The baby is 8 months old

An 8-month-old child is a baby who is interested in everything, who continues to develop intensively and improve his skills and abilities, both motor and speech, auditory and intellectual. Literally every day the child demonstrates new achievements, mastering the space. In the intellectual sense, the age from one to three years is considered truly "golden", because in the middle of the last century it was established that it is during this period that the brain actively develops, therefore, new knowledge is laid down. The age from six months to a year is famous for its mental "breakthroughs", when the baby begins to meaningfully pronounce syllables, and not just in the international infant babble language, but in the one that his parents speak. Starting from the end of the seventh month and further, the socio-cultural environment is important for the child - the native language, habits and cultural traditions.

Also at this age, you need to teach the baby to use simple household items, such as a comb, teach more precise and targeted movements - put rings on the rod of a pyramid, use a small scoop in the sandbox, and so on. An 8-month-old child is a "mirror" of parental behavior, as are older children. An eight-month-old child copies the movements of his mother talking on the phone, putting a rattle to his ear, and can even imitate the tone of voice and intonation. The baby is also able to distinguish some objects and take them at the request of his parents (a toy, a book), point to his nose, eyes or mouth. At this age, the process of the appearance of the first teeth continues, the signs of which are typical - swelling of the gums, their irritation. Children react to teething in different ways, some endure this phenomenon quite calmly, painlessly, some are capricious, someone has a fever. The main thing in this matter is not to panic, but to perceive all whims and ailments as a natural and temporary phenomenon, and to calm the baby with the help of special products for gums (Dentinox, Bebident).

The little person continues to develop and grow, the main indicators of growth and weight are the following:

• Weight gain – up to 500 grams. Total weight can be 5500-6000 grams.
• Height also increases by 15-2 centimeters and ranges from 65 to 70 centimeters.

Each baby has its own development plan, laid down at the genetic natural level, if mom and dad do not have the height of basketball players, then, most likely, the 8-month-old child may be several centimeters shorter than the standard indicators, but the parameters and norms can help to promptly identify deficiencies in nutrition, development and correct them. In addition, with each subsequent month, growth and weight gain slow down a little, the most intense in this sense are the first three to four months, starting from the day the baby is born.

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8 month old baby – skills and abilities

• Babbling is gradually replaced by syllables.
• The child understands requests and fulfills them, gives a hand, claps his hands, dances, bows his head.
• The baby is very attached to his mother and begins to understand what separation from her means, and reacts to separation from his mother by crying.
• An 8-month-old child understands who is part of the circle of relatives and clearly differentiates between strangers and his own.
• The baby reacts to loud sounds, may flinch and be frightened by sudden sounds.
• The child can stand up in the crib on his own, can move around it and stand for quite a long time, leaning against the wall or the back of the bed.
• The baby can sit, sit down and lie down independently.
• An 8-month-old child experiences a constant need to crawl, actively moves (usually sideways) on the floor or a wide bed.
• The baby can bite off and chew soft foods.
• An 8-month-old child is able to chew and swallow highly crushed, mashed food, and moves from pureed foods to more solid foods.
• An eight-month-old baby can be potty trained; the child should react calmly to such actions.

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How to test your child's skills and abilities?

• If the baby is standing in the crib, the mother can use a toy to attract the child's attention and track whether her child can move independently along the wall or the handrails of the bed.
• If the baby is lying down, the mother can ask him to sit up, call him by name, show him a toy, etc. The main thing is to check the child's ability to sit up independently from a lying position.
• The grasping reflex, its strength can be tested by jokingly taking a toy away from the baby. The tighter the baby holds the rattle, the more developed his reflexes and muscle strength are.
• Testing the ability to reach for objects: show a toy at a distance, provoking the baby to reach for it.
• Test your reaction speed with a game of hide-and-seek. The child must look for the missing object and react emotionally to its appearance.
• You need to test the baby's attentiveness with a rattle, which you put in your pocket or under your pillow, provoking the child to get it.
• An 8-month-old child should be able to control both hands; testing is the game “pat-a-cake,” a game with two objects, rattles.
• The ability to pronounce syllables is tested together with adults, when mom or dad pronounces a syllable (ma-ma or pa-pa, da-da, na-na), and the baby repeats them.
• The child must recognize and show familiar objects and faces. This skill can be tested by asking "show me your nose," "show me your dad," and so on.

