An eight months old baby begins to communicate with you much better than before. He amuses you in a variety of ways as he tries to communicate his emotions. He is also able to understand language a lot more. Normal eight months old baby’s development enables him to relate to his surroundings and find ways to manoeuvre himself through it. The 8 months olds become especially curious as their awareness of the environment around them has improved.
You can monitor the development of your eight month old baby and also engage your child in activities that encourage the development of his skills.
Eight Months old Baby Development: Physical Development
The average weight of an eight months old child is between 14 and half to 17 and half kilograms; and height is between 27 to 28 inches. The baby would have started sitting on his own and is likely to start crawling and walking with a support very soon. Since there is a lot more activity in his daily routine now, you need to consider baby proofing your house immediately.
Eight Months old Baby Development: Mental and Emotional Development
An eight months old baby can understand the meaning of many words and also utter a few of his own like 'mama' for his mother. He understands the cause and effect relationship between his actions and the obtained results, such as clutching an object and dragging it towards him. A very noticeable development at this stage of the baby’s development can be that he becomes wary of strangers. Absence of parents may tend to make him anxious if he has not been able to understand that they will come back. Playing peek-a-boo games can help him accept the absence of parents. You can also use a stuffed animal or a blanket with engaging pictures to make him comfort himself in your absence.
Eight Months old Baby Development: Eating
Food for eight months old baby’s development should be between 750 to 900 calories, half of which should come from breastfed milk. The solid foods to be fed to the child can be mashed bananas, mashed potatoes, yoghurt, soy milk with raisins and other similar foods.
Eight Months old Baby Development: Care for an Eight Month old Baby
1. Baby proof your house as soon as possible. It involves precautionary steps such as:
- Putting away cleaning products, cosmetics, and poisons.
- Locking up the cupboards of the bathroom and kitchen.
- Installing gates across the stairs.
- Covering of open outlets.
- Small objects such as small toys and coins should not be lying around in the house.
2. If you are tempted to put your baby in front of the television while you attend to household chores, hold yourself back. The Academy of Paediatrics has recommended waiting till the child turns 2 for allowing him to watch TV. An educational programme every now and then is not bad for the development of your baby in the 8th month but reading, talking or singing are the best ways to entertain him at this age.