Between 10-12 months, babies are in a crucial stage of development for nurturing curiosity and independence, while parents provide assistance for safety and optimal development. This guide will cover a variety of topics to address expected developmental milestones and possible red flags for baby’s motor, feeding, sensory, communication, social and emotional, and sleep development. Some of the topics that will be discussed through video, written guides, and downloadable resources include:
Weaning for breast or bottle: This transition is a big one for baby and parents, our guides are here to support and make this easier. Weaning is important for dental health, nutritional balance with food and also encourages self feeding skills. There is a balance with weaning, when baby and parents are ready and what signs to look for during this transition period. Our guides will walk you through a gradual approach, introducing cups, a feeding schedule, nutritious alternatives and how to be successful.
Straw cup drinking: Straw cup drinking is an important piece of weaning in order to strengthen oral muscles needed for speech and swallowing development. Our written guides and videos will demonstrate how to introduce straw drinking, how to promote optimal oral posture and which straws and cups to use to establish a safe and efficient swallow. The videos will also highlight red flags and how to overcome those.
Self feeding textures: Providing a variety of textures for baby to self-feed is essential for oral development of the chewing and swallowing muscles. Our guides will demonstrate how to present food safely to self feed, while progressing through solids, single bite foods and utensil use; along with red flags and how to solve them.
Cruising: Cruising refers to when a baby moves along furniture or other objects while standing upright, using their hands for balance and support. It’s a vital step for core and trunk development between crawling and walking independently. This is an important milestone to nurture not rush so baby’s leg, hip and core muscles fully develop before walking. The guide videos will demonstrate how to best support and enhance cruising along with postural red flags to avoid. We want sitting, crawling and then cruising to all be supported by the correct muscles in order to walk, run, skip and jump in the future.
Attachment & separation: Attachment is the emotional bond that forms between a baby and their primary caregivers. This bond provides a sense of security and comfort, laying the foundation for healthy emotional and social development. Around this age, babies understand that objects (and people) continue to exist even when out of sight. When a caregiver leaves, the baby realizes they're not there but doesn’t know when they'll return. Which leads to separation issues that peak at this age. It is a natural part of development but can be difficult and emotional for parents to overcome without feeling they are abandoning their child. Our guides will assist with this transition by providing the right routine for your family, how to stay calm and confident and how to help baby foster confidence and independence with healthy relationships.
Toys + Equipment: The toy market can be very exciting and overwhelming at times. It is important to progress with toys throughout babies stages of development in order to foster motor skill development, cognitive development, social emotional development, sensory development and language and communication. As moms and therapists, we are here to highlight what types of toys are best for nurturing the stage baby is in and also scaffolding the baby up to the next stage. Toys at this age are more interactive, such as peek a boo toys, stacking, pushing toys, shape sorters and bath toys. Our guides will also provide video support of how to play with baby to develop joint attention skills, play skills, building receptive vocabulary, communication skills and gross motor muscles.
Speech + Language development in play: Baby is starting to express emotions through babbling, smiling, imitating, using gestures, laughing, making eye contact and recognizing their names and their families names. These skills are vital for engaging in communication as the baby grows. Our guides will demonstrate through videos how to play with the baby to support and scaffold speech and language skills with the baby, along with red flags and how to overcome them.
Self soothing during car rides: Car rides can be challenging as the baby wants to communicate, play and gain attention at this age. Along with trying to entertain and engage with the baby for the duration of the car ride, sometimes the baby simply does not like the car. Whether they are crying, screaming, are uncomfortable or getting car sick, our guides will provide an overview of these red flags and others, and how to solve them.