6 1/2 Months Old Milestones

[jenny31052]

I have an almost 7 months old boy in care - parents are VERY laid back first time parents, that sometimes have no clue - nice people, just too easy going sometimes for my liking...

I just want an opinion from those who have other babies same age -

This one little boy is still not sitting up - he stays in the sitting position for maybe a minute, then he flop down, and spends lots of time doing the "army crawl" thing -

They just started introducing solid foods about 2 weeks ago - they are only feeding one "meal" a day, but the baby gags and spits everything out, so after 5 minutes they give up.

He is with me only 2 days a week, so I can only help for the time he is here.

The babies I had before they were either sitting up good by this age, or even beginning to pull up on things, and they were well started on solid foods and having at least two attempted meals a day.

I was not instructed to "feed" more than one meal, while he is here, but I think that he needs more practice, even if he doesn't eat the whole serving.

I don't force him to eat, but I encourage him to try "play' with the food in his mouth so he can get used to the texture and the difference sensation while swallowing, but I don't think is enough...

I gave some suggestions, since sometimes the parents really have no clue on what to do, but I don't think they're taking them seriously...



What are you babies doing???

[jenny31052]

I have to add that he doesn't even sits in the tripod position, he is just as floppy as a 3 months old...

[Sunchimes]

When my youngest dck was that age, he couldn't sit up alone either. I had to surround him with pillows or stuffed animals to land on when he tipped over. If I padded around him enough, they sort of propped him and he could play, but after a couple of minutes, he would just tip over. He's over a year now and doing just fine. Starting to walk, etc.

By solids, do you mean table foods? I don't think any of my dcks started experimenting with table foods until 10 or 11 months. I may be wrong, but I'm sure they were still just getting baby food at 7 months-maybe a cheerio, but I'm not even sure about that.

[jenny31052]

I mean baby food... sorry...

[nannyde]

I've had many babies not sit up at this age and I don't introduce baby food until the eigth month.

Send him to me!!!!!!!!!!

[NeedaVaca]

It doesn't sound like he is really delayed, it all sounds very normal to me.

[Lyss]

My DD didn't sit up on her own until about 7 months and did the army crawl til almost 9mos before she started crawling "normally." She has always been good with table foods but the DCG I have really struggled, we actually decided to stop giving them to her and reintroduced them at 7 1/2 almost 8 months and she did fine! She just wasn't ready yet at 6 mos I guess.

[jenny31052]

I'm not concern that he is delayed... I just wanted to hear from others that have little babies to see what they are doing or not doing at around this age, because like I said, the ones I had before him were doing different things at the same age...

[NeedaVaca]

I guess I'm confused by your post then, it sounded like you are asking if the baby is on target with milestones for his age and you are concerned that the parents don't take it seriously and your other babies that age were doing more at that age...I don't see how comparing babies at this age makes much difference, some do more, some do less but he is in the right range for milestones at this age.

[cheerfuldom]

He sounds perfectly normal for now. There is no need to rush baby food at all. There is A LOT of research out there that shows delaying solids is better for baby.

[preschoolteacher]

I think this baby is doing just fine, really!

My son is 8.5 months old. He was sitting at 6.5 months in the tripod position, but I know other babies his age that weren't sitting at all yet. I think the fact that he's army crawling even sounds a bit advanced. I know other babies 7 months who were nowhere near doing that.

Most pediatricians don't recommend starting solids until babies are 6 months old now. So if he just started two weeks ago, his parents were doing what is recommended. Gagging is incredibly normal, too.

Pediatricians and others are also teaching parents that "food before one is just for fun." Babies main source of nutrition before one should be breast milk or formula. If he's only eating one meal a day, that's completely normal and appropriate!

A good resource is the book What to Expect The First Year. It talks about normal developmental milestones that babies reach each month. Since every baby develops at a different rate, and that variation can be normal, the book says things like "your baby SHOULD be able to..." for milestones the baby should have, and "your baby might be able to..." for milestones that don't need to be reached yet, and "some babies may even be doing this..." for the really advanced babies. Check it out!

[busymommy0420]

My baby is 6.5 months now. We just started rice cereal with her twice a day and will start veggies then fruits next month. She is not sitting either. She rolls over, can hold her head up well for tummy time and babbles and coos like there is no tomorrow. Being a Mommy to six I have learned...all children learn, grow and develop at there own pace. My 17 year old is extremely gifted, my two other sons are learning disabled. My one three year old is gifted and the other is taking her time to learn things. I wouldn't rush this baby or worry about it just yet. Keep an eye out and if you feel he is delayed talk to the parents. I had a DCG who's speech was terrible at age 3.5 and I said something to her Mom. The Mom thanked me and contacted early intervention for speech services.

[AfterSchoolMom]

My baby is 7.5 months old. He has been sitting well since about 6 months (he started the tripod thing at 5 months), and is eating baby food fruits, veggies, oatmeal, and loves puffs and real fruit in his net feeder.

His brother (my oldest) was already crawling well and pulling up on the furniture by 7 months. His other brother (my middle child) didn't sit up well or crawl or anything until closer to 8 months. They all do things at different times.

[littlemissmuffet]

Sounds normal to me.

It's really important in this business to know the difference between "kids all develop differently" and actual delays to be concerned about.

I think your focus should be using your professional experience and knowledge to talk with the parents. You could suggest to them that you want to offer more foods to him on the days he is with you, to "practice" as you said. If they say no, well, at least you tried.
On the days he is with you, you can work with the child on sitting up, etc and let the parents know when you are seeing progress - and let them know HOW you are helping him learn new things... and HOW they can do the same at home.

Sometimes parents are set in their own ways and that's the end of it, but sometimes parents are very open to suggestions to the people who they trust their child with for any period of time (us)!

Good luck!