Your 11-Month-Old Baby’s Growth and Development

Your baby is officially 11 months old now, and you are counting down the days to celebrate her first birthday. Your little one has grown so much, achieved many small and big milestones, and there’s so much that she will achieve in this month and coming months. She will soon start standing on her own and attempt to walk too, i.e., if she hasn’t started already. There’s a lot of development that will take place this month. Read this article to learn about the growth and development of your 11-month-old baby.

Video: 11-Month-Old Baby: Development, Activities & Care Tips

Growth of the Baby

Keeping track of your 11-month-old baby is going to be a lot harder than you would have imagined. Your baby will explore her surroundings, babble more often, and in general, will be more curious. That means you will have to be vigil and pay attention to her at all times. Let’s look at how you bundle of joy will develop at 11 months of age.

Baby Development

At this stage, your baby is going to be a curious bundle of energy. She will love playing games especially the ones that involve pointing. Keep your camera ready for the strides she will make in both verbal and physical development. You must keep in mind that your baby can achieve developmental milestones later or earlier than her peers, so you don’t need to worry about that. Each baby has its own growth and developmental trajectory, and your baby will follow a tune that is most comfortable for her. Be sure to boost her confidence by letting her know that you are delighted with her progress. If you are still concerned about your infant’s development at 11 months, then you must consult with your paediatrician.

44-Week-Old Baby’s Development

At this stage, you will notice that your baby is now trying to imitate many more words than before. As your baby’s brain continues to develop, her speech and ability to reason will start becoming more robust. You can encourage this curiosity by listening to your baby intently and responding to whatever she is trying to communicate.

As your baby gets closer to the one year mark, you should spend time with your partner to decide your disciplining method. As parenting methods and styles change across generations, you might find that you and your partner disagree on some parenting techniques. This is completely natural. You must discuss your priorities calmly with your partner and come to a consensus as to how you will be disciplining your little one.

While previously 11 months old, babies were exposed to potty training; new research tells us that your little one is still too young for it. You must wait until your baby is between 18 and 24 months before you start potty training.

45-Week-Old Baby’s Development

At this age, your baby will love to look at picture books for their bright and colourful images. You must encourage this practice by giving your baby board books that are easy to visualize. Read the stories out to her and make the storytelling engaging. Loving to read is a habit that your little one will cherish for life and will also help with her development.

You can also start planning your baby’s first birthday celebrations! Make sure that you have all the help you need and keep a supply of baby products within easy reach.

46-Week-Old Baby’s Development

This period is an important time for your baby; this is when you begin to slowly wean them off breastfeeding. They will miss the nursing, but you can begin to replace that by spending some quality time with your baby, try having her around while you go about your daily chores, keeping her engaged by conversing with her and increasing your baby’s playtime with your partner and you.

At 46 weeks, you should be able to get your little one to understand how to help you out. At this young age, it won’t be anything too complex, but rather an

exposure to concepts like putting away her toys after playing with them or picking up anything she’s dropped. You must reinforce this by using words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ so that she learns how to be polite from an early age.

Your baby will soon be eating solid foods as you start to wean her off breastmilk. Now is a good time to consult with your paediatrician about the diet your little one can consume. Buy fresh produce that is free of preservatives.

47 Week Old Baby Development

Your baby might start walking independently. You can encourage this by getting her a walker. You can also stand a little away from her and outstretch your arms calling her to come to you. Make sure that the environment for her experiments with walking is baby proofed.

Baby Health

Your baby is going to be exploring her environment, so now is a great time to ensure that you and any other visitors start leaving their footwear outside the house. Even if your baby is not walking yet, she is bound to be crawling and exploring every nook and cranny. You can also use baby dividers at home to ensure that your baby does not explore the areas that can be potentially dangerous for her, such as the garage or the kitchen. As your baby starts to explore solid foods, develop the habit of washing her hands before every meal in order to ensure that there is no cross-contamination of germs. Make sure that you do not allow anyone to smoke near your baby. While this month does not have any vaccinations, the next month will. So talk to your paediatrician about setting up a schedule for the shots.

Baby Milestones – 11 Months

A baby’ milestones can be major or minor. There are certain observable behaviours that you should watch out for in your baby to see  Below are some milestones:

• She will start to recognize people by names.
• She can distinguish physical features of individuals more precisely.
• She will have more control over her motor skills.
• Her curiosity will grow at a rapid pace as she explores new ways to use and play with her toys and surroundings.
• She will understand what the word ‘no’ means.
• She will be able to indicate if she needs something more precisely.

