Topical questions about child development at 7-9 months of age

If a child is standing and already trying to walk, does he need shoes?

In fact, while the child is in a stroller and can't walk properly, he doesn't need shoes. And at home, it's enough to wear booties. If you have carpets or another soft covering (pile) on the floor at home, then they can be made of fabric (knitted). If you have parquet, and even varnished (that is, slippery), then the booties should have leather or some other soles on the soles to prevent slipping. (Imagine - the child can barely stand on his feet, and then the floor is slippery!) And if it's warm at home - let the baby run around barefoot! This stimulates the active zones of the foot and strengthens the body.

How to potty train a child?

In fact, the sooner you wean your baby off diapers, especially if you have a boy, the better. But you probably won't be able to potty train your baby before seven months.

In order to potty train a child, you need to follow certain requirements.

Firstly, the potty should be comfortable (for this it is better to buy a potty-chair or a potty-chair). Although it is not always convenient for you to take the potty out of it, at least the child will not fall off it (after all, he has just started sitting).

Secondly, the potty, or rather the "seat", should be warm. Would you be happy to sit on a cold or wet toilet ring?

Thirdly, the potty should be on the floor, not on a chair, table or bed. Otherwise, the child, getting up from the potty on his own (if you left him alone), may fall.

Fourthly, the child should not sit on the potty for longer than 5-8 minutes. Therefore, when he pouts or pees, do not give him toys. He is busy with "business" and should not be distracted from it.

And fifthly: if the child, having sat on the potty for the required eight minutes, did nothing, and then went to the toilet - scold him. Do not shout under any circumstances! Say in a slightly mocking voice: "Oh-oh-oh! How shameful! Such a big boy, sat on the potty and did nothing! And now - what is this? Ugh! It's wet!" - and wrinkle your nose.

At night, don't be lazy to get up 2-3 hours after your child has fallen asleep and put him on the potty (it is not necessary to wake him up), saying the usual call to pee: "Pssss". If you calculate the time correctly, you will succeed, and the child will go to the potty without even waking up.

And don't think that in one month you will "train" your baby to ask to go to the potty. This is a long process that can last about a year. But if the child is already over two years old, and he still wets his pants (not to mention poops!), then you need the help of a pediatrician. But this is already the topic of another book.

What to do if your baby starts showing interest in his genitals?

Let's start with the fact that a child can make the first attempts to study his genitals at the age of five or six months. There is no need to be afraid of this. The child is simply studying his body. After all, he examines his fingers or hand. So why can't he examine his genitals? Another thing is if he touches them because he is bothered by itching. And if you do not fight the itching, then this "erotic" scratching will become a habit that will be difficult to wean off. And why did the itching appear? It may be a lack of care. It is no secret that some careless mothers, instead of at least soaking wet rompers in a basin (not to mention washing them), simply dry them on the radiator, and then put them on the child again. And salt crystals remain on them, bacteria "settle" and cause itching. Another reason may be irregular bathing. Remember! You need to bathe, or at least wash your baby every day. And it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl. If a girl has pinworms (worms), they can crawl from the anus to the genital slit and cause itching.

Some authors suggest pulling or rolling back the foreskin of the penis and washing the folds and the head when washing boys. I do not recommend you do this. The fact is that in small children the foreskin is connected from the inside to the head with thin threads - synechiae. By pulling back the foreskin, you will tear them. It is not painful, and they do not bleed, but since they are there (for now), then let them be. In addition, small boys have physiological phimosis (narrowing of the foreskin), and having rolled the foreskin onto the head, you may not be able to return it to its place. As for penile hygiene, nature has "worked" on this. When a boy urinates, the preputial sac (that is what the space between the foreskin and the head is called) is washed with a stream of urine. In addition, the skin of this sac secretes secretions that prevent infection from getting into it, if there are no "aggravating circumstances". But if your baby's foreskin has become red and swollen, the child is cringing and delaying the process of urination in every possible way, holding onto the genitals - see a doctor immediately!