The first year of life is over and your baby has made tremendous developmental progress. Find out what developmental milestones await you in month 12.

The First birthday is coming up: Your baby has developed into a little person and his or her weight and height have doubled since birth. As a rule, the little tyke also already has 4 to 6 teeth in his mouth. At this age, children are already moving independently and interacting with their environment. There are many more exciting steps ahead in a baby’s development.

Baby 12 Months: When Can Babies Sit And Walk?

Babies and toddlers go through a fascinating development in many different areas. One of these areas is the mobility or movement of your child. Wondering when babies can sit and walk?

By their 1st birthday, babies can usually switch between sitting, crawling and standing positions without any problems. Babies love to learn and discover their environment on their own. They become more adept at crawling and the next big step in baby development is already just around the corner: learning to walk.

While some children can already walk a few steps on their own, others rely on the secure support of their parents to walk. In the 12th month of life, your little protégé is constantly on the move and keeps you on your toes.

Crawling and walking exercises your baby’s large muscles. This also includes knocking over or pushing away larger things. Some babies also use the so-called railing gait to move around.

This means that your baby feels more comfortable at first if he has something to hold on to. Things that can be pushed easily are suitable as movement aids for the beginning. Gradually, the railing walk is perfected by your baby holding onto the object with only one hand.

The other hand is used to reach for an interesting object. At 12 months, your child’s grasping and motor coordination are well developed. Your offspring now likes to hold the spoon on his own and even if it does not always work so well, your baby is not impressed by this and continues to try diligently.

How Can I Support My Baby In Learning To Walk?

In principle, your child does not need your help when learning to walk. On the contrary – too early running training can cause physical damage. Have you ever heard of a walker?

Give your child time and help him only when he asks you to. Still, there are a few things you can do to indirectly help your eager explorer learn to walk:

• As your baby learns to stand, you can demonstrate how to bend his knees and sit back down.

• Eliminate tripping hazards so your child has the optimal conditions for walking.

• Motivation and praise are especially important. Reassure your child when he falls down. But do not try to help him with every difficulty. Only in this way can the baby develop skills at its own pace.

• Children learn to walk especially well barefoot because they develop a feeling for the ground and the rolling of the foot.

Baby 12 Months: Sensory Perception

First birthday – an exciting day ahead for the whole family. Your little one already has a highly developed vision at this point. The baby already perceives the environment like an adult and can discover the smallest crumbs on the floor.

Another important step in the baby’s development is the understanding of spatial relationships. It can distinguish down from up and inside from outside. At this age, your child is still busy packing and unpacking objects, thus promoting tactile perception.

Baby 12 Months: Language Acquisition And Communication

When your baby is 12 months old, he shows a lot of progress in the linguistic area. He has already been an expert in babbling for a few weeks, but his language is now becoming more intelligent. Your baby now understands the meaning of many words. However, at this stage of baby’s development, your child is not able to pronounce these words.

Therefore, it invents sounds again and again. These are then assigned to certain things and activities. In this way, your little offspring is already developing a temporary vocabulary. Encourage baby development by talking to him at all times.

Language is learned quickly and effectively. When your baby is 12 months old, he has already taken another step in communication – he can now show you that he understands you.

Name a picture in his picture book and then let him point to it – you will quickly notice that your baby has understood you. You can also give him small instructions from the 1st birthday and thus lay the foundation for social education – always try to address your baby in a friendly manner.

Baby 12 Months: Relationships

By his 1st birthday, your baby has already built up a close relationship with you and other important caregivers. Now the child is also developing certain independence and is no longer constantly dependent on parents to feel safe.

When the baby turns 12 months, he or she will seek out the proximity of familiar people on his or her own and move away again when he or she wants to go on a journey of discovery. The secure relationship pattern and trust in caregivers has been internalized by the 1st birthday and the child can fall back on it at any time.

The relationship with parents develops into a sustained emotional bond that continues to strengthen in the years that follow.

Baby 12 Months: What Can I Do To Encourage Secure Development?

• Give your baby attention and care and address his or her attachment needs.
• If your baby cries, comfort him and be patient with him.
• Take enough time when caring and feeding and always try to tell what you are doing.
• Be responsive to your baby’s individual needs: Pick baby up when he wants on your arm and let him go when he’s had enough.

Baby 12 Months: All About Sleeping

When your baby reaches 12 months, he or she will continue to need about 12-14 hours of sleep. Most hours sleep at night. But even during the day, there are still one or two short sleep phases. As your baby’s urge to explore grows, it can become more difficult to motivate your child to take a nap.

No wonder – there is so much to discover and it would be a shame to sleep the day away. Even if your protégé whines or grumbles at bedtime, by the time he reaches his 1st birthday, his ability to soothe himself has developed considerably.

With the help of a pacifier or cuddly toy, the little ones quickly find their way to sleep. Some also rock their heads back and forth to soothe themselves. The older your baby gets, the wider the range of self-soothing options becomes. This should be encouraged by parents.

Baby 12 Months: Mental And Emotional Development

In the weeks around the 1st birthday, a lot happens with your baby – both cognitively and emotionally. There is a milestone in the baby’s development: he is now able to actively search for things that have disappeared from his field of vision.

This means that your baby can remember objects on its own and that is a real feat. Your child now also recognizes that objects have a center of gravity and that wooden blocks fall over if they are not stacked correctly.

Another feat of the brain during this time is recognizing and remembering familiar melodies. Emotional baby development is also particularly exciting in the weeks around the 1st birthday: the 12-month-old child can already draw on and display a whole range of emotions.

He gets angry when he doesn’t get his way, squeals with delight when he sees you, or is frustrated when something doesn’t work out right away.