Here are some of the physical, developmental milestones that your 11-month baby will probably cross.

• Use different positions to reach something she wants.
• Your baby will be able to stand on her own.
• She might take a few steps without support, and can walk with support.
• She can climb stairs.
• Her finger dexterity increases.
• She will now have a couple of teeth on each jaw.
• She will be sleeping with a more predictable routine.e

Behaviour

As your baby’s brain continues to develop, she will start to experience and show a full range of emotions that will tie in with the development of her cognitive skills. She will now be able to recognise people among a group of people. She will seek the people she knows and will want to spend time with them. Conversely, she might be a little wary of people she has never met before. She will also be able to distinguish between her parents and will call ‘mama’ and ‘dada’. When she finds something frustrating like being unable to figure out how to play with her toys she will not hesitate to show her displeasure. She will also start showing the first signs of disobedience as she will start to become more determined.

Activities for an 11-Month-Old Baby

There are many activities that you can try to keep your 11-month-old baby engaged. While these activities will help your baby’s development, it will also give you more opportunities to bond.

A simple activity is to play a game of making faces with food. Place a few food items such as carrots, peas, spaghetti, and cherry tomatoes in front of your child. Then take an empty plain plate and help her create faces with the food.

If your baby has already started to walk, then you can indulge her with a game of jumping on the bed. Be sure to hold her hands and jump along with her. This will help her strengthen her muscles and build balance.

To improve hand-eye coordination, you can encourage her to start painting with water. Give her a mug of water and real paintbrushes and let her paint on the floor. You can also get non-toxic paint that is suitable for an 11-month-old and get her interested in using bright colours.

11-Month-Old Baby Care

One of the main things that will keep you on your feet with your 11-month-old baby is her insatiable need to explore and figure everything out for herself. While this might be good for her development, there are areas and things that are simply too dangerous for her to play around with. Cordon off areas such as the kitchen and areas that house things like the TV, washing machine, and DVD player.

Planning on weaning your baby off breast milk? Then this will be the best time to start. Start by replacing one feeding session with other forms of food. Do not give your baby cow’s milk before 1 year of age as it can be hard to digest for some babies. Do consult with your paediatrician on what foods you can start to feed your baby at the 11-month mark.

Your baby will start forming bonds with people she has seen for a while. She will also want to spend time with them if they are around her. Do not force her to spend time with people she is not comfortable with.

If your baby is comfortable standing straight, then mark her height on a wall. Make this a regular practice, with marking her height every three months.

Feeding

At the 11^th month mark, your baby should be able to feed herself with two fingers and manage to use a spoon. Encourage her to feed herself while you keep watching. As your baby’s taste develops, you can include the foods that you eat in her diet. Incorporate fruits, veggies, pulses, eggs, and non-vegetarian foods in her diet. You must also give your baby snack in between meals such as crackers, fruit, and dry cereal. The ideal 11-month baby weight for a boy is between 7 to 10 kg and for a girl is between 6.5 to 11 kg. If you have any concerns regarding the diet of your baby, then you must consult with your paediatrician.

Sleeping

Babies at this age will sleep for a total of 13 to 14 hours every day. This will be divided between 2-3 naps in the day and the sleep she gets in the night. Some babies will be fussy about their naps during the day, but you must ensure that she gets at least 2 naps during the day with the naps totalling to up to 2 to 2.5 hours.

Tips for Parents

• Engage in activities and games with your baby. This will allow your baby to develop her fine motor skills and learn to socialise with other children when she goes to parks with you.
• Encourage your baby to be independent. Let her feed herself and spend time playing by herself under your watchful eye. You can also let her pick her own clothes or select a sippy cup of her choice.
• Introduce her to new people. It could be your extended family members or your friends. However, do not force her to engage with them if she shows clear signs of discomfort.
• Read to your baby. It is never too early to instil the good habit of reading. Once you start reading to her with picture books, she will always associate reading with a fun time that she felt safe and secure with you.
• Talk to her about real engagement. Pay attention to what she is trying to communicate and respond accordingly. Let her know that what she is saying has real value to you.
• Reinforce good behaviour by letting your little one know, that she has done a good job whenever she gets anything right.

By 11 months of age, your baby should have crossed several developmental milestones. You must discuss the progress your baby is making with her paediatrician and make sure that you take her to all doctor’s appointments.

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