The 10-Month- Old Baby Development Process

Your baby’s world right now

Budding emotions and new skills.

Ten-month-olds are typically interacting more with people and showing off their new skills every chance they get. Help your baby adapt to her expanding world by reciting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and taking her to new places for the first time.

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Your baby’s nutrition

Introduce new food choices as you approach her first birthday.

Your baby needs the right nutrients to maintain her health as she continues to grow and develop. If you’d like to introduce new foods, here are some to consider:

Soft pasteurized cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese
Iron-fortified cereals made from rice, barley, wheat, or oats
Fruit cut into cubes or strips, or mashed
Bite-size, soft-cooked vegetables like peas and carrots
Combo foods including macaroni and cheese or casseroles
Protein such as eggs, pureed or finely ground meats, poultry, boneless fish, tofu, or well-cooked and mashed beans
Finger foods like lightly toasted bread or bagels, small pieces of ripe banana, spiral pasta, teething crackers, or low-sugar, O-shaped cereal.

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Your baby’s development

Let the good times…walk.

All babies develop at different rates. You should not be concerned if your baby does something later or earlier than your friends’ children. In general, by the end of your baby’s tenth month, she will likely be able to do the following:

Walk with you while holding hands
Say “mama” and “dada” and know what they mean
Stand while holding on to someone or something
Protest if you take a toy away
Play hand games and wave bye-bye

What’s a baby to do when you can’t be together?

If separation anxiety or fear of strangers is still an issue for your baby, here are some tips to help ease her uncertainty:

Try to leave her with people familiar to her
Carefully introduce her to new people and situations gradually.
Try to stay with her when she is tired, hungry, or sick.
Practice separating. Leave her with someone in another room for short periods of time, and if possible, return when she is calm.
Leave quickly. She will gradually stop crying after you are out of sight.

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Things to think about now

Help your baby’s imagination to bud.

It’s never too early to inspire your baby’s creativity. Here are some fun, simple ideas to spark her imagination:

Buy or make puppets from old mittens or socks by drawing faces on them. Make the puppet “talk” to your baby and encourage her to talk back.
Cut out pictures of familiar objects such as toys, animals, etc., and paste them in a scrapbook. Help your baby point to the pictures as you name them.
Sing familiar songs and read nursery rhymes.

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