Now that your baby is almost 9 months old, she should be very busy and active exploring the world around her! Most babies by now are beginning to sit up unsupported during play and feeding times, push up onto hands and knees, bear their full weight on their legs (with someone holding their hands), and even bounce with support.^1,2

Exploration Skills

When your baby gets her hands on shiny new objects, she will enjoy passing them from one hand to the other, watching them fall on to the ground. She will also use her most trusted investigative tool, her mouth,^1,2 to explore the different textures, tastes, and shapes (her mouth and tongue possess the most sensory receptors on her body at this age³). Because she is now starting to understand that out-of-sight objects still exist (Object Permanence), you will not only find her looking for hidden objects, but also crying when mom and dad leave her side!^1,2 This is the age when young children start to cling to caregivers and experience separation and stranger anxiety.

Communication Skills

With growing language development skills, she should be starting to babble a string of vowels (e.g. “ah, “eh”, and “oh”), imitating your sounds and gestures (e.g. waving, blowing kisses), and even responding to you when you say “no.” But the most exciting development of all may be hearing your baby say “mama” and “dada” for the first time, even though she’s not using it in a specific manner at this point!^1,2

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your baby the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Does Your Baby Have a Cognitive Delay, or Is This Just a Natural Variation in Development?

Cognitive impairments are found in about 12 out of every 1,000 children.⁴ These cover a broad range of levels from mild to profound, as compared by different IQ ranges. Cognitive delays have a number of causes, such as exposure to environmental toxins or complications or problems just after birth.⁵ Genetic or chromosomal abnormalities are another factor, causing conditions such as Down’s syndrome. Delays can also be caused by a combination of factors, and it may be hard to pinpoint the exact source.⁴

As a parent or caregiver, it is important to be on the lookout for red flags. There can be quite a large variation in development from one child to the next. In addition, with cognitive delays, there can be overlap with other learning domains. For example, if your baby is not reaching for objects by the time she’s one years old, is it because of a lack of interest (a cognitive delay) or difficulty with muscle control (a physical delay)? If your baby is not interested in looking around at the world (at any age), is it because of a vision problem or a cognitive one, such as a lack of interest? In either case, the delay has two possible sources, so it would be important to look for other symptoms.

Red Flags for Cognitive Delays

Here are some of the most important, general red flags for infant and toddler cognitive delays:^2,4,5,6

• Not recognizing familiar people or own name
• Not communicating with gestures, such as waving or pointing
• Little interest or curiosity in the world and people
• Not remembering simple information, like the use of common objects
• Not having self-help and self-care skills for age level
• Not understanding consequences of actions

If at any point you notice a red flag in your baby, as outlined in this or our other “In a Nutshell” articles, it is important to seek out professional help for an evaluation and possible early intervention. Early intervention, which can include educational intervention with a therapist or suggestions for what you can do at home, will give her the best outcome in the long run. According to WebMD, “[m]ost developmental delays in children are not serious, and children eventually catch up. Even children who do have serious delays can make big improvements when treatment begins as early as possible.”⁵ Talk to your baby’s doctor, and find out how to arrange an evaluation for her.

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your baby the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Developmental Concerns

Has your baby mastered some pretty impressive new skills by now? That’s great! However, continue to be on the look out for any major developmental red flags that she may show as she plays and interacts with others.

Physical Development

Although problems with gross motor development may be easier to spot, such as noticing that your baby cannot sit up on her own without help or bear her own weight on her legs when supported,^1,2 it is also important to be aware of her Small Muscle Movement and Dexterity as well. Her inability to easily grasp an object or smoothly pass it from hand to hand may be indicative of a physical delay at this age.^1,2 There are many reasons why a child may be slow to develop physically, including premature birth or lack of muscle use and exercise. The good news is that many of these physical delays may be corrected with appropriate physical therapy or other exercises recommended by your physician.⁵

Other more serious physical conditions that can actually retard muscle movement and coordination, include ataxia (genetic defect that impairs muscle coordination), muscle myopathy (disease of the muscles), cerebral palsy (condition caused by brain damage at birth), and spina bifida (genetic condition that can cause partial or total paralysis of the lower body).⁵ With many of these conditions, including cerebral palsy, early detection and treatment can improve development outcomes and quality of life. Before worrying about the state of your baby’s physical functioning, it is a good idea to check in with your pediatrician. Often, even more serious conditions, like cerebral palsy,⁷ can be managed with early intervention and appropriate care.⁸

Social Emotional Development

By 9 months, your baby should be quite attached with familiar people now, showing separation anxiety when you or other loved ones leave the room or cannot be seen.⁹ At this age, if you notice that she does not recognize familiar people or respond to her name,^1,2 she may have a delay in her social emotional development. But, if she doesn’t respond to you when you call out her name or upon hearing environmental sounds, she may have a hearing impairment.¹⁰

However, if she is generally responsive to sound, but does not respond to familiar people or to hearing her name, you may want to speak to your pediatrician about evaluating her for other more serious conditions. A failure to respond to one’s own name can be an early warning sign of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), which refers to any one of a number of related conditions, including “autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome.”¹¹

