The Milestones Series: 10 to 12 months

It is starting to feel like the home stretch. Your baby is just three short months away from becoming a full fledged toddler! In these last three months you will see even more toddler like tendencies that you’ve already started observing. Below are the last three months of milestones in this first year!

Ten months

At ten months old babies are often able to pull themselves to standing. They also have probably started cruising, which is like walking, but with their needing to hold on to furniture as they do it. Having mastered their pincer grasp, they are able to feed themselves finger food. They have also figured out most of their toys and how they work. They know which toys make sound, which toys have buttons that require being pushed, and are starting to say things that resemble “mama” and “dada.”

Eleven months

Your little baby is now more active than ever. They may be crawling all over the place and even crawling up the steps–be sure to always be watching! They are making more tones, which you can distinguish as different from the babbling because they now sound more like they are speaking. They are also, now, more observant of the world due to their knowing to use senses of sight and hearing together. This is also the age when they like poking and pulling, which leads to a bit of destruction. Keep your necklaces away from their hands!

Twelve months

Happy birthday to your now not-so-little one! At this age your baby is likely to be able to say bye-bye and hello with their hands and understand some basic commands. They can do some songs with hand gestures, say basic phrases like uh-oh, and maybe even say both mama and dada. They know how to shake their head to say no or to move something away from themselves to reject it. As they did in previous months, they really like textures and sensations, but they now also really like books because they are starting to enjoy the pictures.

This final reminder is very important. Your baby may not have hit all their milestones, they might have also skipped some! That’s okay. With each wellness check at the pediatrician, you will know how well your baby is growing and developing. Very often there is nothing to worry about except your own anxiety!