At 7 months old, your baby is probably giving you mixed signals. One moment, they’re itching to crawl away from you — or attempt to — and explore everything at floor level and perhaps shove it in their mouth. Make sure you babyproof your house — cover outlets, sharp corners, protect loose wires, secure or strap any furniture that can topple (e.g., dressers, TVs, bookshelves), and remove choking hazards (if it can fit through an empty toilet paper tube, it’s chokable).
The next moment, your baby is showing signs of separation anxiety. Reaching for you when someone else is holding them, crying when you disappear into the next room or leave the house — these are signs of a very normal part of a healthy attachment relationship between parent and baby. Hold your baby a lot, get down on the ground and play, keep your routines predictable — as time goes on, your baby learns that you do go away, but you always come back. It’s not always easy for you to always be so needed, but just know that this, too, shall pass.
Your 7-Month-Old’s Milestones
At seven months, your baby may rock back and forth on hands and knees, a precursor to crawling. They may rake objects toward themselves to grasp them, and you’ll hear different, more mature sounds and babbles in baby conversation now. If your baby doesn’t try to make or copy any sounds by the time they are 7 months old, there may be a problem with their hearing or speech. In cases of partial hearing loss, babies may still turn their heads to follow sounds or be startled by loud noises, but they will have difficulty emulating speech. Confer with your doctor to get proper testing.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), some other 7-month-old milestones include:
- Sitting without support.
- Crawling.
- Pulling up from a sitting to standing position.
- Rolling over from tummy to back or back to tummy.
- Imitating sounds and babbling.
- Picking things up with their whole hand.
Your 7-Month-Old’s Development
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average baby weight and height for a 7-month-old is 16.8 pounds and 26.5 inches for girls and 18.3 pounds and 27.2 inches for boys. Your baby may gain about 1 to 1.25 pounds and grow another half or ¾ inches longer in the next month. If your baby is on the smaller side, remember that babies come in all shapes and sizes. As long as your baby is growing and developing, they are totally within the wide range of normal.
Please notify your baby’s pediatrician if you have concerns and if they show some of the signs of developmental delay at seven months, such as:
- Doesn’t respond to or imitate sounds.
- Doesn’t roll over in either direction.
- Doesn’t show attachment to parents or caregivers.
- Doesn’t follow objects with both eyes whether near or far.
- One or both eyes consistently turn in or out.
- Eyes persistently drain, tear, or are sensitive to light.
- Doesn’t bear weight on their legs.
- Doesn’t try to get your attention.
- Seems either very stiff or very limp.
Note: If you are visiting a medical professional during COVID, make sure to ask about the facility’s safety measures and confirm that they are following COVID protocols as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A General Schedule for Your 7-Month-Old
This month shouldn’t look too differently from the last — unless your baby has newly dropped a nap from three naps to two. Hopefully, you’re a little more used to how active and curious your 7-month-old is and are getting the hang of dragging an energetic baby everywhere. Take your baby to the park (while practicing proper social distancing), go on walks in the neighborhood, or try activities or read books to your baby. Remember that they’re busy exploring and expanding their world right now, so it’s perfectly fine to let your baby crawl around your floor as long as you’ve cleared or secured your home for their safety.
Here is one suggested routine:
- Morning: feed, play, nap
- Afternoon: feed, play, feed, nap, play
- Evening: feed, play, bath (not necessarily daily), story or lullaby
- Night: feed, sleep, feed, sleep
Feeding and Eating Guidelines
You’re not just feeding your baby solid food, you’re laying the groundwork for their relationship to food over the years. This means thinking not just about what you’re feeding, but how you’re feeding it.
“The goal is to let the initiation to eat or not eat come from the baby,” said Los Angeles Mommy and Me group leader and author Julie Wright. Early on, that means respecting the baby’s cues and trying not to have an emotional reaction, positive or negative, around whether your baby eats. Enjoy food with them — have a version of what they’re eating so they see you eating, too.
You can offer two foods at two meals a day, said board-certified infant feeding specialist Cynthia Epps. Keep the food servings separate, with each averaging approximately 2 ounces of puree. “Between 7 and 8 months, two purees of green and yellow vegetables and/or any of the various potatoes — peeled, steamed sweet potatoes, yams, red, white, or yellow potatoes, and fingerlings — can build your baby’s meals,” said Epps. “Fruits are optional, and may be offered as little as two to three times a week to minimize the development of a sweet tooth.”
Sample feeding schedule:
- Morning: Breast or bottle feed.
- Mid-morning: Breast or bottle feed.
- Lunch: 1 to 2 ounces green/yellow veggies, diluted with water. You may offer the solids first and finish the meal with breast/bottle feeding.
- Mid-afternoon: Breast or bottle feed.
- Dinner: 2 ounces veggie puree or baby cereal diluted with water. Breast/bottle feeding, as desired.
- Bedtime: Breast or bottle feed.
- Night feed(s): Breast or bottle feed, if needed.
Play: Toys, Games, and Activities
Kung – Korbkarn Limsombatanan
When you play with your baby, try to hang back and watch. Let them lead the play — and you follow. Pause and notice what they’re doing: Are they trying to communicate, are they pointing at something, watching shadows on the wall, or reveling in the sound of a toy shaker? Whatever it is, see if you can join in and let them lead you. Add to what they do and build on their curiosity instead of trying to direct the play — this is a great parenting skill to practice.
Some other activities you can try:
- Help stack blocks or cups, and have your baby topple them down.
- Provide different (safe) objects for your baby to throw and shove in their mouth.
- Sing and dance to the same songs repeatedly.
- Read books with textured material or interesting designs and fun sounds on the page.
Sleep and Nap Guidelines
Kung – Korbkarn Limsombatanan
At this age, babies need between 10.5 to 12 hours of nighttime sleep and take two to three naps per day (depending on the length of the nap), said sleep consultant Heather Turgeon. A typical 7-month-old’s sleep schedule will look something like this (adapted from Turgeon’s book The Happy Sleeper):
- Bedtime: 7 p.m.
- Wake time: 6 a.m.
- Nap 1: 8:00 a.m.
- Nap 2: 12:00 p.m.
- Nap 3: 3:30 p.m. (short nap)
If your baby’s naps are long, they may only take two naps. Most babies move to a two-nap schedule by 9 months of age, and those naps will be around one to two hours each, said Turgeon.
Common 7-Month-Old Health Conditions
Kung – Korbkarn Limsombatanan
For many babies, their first teeth may start coming in at seven months. Dr. Steph Lee, spokesperson for the AAP, suggested your baby no longer go to sleep with a bottle of either milk or formula “because sugars from liquid left in the mouth while sleeping can cause tooth decay.” Dr. Lee advised transitioning to only water for naptime or bedtime.
If your baby doesn’t have any teeth yet, you can still take steps to keep their mouth healthy. “Wipe the gums twice a day with a wet cloth, after the first feeding and before bedtime. This will get rid of any leftover food and helps your baby get used to the dental care routine,” she said.
Coming Soon: Your 8-Month-Old
