Gasp! Your baby’s first birthday is just one month away! Some parents go all out to commemorate the occasion (which is more of a chance for the grown-ups to celebrate the day), and others opt to go more casual. Whichever way you choose to mark your baby’s first year, you’re reaching a big milestone!
Your 11-Month-Old’s Milestones
However your 11-month-old does it — crawling, scooting, walking, or some other creative way of moving forward — your baby has a mode of locomotion. They can feed themselves, grasping food between thumb and finger. Your almost-1-year-old shows that they understand your words by following simple requests or responding to known words and phrases.
Your baby is figuring out their preferences, learning, reacting, and exploring whatever they can get their hands on. They can see about 20 feet away and love to track moving objects. Your baby’s hearing has also integrated with their sight, and it all helps to build up your little one’s knowledge base.
Some other 11-month-old milestones, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), include:
- Comprehending and responding to simple requests.
- Using words to convey meaning.
- Stronger self-concept.
- Standing, crawling, scooting, cruising, or walking.
- Conscious that things have names and functions.
Your 11-Month-Old’s Development
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average baby weight and height for an 11-month-old is 19.2 pounds and 28.7 inches for girls and 20.7 pounds and 29.3 inches for boys. Your baby may gain about 3 to 5 ounces a week and grow another half inch in length for the next month. Since their weight gain is likely slowing a bit, don’t worry if your baby hasn’t increased their weight much. Remember that there is a wide range of normal for children’s heights and weights. Your child is fine as long as they’re growing and developing.
It’s a good idea to take note of any red flags in your baby’s behavior. Your almost-1-year-old should be making eye contact, smiling, showing pleasure in social interactions, babbling, pointing, showing interest in their surroundings, and showing definite signs of knowing and preferring their closest caregivers.
If there’s anything about your baby’s behavior that concerns you, bring this to your pediatrician’s attention. Some signs of developmental delay in your 11-month-old could be:
- Doesn’t make eye contact or smile.
- Doesn’t babble or try to communicate verbally.
- Doesn’t recognize familiar people or objects.
- Doesn’t enjoy social interactions.
- Doesn’t bear weight on their legs.
- Doesn’t sit up with assistance.
- Doesn’t respond to their name.
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 11-Month-Old
Try some fun activities that you can do at home or in your neighborhood. Join an online playgroup to get to know some of the parents of your baby’s peers. Take walks — either in a stroller, a baby carrier, or using their own two feet — and visit the local park. (Please wear a mask and practice proper social distancing.) Check out what your local community offers in terms of classes, activities, and events. Go on your normal errands.
Here is one suggested routine:
- Morning: feed, play, snack, nap
- Afternoon: feed, play, nap, feed, play
- Evening: feed, play, bath (not necessarily daily), story or lullaby
- Night: feed, sleep, feed, sleep
According to pediatrician Dr. Steph Lee, your 11-month-old should be brushing their teeth twice a day now as well. If your child still can’t go to bed without a bottle, start filling it with water instead — anything else raises the risk of dental cavities.
Feeding and Eating Guidelines
You may be nursing or formula-feeding your baby as normal, with solid foods being simply a complement to this primary source of nutrition. “Solid foods should not change the amount of milk a baby consumes,” says Wendy Haldeman, a board-certified lactation consultant. “Milk is the No. 1 nutritional requirement for a baby for the first year.”
If your baby is nursing, they may do so a few times a day, or every three to four hours. As your baby enters toddlerhood, their nursing sessions will likely get shorter in duration, to the point when they can empty the breast in just a few minutes. Breast milk is still the primary source of nutrition through the first year, so make sure to protect those feedings and not replace them fully with solid food.
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Pop quiz: How many times should you offer your baby a food that they don’t “like?”
Answer: It can take babies many tries to get to know a food. The rule of thumb is to offer a food 15 times before shelving it for a few weeks.
“Try to refrain from falling into a pattern of coaxing or bribing,” says board-certified infant feeding specialist Cynthia Epps. “Forcing food on a child at any age sends very mixed, negative psychological cues.” Put a variety of healthy, whole foods on the table at mealtimes — how much your baby eats is up to their own belly.
