
- Roll on the stomach and start crawling, rolling, or try to move forward.
- Kick their arms and legs with the intention.
- Pick up toys which are small and start moving them around.
- Some babies are able to sit with minimal assistance.
- Reach for objects close to them with one or both hands.
- Try and bring any small object close to their mouth.
Social and Emotional Development
Social and emotional growth is an important milestone in your baby’s life as he/she will start laying the foundation for their interactions to come in the adult world.
Some of the vital things your infant will develop
- Smile or laugh or express emotions correctly.
- Will observe closely the emotions of their guardians or parents and try to mimic them.
- Start developing individual personalities including likes and dislikes.
- Want to take part in any activities with the people surrounding him or her.
- Be sensitive to other children and cry if they do.
- Pay attention to loud noises and react with fear or worry.
Communication Skills
Seeking attention with gestures and sounds maybe one of the things that your baby does while developing his/her communication skills
Some of the others are
- Start using vowels such as ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ in their speech.
- Make gurgling sounds.
- Try participating in conversations with the adults around them.
- Change the tone of their voice to imitate questions or declarations.
- Start asking for attention with a purpose.
Teething
One of the fundamental physical changes in a seven-month-old infant is teething where your baby slowly starts experiencing the emerging of small baby teeth. You can manage the pain or discomfort of teething by giving your baby mashed food or food such as banana, sliced fruit or cucumbers, which are easy to bite into and digest.
Some of the signs to watch out for
- The baby will drool more.
- He/she will start being fussier about food or in general.
- Disturbed sleep pattern, not being able to sleep at night is one.
- Pulling of ears and rubbing of cheeks and chin is a sure sign of discomfort.
- Visible teeth emerging from the gums.
- Has fever or rashes.
- Has diarrhoea or constipation.
Eating
At this age, your infant will have anywhere between 113-250 gms of food including breast milk and formula
- Start experimenting with food textures by making it mashed, pureed to know your baby’s preferences.
- Give a lot of options of vegetables and fruits such as cucumber, carrot, beans, bananas, apples, pears as he/she is developing likes and dislikes.
- Iron-fortified rice, oatmeal is good to meet the daily nutrition requirements for your infant.
- Start by slowly introducing finger foods as well.
When to Consult a Doctor?
You may not have to call the doctor every time your baby sneezes or hiccups but make sure you look out for a few classic signs
- Start brushing the baby’s teeth gently with a baby brush but make sure you ask your doctor about the safest method.
- Infants in this age group sleep for anywhere between 12-14 hours including naps during the day, so make sure to call the doc if your baby is not sleeping well or has irregular sleep cycles.
- As a general rule if your baby has a fever of 103 For more, its time to make the call.
- If your child develops rashes or is in pain.
- If you see signs of dehydration such as fewer diaper changes (less than one every 8 hours), dry mouth.
- A very obvious difficulty in breathing.
- Doesn’t roll over on either side or does not sit up with help.
- Is sluggish or lethargic in his/her movements.
Tips for Helping Your Baby Achieve the Milestones
You can aid your baby in achieving every milestone in his/her young life with a few simple tips
- For physical development, when your baby just starts developing motor skills, it is a good time to introduce how to drink from a cup or a small beaker.
- In order to aid further grasp of new skills to place toys just out of reach so that your baby can crawl to it.
- Your baby is maybe beginning to grasp certain words such as ‘No’ but will continue to pick up important things around her instead of a toy. Best way to combat this is by distracting her with something else.
- Put important items out of reach so that he/she will be most attracted to the toys around.
- Start playing Peek-A-Boo as he/she will be developing how to find hidden objects.
- Talk and sing to your baby more often and do it slowly so that they can pick up some of the words piece it together and participate.
- Wave goodbye, say hello and start adding simple etiquettes to the daily rituals.
- Pick up story books, picture books and start reading out loud to your child.
Create an exploratory environment for your child to ensure that they achieve every type of milestone and is happy and healthy. Also, do not be hard on your child if he or she is unable to achieve a milestone. Every child is different and has different growth cycles, so be patient and encourage your child’s development.
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