Your baby was just born and you were enjoying a newborn, and now they are already standing casually at their play kitchen, stirring pots and pans. Independence is now coming in leaps and bounds, and more and more often you notice through defiant reactions that your baby is well on their way to becoming a toddler. Hello autonomy phase! While for some children the clinginess is now slowly subsiding and curiosity about the world wins out more and more often, others prefer to hide behind Mom and Dad. Your child's personality is now emerging more and more and all signs point to development. We have summarized what awaits you in baby's 11th month, which new skills are added, and which developments you will experience together in this article.
What's new in baby's 11th month
Crawling, standing, the first free steps – your 11-month-old baby is full of energy and needs a lot of movement. Some children can already walk freely at this age, others prefer to shimmy along objects and furniture. Have you already been to the U6 check-up with your baby? If not, now is the ideal time to make an appointment. At the U6, your pediatrician will give you a checklist where you can enter the first words and what else your child can do. In addition, motor skills and emotional maturity are examined. The STIKO now recommends the third hexavalent vaccination; if you like, you can talk to your pediatrician about meningococci and find out about the possibility of a vaccination.
Sensory development - 11-month-old baby
Even if your baby has been practicing standing for quite a while, the growth spurt that the new month of life brings opens up a whole new perspective for your baby. With a little effort, they can now look over the edge of the table and are thus exposed to completely new stimuli. Estimating distances is something your baby learns while reaching for things that seem out of reach. The will is often greater than the physical abilities, which can lead to a lot of frustration. To get ready for the first free steps, the development of your 11-month-old baby revolves particularly around the body-related senses. The sense of balance is now in the foreground and even if you have the feeling that your baby is constantly landing on their bottom, it is important for the development of their senses.
Your baby can also train their sensory and motor skills during their midday nap: with the swing2sleep. This so-called vestibular promotion helps the baby develop a healthy body awareness. In addition, brain regions responsible for cognitive abilities such as concentration and abstract thinking are also stimulated. Every child can only benefit from this.
Motor development at 11 months
Your baby wants to learn to walk. At 11 months, your sweetheart can probably hardly be held back and step by step they work towards the big goal: learning to walk freely. Your baby still needs some help, but even if it is tempting, you should resist the urge and not let your baby walk by your hand before they have learned to walk independently and freely. Walking by the hands of Mom and Dad can cause problems with the spine, which you should definitely avoid. It is better to let your child shimmy along furniture or push chairs through the room; this way they will surely only take as many steps as they can physically manage.
Your darling trains fine motor skills quite simply while eating. Babies in the 11th month strive for independence. So it is not surprising that your baby naturally asks for a spoon or insists on their own fork. Not only do they copy what they see with Mom or Dad, they also refine their hand-mouth coordination and train the pincer grasp.
Language development of babies in the 11th month
Even at 11 months, your baby will primarily communicate with you in baby talk. Even if one or two words are slowly standing out, it is still mostly a lot of babbling and a lot of sounds. Your child's language still needs to develop, and by having many conversations with them in your daily routine, singing with your baby, and including rhymes and songs in your play, you can promote your sweetheart's linguistic developments.
What an 11-month-old baby should be able to do:
Children are different, and just like their personalities, their development is individual. Comparing the behavior, development, or even clothing size of children can unsettle families and is not productive. While some children focus on their language skills, others can already walk, but you can be sure that every child acquires skills exactly when it is important for your little treasure. For a better overview, we have summarized the developmental steps of an average 11-month-old baby for you.
- Babies in their 11th month can already sit up on their bottoms. From a crawling movement, they can sit down purposefully and also start crawling again independently. Some babies scoot on their bottoms to get around.
- Your baby in the 11th month strongly copies your behavior. Whether it's stirring in pots, talking on the phone with building blocks, or eating with cutlery. Involve your darling in your housework; they will feel useful and needed.
- Parents are the safe haven, but for your baby, a new time of independence is now beginning. The first small detachment begins with the end of the stranger anxiety phase, as your baby will now move further away from you to explore their surroundings.
Baby in the 11th month: Sleep, nutrition, and encouragement
For you parents, a new, exciting, but also exhausting phase is now beginning: Your baby is developing a will of their own and must now find their place in your family. Sometimes this will is stronger than your treasure's physical abilities. Your baby will scream out their frustration and disappointment loudly when something doesn't work out as they imagined and will often seem inconsolable. But don't worry, it's all just a phase, and after 11 months, you parents have surely been a well-coordinated team for a long time. Children need security. You can find out below what security has to do with sleep and how you can promote your baby's sense of security.
How your baby sleeps in the 11th month
The sleeping behavior of children is as individual as their personalities and character traits. While some are bursting with energy and hardly need any sleep, other babies are more of the cozy type. On average, an 11-month-old baby needs between 10 and 13.5 hours of sleep at night, plus a nap during the day that lasts between 1 and 4 hours. Daytime sleep often determines nighttime sleep. The more rested your child is during the day, the better they will find their way to sleep in the evening. An overtired baby usually has great difficulty finding a peaceful sleep. You are allowed to make it easy for yourself: With the swing2sleep, it is easier for babies to find sleep; the soft hammock surrounds them safely, and with the rhythmic up-and-down movements, your baby feels as secure as in the womb.
11-month-old baby – What's on the menu
The pincer grasp is hardly a challenge for an 11-month-old baby anymore. They can purposefully put everything you offer them into their mouth. You parents are now laying the foundation for a healthy diet, so feel free to offer your baby a wide variety of foods. Your baby in the 11th month can eat everything you eat at the family table; just pay attention to the salt content and do not season too spicy. Also breast milk or formula should still have an important place in your baby's diet. The WHO recommends giving in to the child's need for milk until the age of two.
How you can encourage your baby in the 11th month
Basically, no special encouragement is required for a child to develop. But it is primarily the everyday things that make development easier for your baby. Talk to your baby and announce your steps in your daily routine so they can better imagine what happens next. Involve your baby in your daily tasks and let them take over smaller ones themselves, such as putting clothes in the washing machine or wiping the table with a cloth. Your baby will also show more and more interest in books now. You parents can easily integrate these into the evening routine.
Your baby will soon become a toddler. Over the last 11 months, your baby has probably turned your life upside down, and you have been able to experience the highs and lows of everyday life with a baby. Every month brings its own special features, and even if it is often exhausting, it is a magical time of firsts. We hope this article has given you a good overview of what to expect in baby's 11th month.
