Routine Well Visit: 6 Months

By 6 months, your baby should

  • Reach for objects and transfer them from hand to hand
  • Use a raking motion with hand to grasp objects
  • Sit well with support and may begin to sit unsupported in the tripod position
  • Roll over front to back and back to front
  • Push up on all fours and rock back and forth – getting ready to crawl!
  • Can bear weight on their legs when held, and will bounce to strengthen leg muscles
  • Baby loves to babble, blow raspberries and interact with people
  • Baby has begun to understand cause and effect – loves to drop things– especially things that make noise! He/she will play to the audience

Nutrition

Your baby’s birth weight should be doubled by this age. Weight gain begins to slow, averaging 1lb per month.

Begin introducing solids when baby can sit upright, shows curiosity about what you are eating, starts to take food off a spoon using upper lip, begins chewing motions. You can start any food first, but start slow, one feeding daily increasing up to three times daily. One new food at a time for three days before trying another new food.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to introduce peanut butter that is softened by formula. Studies have shown that early introduction results in a lower likelihood of allergies later

No whole milk or honey yet – these need to wait until after 12 months.

Sleep

  • Baby will sleep an average of 14 hours per day. Usually this means 2-3 naps/day and may sleep for a 6-8 hour stretch at night
  • You might see sleep disruptions about this time. It’s ok to soothe them if they wake, but calmly and gently return baby to their crib for self-soothing and sleep
  • Continue to keep the crib free of pillows, stuffed animals, crib bumpers, and other soft items

Safety

  • Your child must be secured in a car seat for every ride!
  • Infants should be in rear facing car seats according to your seat’s manufacturer guidelines.
  • No bulky clothing under the car seat straps, a blanket can always be placed over the straps
  • Baby is quick to move at this stage – the home should be child-proofed and he/she should be watched carefully as everything goes to the mouth and small objects pose a choking hazard

The 6 months office visit

We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics and CDC schedule for well visits and vaccines. In addition to discussing your baby’s growth and development, they will receive dose #3 of the vaccines they received at the 2 & 4 month visits. For information about these vaccines, please visit www.immunize.org/vis