Brand New Dad » Month By Month » 9 Months Old » Guiding Your Baby

Your baby depends on you to teach him about his world. He needs to learn about things that hurt him and about those that hurt other people. He learns by exploring his world-with all his senses. He touches, tastes, smells, hears and sees. This exploring sometimes leads to trouble.

For example, Jarvis wants to touch and taste the coat button he sees under the chair. He crawls over, picks it up and starts to put it into his mouth. Jarvis' father catches him as he puts the button on his tongue. He startles him when he says in a loud, angry voice, "No, no, no. Don't put that in your mouth." Next time, rather than using a loud, angry voice to stop Jarvis, his father can calmly but firmly tell Jarvis to drop the button. He can gently tell him why he should not put the button into his mouth and then give him a safe toy to play with instead.

Parents can teach more and scold less by planning ahead. You have already made your home safe with childproofing, but now you have a crawling, curious nine-month-old. It's time to childproof again-with your baby's skills and interests in mind. You can start by getting down on the floor. Pretend you are your crawling baby. You'll see more things down on that level than you do standing up.

Next » Early Intervention and Your Baby's Developing Skills