MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Participate in simple movement games (for example, baby anticipates being lifted during the same line in songs).
• Show excitement when new toys and objects are used in play.

YOU CAN

• Provide play area with a variety of options and materials to encourage movement (empty water bottles filled with crinkled aluminum foil, or with colored pompoms).
• Engage child in simple movement games like “So Big,” “Pat-a-cake,” “Ring around the Rosie”.
• Avoid screen time (computer, iPads, TV, movies) for child younger than 18 months except for brief chats with family members.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Pull up self to standing, holding on to something or someone; later stand independently.
• Walk holding on to furniture, then later as the primary means of moving around.
• Enjoy pushing and pulling objects.
• Throw objects while maintaining balance.
• Stoop over to explore things on the ground.
• Squat and stand back up again while maintaining balance.
• Crawl or climb stairs, with assistance.

YOU CAN

• Place furnishings close together so child can take short steps between items.
• Provide ample space and time for active movement including climbing, jumping and tumbling on soft surfaces.
• Play catch with balls or bean bags, first rolling, then gently tossing.
• Provide beginning riding toys.
• Comfort children when they fall, and
  encourage them to try new skills.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Crawl, scoot, or crab walk. Look for the body moving in a coordinated movement one side then the other as opposed to a baby just
  pulling with arms and dragging legs behind.
• Be eager to pull up and stand.
• Enjoy walking with support such as cruising along furniture or holding on to fingers.
• Be eager to climb up and down on furniture.
• May climb out of crib.
• Show persistence when crawling, walking or running.
• Run with increasing speed and over greater distances.
• Be on the move for longer periods of time.

YOU CAN

• Keep a watchful eye on mobile babies - their increased mobility can put them at risk.
• Provide child with several hours of unstructured movement every day.
• Ensure child has a regular nap and bedtime routine.
• Provide physical challenges that can be accomplished with determination, such as moving a heavy item across a floor.
• Provide a baby crib mattress or couch cushions on the floor for jumping, where there is no risk of falling onto a hard object or over a drop.
• Provide rocking horses, or small riding toys.
• Show children that activity is fun by doing it yourself – bicycling, lifting weights, playing soccer, beachcombing.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Mimic hand clapping or a good-bye wave.
• Point with one finger.
• Empty objects from containers.
• Turn pages of large books, often turning multiple pages at the same time.
• Stack 2-3 small square blocks.
• Make marks on paper with large writing/ drawing implements (thick pencil, crayon, marker).

YOU CAN

• Model and encourages child to play with bath toys (scooping and pouring).
• Read with children and promote fine motor skills (turning pages, pointing).
• Provide small wooden blocks such as the traditional ABC cube style for stacking and to dump and fill in containers.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Coordinate eye and hand movements (puts objects into large container).
• Explore and responds to different surface textures (hard top tables, soft cushions).
• Accept new flavors and textures in food.
• Explore making sounds with instruments such as pianos/keyboards, horns, drums.
• Practice small motor strength in areas other than fingers (sounds with tongue, tip toes, kisses).

YOU CAN

• Talk with child about the colors, sounds, temperatures, tastes, and smells of things during daily activities, for sensory
  exploration.
• Explain when things are hot and too hot to touch safely; cold and too cold to touch safely.
• Sing, play music, and encourage movement to the beat of the music.
• Provide challenges that require fine motor muscles (balance, pouring).
• Ensure that children at all ages are checked for vision and hearing, as suggested by doctor or early educator.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Wash and dry hands, with assistance.
• Begin to brush gums and teeth with assistance.
• Indicate needs and wants such as hunger or a dirty diaper.
• Start to wean off pacifier (if used).
• Go to bed without a bottle.
• Remove loose clothing (socks, hats, mittens).
• Assist with undressing, dressing, and diapering.
• Start to drink out of a cup.
• Retrieve and put own shoes/coat away upon request.
• Begin to clean up after meals with assistance.

YOU CAN

• Establish on-going and regular medical and dental homes for child and make sure child receives routine preventative care.
• Make sure child receives all immunizations.
• Talk with child about what you are doing when bathing, diapering, dressing, and cleaning.
• Start using a washcloth or infant gum brush to clean the baby’s gums after feedings.
• Establish hygiene routines and model them (washing hands before eating, brushing teeth).
• Make bath time enjoyable (provide safe bath toys, sing songs, tell stories).
• Understand and recognize typical signs of illness or discomfort in child and respond appropriately, seeking assistance as needed (teething, earache, diaper rash, diarrhea).
• Encourage the child to put the pacifier away except for sleeping or soothing.
• Learn infant’s cues, so they are able to judge when a baby needs to eat or is uncomfortable.
• Put infants in cribs to sleep, not to play.
• Respond positively and promptly when child indicates needs (food, diaper change, blanket).
• Model basic personal care routines (brush teeth, comb hair in front of child).
• Provide opportunities for older child to select safe foods and feed self.
• Provide child-size eating utensils and cups with lids.
• Transition to cup starting at 12 months (sippy cup or open cup).
• Provide child with a safe and comfortable sleeping environment.
• Provide older babies with a consistent bedtime routine and schedule.
• Wash your hands and child’s hands frequently to help prevent the spread of colds and viruses.
• Provide oral health care (brushing teeth and gums).
• Ask and show the child where their shoes go, asks them to put their shoes away.
• Offer open cups to drink small amounts of water.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• Begin to scoop food onto their plates with assistance.
• Begin to eat finger foods.
• Feed self with a spoon.
• Grasp and drink from a cup.
• Control how much, how fast, and what foods they eat.

YOU CAN

• Plan feeding times and practices around the needs of child.
• Follow child’s cues for when he/she is full or hungry.
• Serve only breast milk, formula, or water.
• Avoid most processed foods, and foods with added sugar.
• Provide enough time at meals to help child enjoy food and become an independent eater.
• Model nutritious eating habits.
• Provide child with nutritious foods and snacks, including traditional foods from their own culture.
• Provide plenty of water rather than juice.
• Never use sweets as an incentive (to put on a coat or go to bed).
• Ask the family what sounds, words, and nonverbal cues their toddler uses to better understand health and nutrition needs.
• Until infants can sit up, place them in secure chairs such as highchairs or have then held by a familiar adult while being fed.

MOBILE BABIES MAY

• React when caregiver says “no” but may need assistance to stop unsafe behavior.
• Look to adults before starting an unsafe behavior.
• Be able to tell who are his or her main caregivers, and who are strangers.

YOU CAN

• Avoid tying pacifiers to children, to prevent strangulation.
• Keep choking hazards out of child’s reach, (such as coins, marbles, toys with small parts such as Legos, pen or marker caps, small balls, small batteries, medicine syringes, hair barrettes, beads, paper clips).
• Put poisons out of reach (cleansers, makeup, alcohol, deodorant, toothpaste).
• Cover all electrical outlets within children’s reach.
• Provide safe household items as play objects (wooden spoons instead of canned goods, for example).
• Introduce hot and cold, and explain when things are too hot or too cold to touch.
• Understand the risk factors and signs of child abuse and neglect and follow reporting procedures.
• Use reminder strategies such as putting purses or wallets next to the seat where child’s car seat is located to avoid leaving the child in the vehicle.
• Keep diaper supplies within reach when changing infant.
• Use diapering surfaces that prevent falls and injury (diaper on pad on floor or uses restraint strap).
• Use age-appropriate art materials.
• Use walkers with extreme caution (makes it easier to fall down stairs or reach hot stoves, ovens).