8 month old baby – feeding and sleep schedule

At this age, the child eats only during the day; it is necessary to gradually wean him off night feedings. More varied complementary foods are introduced into the menu in order to completely replace breastfeeding by the age of one year. Kefir or dietary cottage cheese can be included as additives, since the child's digestive system is already ready for such food. Here is an approximate schedule and diet for an eight-month-old baby who is breastfed:

Morning, 6.00	Breast milk
Morning, 10.00	Porridge with milk	170 g
	Boiled chicken yolk	half
	Fruit juice with pulp or light	50 ml
Lunch, 14.00	Beef broth	20-25 ml
	Rusk (white bread)
	Vegetable puree	170 g
	Puree of boiled beef or chicken meat	50 g
	Fruit juice	20-25 ml
	Low-fat cottage cheese	50 g
	Puree of boiled fruits	70 g
Evening, 22.00	Breast milk

If an 8-month-old child is receiving formula, then breast milk should be replaced with formula. If breastfeeding is possible, it should be maintained until the age of ten months at least twice a day - early morning and late evening. Mother's milk is a unique source of antibodies necessary for a child, forming and strengthening his immunity. Also, the little person needs to be taught to drink from a cup, for this purpose you can buy a spill-proof cup made especially for restless babies who can spill everything that falls into their hands. With the help of a "magic" cup, the baby will gradually wean off the bottle with a nipple. The sleep of an eight-month-old baby remains as long as before, sometimes the child can sleep for 6-7 hours in a row. It is better to smoothly transfer this ability to the night mode. It is considered normal when a baby sleeps at night for up to ten hours in a row, and sleeps during the day for 1-2 hours three times.

8 month old baby - precautions

Since the baby at this age is extremely active and curious, there is a risk that interest in unknown territories and objects can lead to injury. The child's motor activity should not be suppressed; the main task of parents is to minimize risks and dangers. To do this, it is necessary to remove, hide, close all objects that provoke injuries and damage:

• Buy special plugs for sockets and close off access to electrical current.
• Remove and lock away in inaccessible places scissors, needles, nails, pencils and all sharp, piercing, cutting objects.
• If you need to iron the clothes, it is advisable for a relative or family member to do the work for the baby. The hot iron should be put away in a place inaccessible to the baby after everything is ironed.
• All medicines and detergents must be kept under lock and key.
• All documents, photographs, important and useful books, magazines should be put on the top shelves, where the child cannot access them.
• If there are steps or stairs in the house, they should be covered with a soft surface and care should be taken to ensure that an 8-month-old child does not climb the highest steps on his own.
• In the kitchen, where food is being prepared, water is being boiled, a child should not be even in the presence of his mother. It takes literally a second when some little thing can happen to his mother for a disaster to happen.
• Put away belts, scarves, ropes and threads. These things are not suitable for games.

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8 month old baby - speech and emotions

An eight-month-old baby responds with pleasure to affectionate words, interesting, new toys and various games with parents - hide and seek, rolling a ball. In addition, the child begins to actively pronounce syllables and even words. A wonderful period when the child says the word "mama" or "baba" for the first time. Dads are often secretly upset that the baby chose to verbally designate mom, but this is not the reason at all. It is easier for a child to pronounce voiced consonants, he will learn to speak voiceless ones a little later. Also, an 8-month-old child distinguishes well between his own, native people and strangers, unfamiliar ones. A long stay in the company of mom's friend, who came to visit the family, can be stressful for the little person. The child gets used to strangers slowly, gradually, this process should not be accelerated so as not to provoke negative emotions in the baby. An 8-month-old baby gets to know strangers very carefully, being in the arms of his mother or father; it can sometimes take a whole week to form a habit and trust in a new person. Also, the baby already knows how to express his protests and indignation with facial expressions, gestures, sounds and even words. Parents need to be prepared for such emotional manifestations and not only laugh at the funny expression on their child’s face, but also determine what exactly the child is unhappy with; it is quite possible that his indignation has objective reasons (an overflowing diaper, cold or too hot food, etc.).

An 8-month-old child is an active explorer of the living space, who shows his character, sometimes even stubbornness. Parents during this period should learn to kindly but persistently set restrictions and limits for the little fidget, without suppressing natural curiosity, but also not allowing the baby to dictate his terms. Eight months is, in a certain sense, the beginning of the child's socialization, the formation of his understanding of the words "no" and "yes".

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