Helping Your Baby Develop

• Help your baby walk with (or without) support.
• Encourage her to find a particular toy in a basket of toys.
• Provide push or pull toys for your baby to play with.
• Roll a large ball to your baby and ask him to roll or toss it back to you.
• While your baby is standing up, put a toy on the floor. Try to get her to bend over and pick up the toy without holding on to anything.
• Continue to talk to your baby about everything.

Developmental Milestones

Babies develop at different rates, but by the end of baby's eleventh month, he will probably:

• Drink from a cup
• Walk with one hand held
• Say one word other than "mama" or "dada"

Independent Movement

This is an exciting—and possibly dangerous—time for baby. She is "cruising"—walking while holding on to furniture—and may be on the verge of taking that first solo step. Standing may be so much fun, she may not want to sit down. She'll want to stand on her high chair and in the bathtub. You may be surprised to find she has climbed halfway up the stairs and doesn't know how to come back down! She may even try to take her first steps alone.

This is a good time for a safety recheck:

• Be sure safety gates or other barriers are high and sturdy, have a straight top edge (instead of V-shaped or diamond-shaped openings) and a rigid screen, and are installed correctly at the top and bottom of stairs.
• Remove hard, sharp-edged furniture from her play area.
• Lower the crib mattress so a standing baby can't crawl or fall out.
• Install easy-to-use childproof locks for drawers, screens, doors, and windows.
• Keep poisonous substances (including household cleaners and products) in high cabinets that you can lock.
• If you think your baby has eaten something poisonous, immediately call the Poison Control Center, the hospital emergency room or your baby's health care professional. (Keep these numbers by the phone.)
• Always supervise your baby around water—pools, tubs, large buckets of water, even toilets.
• Never leave pots containing hot foods close to the edges of tables or counters.

Using Names

After months of being talked to, your baby is starting to talk back. She may not use real words, but she can point to a favorite book or toy when you ask. And as she continues to babble more and more, she may even say a word or two.

So keep talking to your baby. Introduce pronouns such as "he" and "she," colors and simple concepts. By the end of the first year, you'll be amazed at how much she understands and says.