Your little bundle of joy is now 8 months old and is discovering a lot of new things and more often than not, doing new things. Your baby has improved crawling skills and will most likely be able to sit and even try standing up.
They might surprise you now by saying ‘mama’ ‘papa’ or other baby babbles while keeping you busy with their antics most times. They are now active, angry, frustrated, and happy as they can now express their feelings thanks to their improved thinking skills and developed emotions.
Your baby will give you a lot of cues now and it will be your job as a parent to understand your baby, improve their skills, and appreciate their efforts to communicate.
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Here are a few things you need to take care of:-
Food:
Make sure your baby eats at least 2 solid meals a day now and additional nutritious snacks like fruits and nuts for nutrients and energy.
Continue to breastfeed about four times a day as milk will be helpful in their growth. Decreased breastfeeding should not be a problem as their stomach is full of solid foods now.
Include a variety of foods like baby cereal, mashed and pureed fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc.
Teething:
Drooling, biting, and sucking are all common in this phase and there could be an occasional decrease in appetite also while teething. Avoiding too much sugar, and processed food and encouraging them to eat finger foods like carrots and cucumbers will help them with their teething and also ensure they eat better.
Learning to speak:
The more you spend time with your baby and the more you talk to them, the more they will emulate you. The more they emulate you, the better the chances of them learning how to speak by improving their vocal skills.
They will start with practicing making noises and will slowly shift to saying words, though the speech might not be very clear.
Using simple words, repeating them, and saying keywords that are useful in their life will help them learn better. Make small conversations with your baby about how they enjoyed playing or listening to music.
This may be the right age to introduce them to colors, shapes, and places.
Baby-proofing the house:
Always keep the house clean, ensure there are no toxic things in your baby’s reach, and make it a point to look for hazardous objects that could choke or hurt your baby in other ways.
Be extra vigilant about medicines, wobbly furniture, and the baby’s access to stairs and railings. Make sure you foam to the sharp edges of tables, chairs, walls, etc., so your baby won’t end up being seriously injured in case they collide with these objects.
Playing:
Let your baby explore colors and sounds. Get them colorful toys that make sounds. Also, let them drop or bang their toys or other objects which are safe to be dropped or banged onto the floor or the wall. They do it to see what happens. Giving them unbreakable bowls, spoons or other such objects will help them learn the different sounds.
Introduce mirrors to your baby, let them discover their own reflection, and enjoy your movements in the mirror. They will start babbling in the mirror too.
Reading:
Reading is also a very important and extremely beneficial activity for your baby’s language development.
Read different books to them in an animated way. Let them choose a book of their choice. They will have their favorites and will ask you to read the same again and again, mostly because they love the way you read that particular book to them.
Enjoy while they babble back in their own adorable words.