Development Calendar

Your Baby Month 7

What's Your Baby Up to This Month?

Your Baby: Month 7

She can respond selectively to words she has come to know
She is exploring cause and effect through dropping games
She may start trying to crawl

The Dropping Game: All in the Name of Learning

You bend down to pick up your little angel's favorite teddy bear and give it back to her, only to have her fling it to the floor again. Repeat this scenario oh, 30 or 40 more times and you have one of the most common developmental games for a 7-month-old.

It's amazing how much she can learn from this activity. Is the teddy bear heavy or light? What sound does it make when it hits the floor? If I do it again, will it do the same thing? Is it still my teddy bear when it's on the floor? And how many times can I do this before mommy stops thinking it's funny?

Refining Her Grasp of Grasping

At this stage, most babies have no trouble passing things from hand to hand. She's starting to be able to grab things one-handedly, which leaves another whole hand free for exploring. She's getting better with her fingers, too. The mitten grasp will soon give way to picking up small things, like Cheerios, by pressing her thumb against the base of her pointer finger.

Your Little Wordsmith

When babies hear people talk, they hear a continuous stream of words all slurred together. But at 7 months, your baby can already pick out where some words begin and end. She can also recognize the words she hears most often, like her own name. You can see that she listens more carefully when she hears them. Understanding what words mean comes next.

Baby Games: Month 7

Read to Your Baby

Read picture books to your baby. It's a great social time and a wonderful togetherness activity. This introduces your baby to words and pictures, but remember at this age it's not about teaching.
Play One, Two, Three, Tickle

In this simple cause-and-effect game, move your hands toward your baby as you count to three. Then let loose the tickle machine. Repeat until someone calls “uncle.”