Baby's First Year

During the first year of your baby's life every moment is special, from the first smile to the first step. Find out the amazing changes that occur every month through our baby development guide.

Track your baby's development month by month, measure by measure by clicking onto your baby's particular month.

Track Your Baby's Development

This site is for informational purposes only and may not pertain to each individual child. These are general guidelines for your baby and in no way reflect exactly what they should or should not be doing at any particular month. Please consult your pediatrician or nurse for information specifically on your child.

1 Month

	Brings hands toward eyes and mouth
	Moves head from side to side when lying down
	Able to follow objects about 6 inches from face
	Responds to outside stimuli by crying, laughing, etc.
	Focuses on your face

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2 Months

	The first signs of a genuine smile
	Prefers more complicated and detailed objects of different colors and shapes
	Sleeps for longer periods of time
	Arm and leg movements are smoother, less jerky

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3 Months

	Will open and shut hands
	Reaches out for toys or objects
	Follows objects in front of face from one side to the other
	Begins to make speech-like noises
	Smiles at sound of parent's voices
	Watches faces intently

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4 Months

	Baby can play alone and doesn't need mommy all the time
	Can participate in back and forth imitation games (ie: you say boo and he/she says it back)
	Baby enjoys looking at bright colors
	May feel uncomfortable with strangers, wants to be around recognizable people

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You may start your baby on iron fortified cereals at this stage, beginning with Earth's Best Whole Grain Rice Cereal.

5 Months

	Able to hold head steady when standing or sitting up
	Reaches for objects
	Recognizes people from a distance
	Smiles spontaneously
	Rolls over one way

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To give you baby some variety, try Earth's Best Multi-Grain Cereal. You can also begin to give your baby vitamin-C rich juices such as Earth's Best Apple Juice. Start your baby on single pureed fruits and vegetables like Earth's Best Strained Pears, Carrots and Bananas.

6 Months

	Your baby's hand and motor control is developing rapidly, look for your baby to start moving objects back and forth
	Baby has learned to roll over in each direction
	At this age, about half of all babies babble, repeating one syllable such as "ga", "ba", "ma"
	The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading aloud to your child at this stage

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While you continue feeding your baby iron fortified cereals try adding something new and yummy like Earth's Best Apple Yogurt Breakfast or Peach Oatmeal Banana to their palates. You can begin to give your baby simple combinations of single pureed fruits and vegetables such as Pears & Raspberries or Prunes & Oatmeal.

7 Months

	Sits without support
	Moves objects from hand to hand
	Responds to own name
	Able to play peekaboo
	Shows excitement when playing
	Responds to "no"

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Continue your baby on iron fortified cereals and juices. Some other strained varieties to try include Earth's Best Rice & Lentil Dinner or Sweet Potatoes & Chicken.

8 Months

	Sits well without support
	Emotions become obvious, may mimic daddy's or mommy's behavior (ie: mommy laughs, baby laughs)
	Baby's vision is almost adultlike
	Explores objects by shaking them, banging them, dropping them, etc.

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Some additional varieties to try this month include, Corn & Butternut Squash, Plums, Bananas and Rice and Vegetable Turkey Dinner.

9 Months

	Shows upsetment (ie: toy being taken away)
	Crawls or creeps on hands
	Pulls self up to standing position
	Stands by holding on to something or someone
	Says "Mama" or "Dada"
	Makes the effort to find toys out of reach

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Now is the time to start your baby on chunky foods such as Earth's Best Chunk Orchard Fruit and Spring Vegetables & Pasta. You can also begin to give your baby beans, split peas, lentils and other legumes cooked or ground to a powder.

10 Months

	Baby can crawl well on hands and knees
	Fingers have become agile and baby grabs at objects
	Baby's personality emerges
	Begins to understand simple words and phrases

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Some other Chunky Blends to try include, Tender Chicken & Stars and Vegetable Beef Pilaf. You can try giving your baby thinned peanut butter, raw and finely grated carrots and whole grain pastas.

11 Months

	By now your baby is probably talking up a storm with words or worldlike sounds spilling out
	Engages in parallel play (playing alongside another child but not with them)
	Becoming more independent, evident by their solo standing, stooping and squatting

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In addition to feeding your baby regular meals, try giving them finger foods such as small crackers, cookies, breads, etc. In addition to iron fortified cereals, try feeding your child Peach Apricot Muesli or Chunky Blend Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal blends.

12 Months

	Starts to stand for a few moments at a time
	Takes baby steps without support
	Gets in sitting position from stomach
	Says "Mama" and "Dada" to right person
	Drinks from a cup
	Claps hands and waves good-bye

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Earth's Best offers healthy snacks like Whole Grain Bars that are ideal for babies and kids 12 months and older. Continue feeding your baby Chunky Blends in addition to fish, cooked legumes and tender pieces of meat. You can also cut fruits into small pieces (ie: blueberries, strawberries, etc) as a tasty treat!

From the Merck Manual of Medical Information - Home Edition, edited by Robert Berkow. Copyright 1997 by Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ. Used with Permission.