Language Development

Now that your baby is well into her middle infancy, you should be hearing her babble, coo, and making a variety of speech sounds. Babies learn language, not through flash cards and lessons, but through listening to and repeating speech sounds, such as consonants and vowels.¹² At this age, it is not uncommon to hear your baby string together vowels and consonants to create joyful “da da da” or “ba ba ba” sounds. At 9 months, if your baby is still not babbling much or doesn’t look at objects you point out, you may want to have her checked for a possible language delay. Young children may experience language delays at this age due to any number of reasons, including premature birth,¹³ hearing impairment or loss, ear infection, or a more general developmental delay.¹⁴ 

Cognitive Development

One of the most important milestones to look for in your baby at this stage of development is Object Permanence. This is the understanding that objects still exist even when they cannot be perceived or seen.¹⁵ At this age, she should be enjoying games that require back-and-forth interaction,¹ like Peek-a-Boo^1,2 or handing over objects in a game of “give and take.” If she is not engaging in this type of play, you may want to consult with your doctor about the possibility of sensory and motor issues, including hearing impairment, visual deficiencies, and lack of muscle tone. More seriously, a child’s lack of back-and-forth interaction may be an indication of ASD.¹⁶

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your baby the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Track Your Baby’s Learning Progress!

Although your baby is developing at her own pace, failure to achieve important developmental milestones may signal potential medical or developmental problems requiring special attention.¹ Continue to engage your baby with Playful Bee’s Just Right Learning^TM curriculum and track her learning progress weekly. By supporting her development across all learning domains (Social-Emotional, Language, Physical, and Cognitive development), you are giving her a great head start in life!

To review and check out all of her achievements to date, click on your baby’s 6-9 month old developmental milestone list.

Developmental Red Flags

As a parent or caregiver, be sure to continue looking out for any major developmental red flags that your child may show as she plays and interacts with others. If you notice any of the following traits or behaviors, you should speak to your care provider about your concerns as soon as possible.

Physical Development:

• Cannot sit, even with help.
• Drags one side of her body while crawling (for over one month).
• Doesn’t bear weight on her legs with support.
• Doesn’t transfer objects from one hand to the other.

Social Emotional Development:

• Doesn’t recognize familiar people.
• Doesn’t respond to own name.

Language Development:

• Doesn’t imitate sounds or gestures of others.
• Doesn’t make vowel sounds (“ah,” “eh,” and “oh”).
• Doesn’t look where you point.

Cognitive Development:

• Shows no interest in games of peek-a-boo.
• Doesn’t play any games involving back-and-forth play.

Sources:

¹American Academy of Pediatrics: Shelov, Steven P. (Ed.) (2009). Caring for your Baby and Young Child – Birth to Age 5 (5 ed.). New York, NY: Bantam Books.

²Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Important Milestones: Your Baby at Nine Months. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-9mo.html.

³Gellens, Suzanne R. (2013). Building Brains. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

⁴Siskin Children’s Institute. The Facts about Cognitive Impairment. Siskin Children’s Institute. Retrieved April 7, 2014, from http://www.siskin.org/downloads/FactsonCognitiveImpairment.pdf.

⁵WebMD. Recognizing Developmental Delays in Children. WebMD. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/recognizing-developmental-delays-birth-age-2.

⁶Healthy Families BC (2013). Babies’ Cognitive Development from 6-9 Months. Healthy Families BC. Retrieved April 7, 2014, from https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/home/articles/babies-cognitive-development-6-9-months.

⁷National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (2010). Visual Impairment, Including Blindness. NICHCY Disability Fact Sheet 2 (FS2). Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/cp.

⁸First Signs. Why Early ID? First Signs, Inc. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://www.firstsigns.org/about/earlyid.htm.

⁹Children and Youth Health. Seperation Anxiety. Women’s and Children’s Health Network: Parenting and Children Health. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=122&id=1848.

¹⁰March of Dimes. Birth Defects: Hearing Impairment. March of Dimes. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.marchofdimes.com/baby/hearing-impairment.aspx#.

¹¹Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Signs and Symptoms. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved March 28, 2014 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/signs.html.

¹²Bergelson, Elika and Swingley, Daniel. (2012). At 6-9 Months, Human Infants Know the Meanings of Many Common Nouns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(9), 3253-3258.

¹³Pena, Marcela; Pittaluga, Enrica; and Mehler, Jacques (2010). Language Acquisition in Premature and Full-Term fants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(8), 3823-3828.

¹⁴Nelson, Amy (2013). Delayed Speech or Language Development. Kids Health. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from
http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/communication/not_talk.html#.

¹⁵Parenting Counts. Acquires the Notion of Object Permanence. The Talaris Institute: Parenting Counts. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.parentingcounts.org/information/timeline/acquires-the-notion-of-object-permanence-that-a-hidden-object-still-exists-even-if-one-cant-see-it-7-12-months.

¹⁶Help Guide. Autism Symptoms & Early Signs. Help Guide. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm.

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Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee

Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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