What does a baby know how to do at 9-12 months?

Starting from the eighth or ninth month, the child confidently stands in the crib, and from the ninth month begins to walk with support by the hands, holding on to the railings of the crib or playpen. Later, he "takes a risk" and, breaking away from one railing of the crib, takes a step and grabs the next one, making his first independent step! The timing of independent walking is so variable that only you can say for sure when your child will walk, since you constantly observe him and see how he develops. Some children begin to walk at 1 year 4 months, others - at 10 months. (Earlier "walkers" are recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.)

A child who has just learned to walk walks with his legs wide apart, his feet are directed to the sides, his legs are slightly bent at the knees and hip joints, the spine is slightly tilted forward in the chest area, and is arched back at the waist. At first, the child stretches his arms forward to quickly grab the support he is walking towards. Later, when he has already mastered walking a little, he spreads his arms wide to maintain balance. He can already climb onto low objects, for example, onto a pillow, onto a suitcase. At this age, the child already freely gets up and sits down from any position. Dexterity in manipulating toys and a pacifier appears. The child prefers to play with toys while sitting. If the child begins to walk very actively at nine months, then, due to the fact that the bones of the shins and thighs are still soft, the ligaments are not strong, and the muscles of the legs are weak, the legs very often curve in the shape of the letter "O". Moreover, one can be curved more than the other. Usually, the leg that bears the most load is deformed. If you have noticed this in your child, do not be alarmed. This deformation will gradually go away. Some authors write that it should disappear by the end of the year. I do not agree with this. If the deformation appears in the ninth or tenth month, it will not go away in two months. There is also an opinion that if such a deformation is not corrected by one and a half years, this is a manifestation of rickets. It is somewhat more difficult to argue with this statement, since the luminaries of pediatrics generally believe that children of the middle zone suffer from rickets. I can only say one thing: my youngest daughter, who started walking at 10 months, had such a deformation of her legs. By about four or five years old, it had decreased, and by the age of six, there was no trace of it left without any special treatment!

At ten months, the baby can already kneel while playing, he can bend over for a toy, holding on to surrounding objects (a chair, for example) with one hand and desperately swaying. He can already move from the crib to the chair, and from there to the table, more confidently than a nine-month-old, and if he sees that the next object is too far away, he can ask you with a funny look to lend him a helping hand.

From the eleventh month, the coordination of movement of both the whole body and small muscles, in particular the fingers, improves. The child can perform increasingly complex actions: open and close small boxes, assemble and disassemble a pyramid, etc. He himself takes a cup during meals and drinks from it. And the spoon, which he previously held purely symbolically, is often put to use, albeit without much success, since even if he manages to scoop from the plate, then bringing it to his mouth is still beyond his strength and coordination of movements. However, if puree or something else sticks to the spoon, it can get into the child's mouth (or into the nose, eye, down the collar, etc.).

By the twelfth month, the child should be able to freely stand up from any position; walk without assistance, drink from a cup on his own; be able to climb steps or his own (child's) chair; ask to go to the potty while awake; run holding an adult's hand; imitate adults, repeating some simple actions after them; pronounce individual simple words and understand what adults require of him. True, he does not yet have the idea that some of his actions can be harmful (for example, pulling objects off the table, breaking dishes, etc.). They amuse him, and he tries to repeat them, if he is not scolded.