At 9 months old, your baby is becoming more mobile and likes to explore. Here are some things your 9-month-old baby may be doing:

• Crawling, pulling up to standing, and maybe even walking holding onto furniture.
• Using gestures to indicate what they need and imitating actions theyve seen you do.
• Mastering a delighted clap or a bye-bye wave.
• Outgrowing some baby rattles and teethers and moving on to bigger-kid stuff.
• Playing games, such as peek-a-boo, dumping blocks from a container and putting them back in together, and passing a toy back and forth.
• Reading books or magazines and naming the pictures as you point to them.
• Meeting other babies and their parents.

To support your babys healthy growth and development at this stage, you can:

• Place toys on the ground or on a play mat a little out of reach and encourage your baby to crawl, scoot, or roll to get them.
• Teach your baby to wave "bye-bye" or shake their head "no".
• Play games that teach your baby to problem-solve, such as my turn, your turn.
• Read to your baby and talk about pictures.
• Make sure your baby gets enough sleep: 4- to 12-month-olds need 12 to 16 hours of sleep a day (including naps) .
• Take care of yourself, so you can be a loving parent when you feel good yourself.