My friend Britt, from Brittzinkpt.com, and I teamed up to pull together our knowledge on developmental norms. We are starting early at 6 months.  What should a little one be doing at 6 months?  Great question!

Obviously your 6 month old child is not ordering you around, asking where their shoe is, or telling you they prefer ketchup on everything…they don’t start doing that until 2.  But there are a few things they should be doing on the speech and language front.  And I love a good list, so here we go…

• Coo and babble while playing with someone or alone
• Produce repeated sounds, such as ba ba ba or pa pa pa
  • Work on this by imitating your baby’s sounds – teach them imitation by imitating!
• Giggle and laugh
• Produce sounds that communicate they are mad or sad
  • Teach them this by being dramatic in your emotions with them!
• Look towards a sound or noise
  • Shake a toy in front of their face and slowly move it from side to side
• Responds to different voices and tones
• Pays attention to music
• Notices when toys make noises

And here is some great info from Britt Zink at Brittzinkpt.com.  Britt is a physical therapist and a wealth of knowledge!

What is baby doing now?

• Rolling from her back to either side

  • Encourage this activity by placing toys and objects of interest to either side of baby out of her reach and encourage her to roll

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• Rolling from her tummy to either side

  • Continue to encourage tummy time! Laying baby on a variety of textures also aids in baby’s sensory development.

• Begins to sit without support

  • Position baby on the floor and sit behind her to give her some support. Place toys of interest around in front of her and encourage her to play and explore.

• When standing with support, supports weight on her legs and may begin to bounce

• Rocks back and forth, tries to crawl forward, may go backwards before she is able to go forward.