The dynamic at mealtime is established in these early months, and it is powerful as the years go on. Falling into power struggles over food derails healthy eating. “An innocent, age-appropriate food refusal on the part of your toddler becomes much more fun if you react,” Epps says. Instead, she suggests to leave the refused food on the plate, offer one previously prepared alternative, and allow that to become the rule.
“Studies show that children react negatively when parents pressure them to eat foods,” Epps says. That stands, even if the pressure is to offer a reward. In one study, researchers asked children to eat vegetables and drink milk, offering them stickers and television time if they did. Later in the study, the children expressed dislike for the foods they had been rewarded for eating.
And exactly how much food is enough? According to Epps, calories are a measure of energy and are essential for healthy growth. However, recent studies show that most infants and children up to the age of 3 grow normally — and avoid later obesity — on approximately 15% fewer calories than previously recommended by experts. This change came from new research methods that measured the actual volume of food eaten, instead of maternal perceptions of what their children ate.
Here are some of the approximate calories the average toddler consumes:
- At 1 year: 850 calories per day.
- From 2 to 3 years: between 1,050 to 1,250 calories per day.
These estimates will also fluctuate up and/or down from week to week as influenced by growth spurts, illness, and teething.
Play: Toys, Games, and Activities
At 11 months, your baby probably loves to imitate you. While you talk on the phone, you might see them babbling with purpose into a toy held to their ear. This is a natural way for your baby to learn and is a great sign they’re noticing and modeling after the most important people in their environment. It also means that what you do and say, as well as your emotional tone, is always being registered by your little one. Nothing goes over their head at this point, so be aware of how you communicate not just to your baby, but also to other people in the house.
In addition to modeling behavior, you can try:
- Playing songs as well as musical and percussive instruments.
- Traveling through a tube tunnel or pillow fort.
- Walking in nature — point out and let them touch (when appropriate) leaves, flowers, animals, sand, grass, etc.
- Creating art — use stamp pads, paint, crayons, anything washable, and let your baby make a mess.
They’re likely getting into anything and everything. Your baby will be climbing, opening, emptying, and slamming drawers, cabinets, and boxes. You can be content to fill their days with letting them explore your house safely, or you can bring in additional activities to occupy them.
Sleep and Nap Guidelines
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Your 11-month-old is most likely napping two times a day, about one to two hours at a time, and sleeping 10 to 11 hours at night. Also, if you don’t currently have a bedtime routine, you might want to consider adding one. Sleep consultant Heather Turgeon offers an example of an 11-month-old’s routine that sets the stage for good sleep:
- Bath
- Pajamas
- Breast or bottle
- Baby-led play
- Stories
- Say goodnight to objects in the room
- Song
- Kiss and into crib
The right routine is key, says Turgeon, because the way a baby goes into bed affects how they sleep during the night. “We always help our clients make adjustments to the bedtime routine,” says Turgeon. “Even a very small tweak in the routine can have a huge impact on a baby’s nighttime sleep.”
A sample sleep schedule for an 11-month-old:
- Wake time: 6:45 a.m.
- Nap 1: 9:30 a.m.
- Nap 2: 2:30 p.m.
- Bedtime: 7:00 p.m.
Common 11-Month-Old Health Conditions
While there are no vaccinations or immunizations recommended at 11 months, it may behoove you to get the flu vaccine for your little one. Because COVID-19 and the flu have similar symptoms, the AAP and the CDC recommend everyone 6 months or older (without medical contraindications) get the current age-appropriate influenza vaccine to help conserve potentially scarce medical resources. The flu vaccine will not protect your 11-month-old from possibly contracting COVID-19.
However, the vaccine can reduce your baby’s risk of:
- Contracting the flu
- Hospitalization
- Possible death
Please consult your child’s health-care provider to determine whether your baby needs two doses of vaccine or only one dose.
Coming Soon: Your 1-Year-Old
More talking, pulling up, and maybe even a few steps!
