8 Months Baby Development. What You Need To Know

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Your baby’s development at 8 months may not be as busy in terms of achieving new 8-month milestones as the previous months, but it doesn’t mean things are getting slow or boring

Not even a little!

Your baby will master what they have already learned and catch up on some of the previous milestones they just weren’t ready for earlier.

See what else you can expect once your baby turns 8 months.

What to expect from your 8 months baby development

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Physical growth

As I mentioned so many times before, kids grow at their own pace. So while I am sharing with you an average weight and height for your 8 months baby development, if your baby falls outside these numbers and your pediatrician is not concerned, then you shouldn’t be either.

For a baby boy, the average height is 69cm (27.75in) and ranges between 64cm (25.2in) and 77cm (30.3in). The average weight is considered to be 8.6kg (19lb), or somewhere between 6.4kg (14lb) and 11.3kg (25lb).

Baby girls, on the other hand, are about 68cm (27in) tall on average. This can vary between 63cm (24.8in) and 75cm (29.5in). Their average weight is 7.9kg (17lb 7oz) and could range between 5.9kg (13lb) and 10.4kg (23lb).

Sleep

At 8 months, your baby should have already gotten used to a sleep routine. In most cases, this would mean about 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep and another 2-3 hours during the morning and afternoon nap.

Still, while most 8-month-olds have 2 naps during the day, having 3 or more catnaps is not something to be concerned about.

8 Months old baby food

Your infant will slowly transition to consuming more solid foods than milk. Keep in mind, however, that breastmilk or formula are still a very important component of your baby’s diet.

Since your baby is getting better control over their grasp by the day, offering different finger foods is a great way to diversify their daily meals.

Just remember to never force your baby to finish their serving. If they close their mouth and start to pull back, leave them be. Otherwise, you risk training yourself a picky eater.

Core development

Raking grasp

At around 8 months, your baby will start using a raking grasp. In simple words, this means that they will swipe at objects with an open palm when trying to grab something. Soon, this “raking” will progress to a pinching grasp when they start using their thumb and pointer finger.

Standing up

But what’s more exciting is that your baby may surprise you by pulling themselves up to a standing position while holding onto the sofa. This is such an exciting moment for every parent.

But does this mean that your baby is about to start walking in the next few weeks? Well, not necessarily.

Many infants prefer the security of walking around holding to furniture or someone’s hand instead of letting go and making their first independent steps. The important thing is not to push your little one. They will let go whenever they are ready.

This could be at 8 months, or it could be at 18 months. You just have to be patient and supportive.

The first thing you need to do, however, is to make sure they will be safe when holding around or pulling up. In other words, you need to baby-proof your home if you haven’t done so already.

Don’t forget to secure any heavy furniture to the walls. This includes dressers, bookcases, and TV stands. Don’t underestimate your little one’s strength when trying to pull up to a standing position. There is an actual danger of the furniture falling over them.

Also, if you have indoor plants you may want to move them somewhere out of reach. They will hardly hurt your baby, but they still may get torn out leaf by leaf.

Last but not least, if you’re using a multi-level crib, you should now move your baby to the lowest level. Even if they are not pulling up yet, they may start any day now. Keeping them on the higher lever poses a risk of falling over when they start to stand up.

8-month-old baby activities

Fine motor development

As we already mentioned, your little one is slowly mastering their grasp. Soon, they will have more control over their hands and fingers. You can help them by engaging them in activities that involve fine motor development.

Simply put, this means encouraging them to work with their hands.

An easy way to do this is by introducing stacking blocks. Don’t expect them to build a tower just yet but holding them and tossing them from one hand to another is still a great exercise.

Stacking circles is another way to do this. You have to know that for your 8-month-old baby placing the circle on the stack requires a great deal of concentration, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. So don’t forget to praise them when they succeed.

Cause and effect

As part of your 8 months baby development, your baby will start to understand the basics of cause and effect.

A great way to boost their new skill is by including a few interactive toys so they have to do something for something else to happen.

Here are just a few examples of such developmental toys:

Encourage crawling

At 8 months, most babies are already crawling. If they are not, however, this is not necessarily a cause for concern. Many babies skip crawling entirely and move straight to walking.

Crawling, however, is a great exercise for all your baby’s muscle groups.

Thus, encouraging them to move is highly recommended. You can do this by allowing them plenty of tummy time and placing toys around them but out of their reach.

If your baby is formula-fed, showing them the milk bottle is also extremely motivating.

Take a “walk”

No, your baby will probably not start walking yet (although it’s not impossible). What they will start, however, is starting to explore your home by holding to the furniture.

You may even build a mini obstacle course for them by strategically placing items that they can hold on to in order to reach the other side of the room by walking.

Keep talking with them

Your 8-month-old starts to understand a lot more than you might imagine. That’s why it’s very important to start explaining the world around them.

Don’t worry, this is a lot easier than it sounds. Just talk to them about what you are doing, why are you doing it, and what will happen as a result. Use simple words and an appropriate tone.

Here’s a quick example:

We’re putting your jacket on (what) because it’s cold outside (why). And then we’ll go for a walk (result).