All babies have their own timetable, but you can watch for certain developments in your 6-month-old. Celebrate with your baby as she reaches or nears these milestones.
Cognitive
Shows interest in more complex patterns
Is more interested in studying objects visually
Focuses on small objects
Smoothly tracks quickly moving objects
Has increased attention span
Experiments with cause and effect
Discovers object permanence (an object is still there even when she can’t see it)
Understands some sequencing (setting up a high chair means it’s time to eat)
Motor
Holds head steady without support when upright
When on stomach, pushes up to elbows and arches her back
Rocks on stomach, waving arms and legs
Rolls from stomach to back, then back to stomach
May sit in frog- or tripod-like position without support
Coordinates hands and eyes (seeing an object, then reaching for it)
Rakes objects toward her and grasps them
Brings objects to mouth with good accuracy
Uses hands to explore body; grabs feet when lying on back
Will stand on your lap or a firm surface and bounce
Communications
Uses different cries to express hunger, pain, sleepiness, or boredom
Listens to your language patterns and copies those sounds
Makes more complex, two-syllable babbles that combine vowels and consonants (“ah-goo,” “bah-bah”)
Babbling begins to sound like the intonation used in real language
Squeals, giggles, and laughs to draw attention
Social
Begins to distinguish emotions from your tone of voice and expressions
Uses voice and facial expressions to convey emotions
Watches faces closely; makes and maintains eye contact
