As all babies grow at their own pace, this eight-month-old developmental milestones is here to serve as a rough guide. Thus, do not be too anxious if the development of your little one does not tick the checklist exactly.
Generally, your 8-month-old baby is going to move around more to explore and learn about his surroundings. On top of this, you might notice that your baby would make more sounds as if he understands and wishes to talk to you.
Here’s what you can expect for your 8-month-old baby in detail.
Eight-Month-Old Developmental Milestones
8-month-old Sleep
For a eight-month-old baby, he should sleep around 15 hours per day. He would sleep around 3 and a half hours with two naps in between during the day.
Whereas for night time, he would sleep around 10 to 11 hours. He might sleep through the night and be less likely to wake up in the wee hours. He is able to sleep for a longer stretch by now.
8-Month-Old Feeding
As your baby is now getting his nutrition from both solid food and formula or breast milk, you will still need to prioritise the intake of formula or breast milk.
Thus, always start your feeding with formula or breast milk. Then, you may start with other solid food. So, here’s how much a eight-month-old baby should eat.
- If you are feeding your baby with formula, he should have six to eight ounces for six times a day.
- If you are breastfeeding your baby, he should be breastfed for every three to four hours.
- If you are trying to feed your baby with solid food, you can start with six to eight ounces for three times a day. [You may offer two-ounce snacks twice a day, too!]
And guess what? Your baby is now ready for soft table food and finger foods with different textures. Due to his mastery of the pincer grasp, he is able to pick up food with his pointer finger and thumb.
Here are some finger food ideas that you may try out with your eight-month-old baby:
Always remember that your baby’s solid food should be organic, unsweetened and unsalted as much as possible. More importantly, it should be a balanced diet that contains fats, carbohydrates, protein and iron.
Key Milestones In Growth
In his eighth month, your baby is still growing to develop physically besides having better senses and skills. Here’s the average weight and height that you can expect from your eight-month-old baby.
- Weight: Around 7.94 kg for a 8-month-old baby girl and 8.62 kg for a 8-month-old baby boy
- Length: Around 68.83 cm for a 8-month-old baby girl and 70.61 cm for a 8-month-old baby boy
As long as your baby is growing healthily and steadily based on the growth chart, the figures serve only as your reference. Your baby is certainly growing on the right track!
Key Milestones In Skill Development and Senses
Key Milestones in Movement
- can pass objects from one hand to the other
- can pick up tiny objects with his thumb and index finger
- can roll from front to back and back to front
- can sit without support
- tries to crawl or can crawl
- can roll, crouch, twist and rock while kneeling
- can pull up to a standing position while holding onto something like a sofa
While some babies start to crawl by the eighth month, it is equally fine if your 8-month-old baby isn’t crawling yet. Some babies needs some extra months while some even go straight from rolling to walking without learning to crawl. As your 8-month-old starts to be on motion at all times, you will need to be extra careful with the household belongings you have at home.
Make sure you pay attention to the following guidelines whenever you have an active baby besides babyproofing your house:
You can always follow the toilet paper tube rule to determine whether the items are dangerous in choking your baby. Mind that if an item is small enough to fit inside a toilet paper tube, it’s small enough to choke your baby, too.
Key Milestones in Five Senses
- can see across the room well
- can follow objects that fall with his eyes
- can bang toys together and toss a ball
- tries to copy you when you are talking to him
- can respond when talked to and can make sounds back
- can babble consonant sounds such as ‘m’ or ‘b’
- can understand the meaning of basic words like Bye-bye or Hi
- starts to understand object permanence
- likes to look into a mirror
Looking into the concept of object permanence, it simply implies that your 8-month-old baby now understands that things and people still exist even if he can’t see them anymore. With this, you might think that your baby is fine to see you leaving.
No. On the contrary, your baby is more likely to scream and cling whenever you head out. Being known as ‘separation anxiety’, the situation is always distressing for both you and your baby, especially when you wish to leave for work or drop them at the daycare.
So, how can you comfort your baby instead of giving in which would only make the matter worse? Here’s what you can do to ease the separation anxiety:
Play Time With Your 8-Month-Old Baby
As you continue reading, chatting and singing to your 8-month-old baby, you might be overwhelmed with your active baby who is always moving all around the house. Instead of putting him in front of the television or smartphone screen, you can equally keep him occupied with these play ideas:
Be A Guilt-Free Mum While Checking the Eight-Month-Old Developmental Milestones
As working mothers, we understand that every cry and scream from your baby whenever you are leaving can be devastating. However, your baby will slowly understand that you will always be back if you persist in what you do to deal with the separation anxiety.
After all, both you and your baby have formed a strong emotional attachment and it is merely part of his development. Thus, believe that you will go through this and let’s stay strong together in the motherhood journey.
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