Although your 8-month-old is no longer that tiny newborn you brought home from the hospital, she is still baby sweet with chubby cheeks and thighs. Even more exciting is that her little personality has emerged and her curiosity about the world grows stronger every day. She has also become more mobile, but that's just a warm up for what's to come in the next few months: Parents, it's time to pull out your running shoes!
Gross Motor Skills
Your 8-month-old may be brushing up on a newfound ability to go from tummy to sitting upright, according to What to Expect online. This month, she may also learn to roll, scoot, creep and crawl across the floor to reach her desired toys. If your baby has already learned to crawl by age 8 months, she may begin to pull herself up into standing position with the aid of furniture and other people. She may also be daring enough to start cruising around the room by holding onto furniture.
Vision
Your 8-month-old baby's vision has reached near adult clarity, according to BabyCenter online. Still, he can see closer objects with more ease than distant objects, but he should be able to see people and objects from across the room. His new ability to crawl should come in handy when he sees that his favorite toy is 10 feet away.
Exploration
Your little explorer will be testing basic laws of physics by banging toys into walls, tossing his bottle on the ground, putting discovered objects in his mouth and shaking them around. Moreover, he may discover an interest in the functions of objects and attempt to mimic activities such as holding a toy phone against his ear.
Dexterity
Your baby should be able to pick up objects with her fist and open her fist to drop those objects when the mood strikes her. She will be excited to point at anything from dropped toys to distant objects that she finds interesting. She should also be learning to create the fine "pincer" movement to pick up small objects with her thumb and pointer finger. Her new dexterity may cause her to want to use her fingers as poking objects, so a pediatrician will recommend that you follow an appropriate baby-proofing protocol, such as covering up electrical outlets.
Preverbal Skills
What to Expect online says that your 8-month-old baby is likely to be testing out a variety of consonant-vowel combinations that won't necessarily sound like words. However, he is practicing and will create intelligible words (or at least intelligible fragments of words) shortly. Some babies start saying basic words such as "dada" and "mama" by 8 months of age.
Variables
Your baby may not meet all of the developmental milestones prescribed by pediatric charts, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is facing any setbacks. All babies are different and charted milestones simply represent averages. Also consider that premature babies are on an adjusted time line and babies who faced health complications early on are likely to develop at a slower pace. Consult a pediatrician if you have any questions about your baby's development.
