Child development at 11 months: skills and abilities
At the age of eleven months, the baby is at a transitional stage of development – physically and emotionally. During this period, most children are already starting to walk on their own, exploring the world around them. Eleven-month-old crumbs are quite smart, they become more interesting every day, delighting parents with new skills and abilities. Let's take a closer look at what a child can do at this age, what are the features of his development at this stage of his life.
The content of the article:
Features of the development of a baby 11 months old
Physiological changes
Physical development
Mental development
Speech development
What can a child do at 11 months old
Differences in the development of boys and girls
Daily routine
Tips for parents
Features of the development of a baby 11 months old
The most important and important feature of a baby's development at 11 months becomes an increase in his activity. It manifests itself both in the physical aspect, as well as in the mental and emotional. The baby is trying to walk on his own. And this is one of the very first and most important moments of growing up. In addition, he begins to talk more actively, his words and phrases begin to be understood by the parent, almost without thinking about the meaning. At the same time, the child himself also understands what he is saying, tries to convey his idea to adults.
Physiological changes
The normal physiological development of children at 11 months is manifested in the following:
The baby can confidently stand without support on two legs, as his muscles and skeleton by this age become quite developed and strong to occupy an upright position.
The child begins to walk on his own, not holding hands with mom and dad. Perhaps the first steps will not be quite sure, the baby may fall after walking no more than a meter. However, this is the norm. If at 11 months old the baby already walks confidently without the help of an adult, skillfully bends down or squats, for example, to get a fallen toy, then this is not too early development. This indicator is also the norm.
An eleven-month-old child, as a rule, already has baby teeth. Usually, by this age, 4 have already grown. By the age of one, 2 more incisors are already asking for the outside. However, moms and dads should not get upset and sound the alarm if the crumbs at 11 months have not yet had their first baby teeth. Doctors unanimously assert that such a development of events up to one year of a child's life is a normal process without deviations.
Physical development
The physical development of the baby is evidenced by its height and weight, as well as other indicators:
in the period from 11 to 12 months, the baby adds an average of 400 grams;
the child grows by 1.5 cm compared to the previous month;
the chest and head increase in circumference by 0.5 centimeters.
An important point in the development of a child at 11 months becomes the ability to hold a spoon in his hand on his own. A baby does not necessarily have to be able to eat on his own at this age. However, he must understand and know why he has this object in his hand. Parents should definitely encourage the child's attempts to take food himself. Do not be afraid of dirty cheeks, hands and the space around. This is how the kid learns about the world, studies it.
Exploring the world around us does not stop at breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Eleven-month-old children are curious about everything around them, can easily pick up a small object, pass it to an adult, and can also stretch out an open palm to take a toy.
Mental development
In terms of the mental development of a child at 11 months, there are such features:
The baby knows his name, responds to it, including by turning his head and body towards the speaker. Conversations are already beginning between the child and the adult.
Emotions become clearer. Parents can immediately understand whether the baby is happy about something or expresses obvious dissatisfaction with what is happening around.
The child begins to understand when he is praised or scolded. At the same time, he can give a response to the actions of adults, for example, cry loudly or laugh merrily, smile.
The bond between parents is getting stronger. A special role in the life of the crumbs is increasingly beginning to occupy the mother. Attachment can develop to the point that the child will not be able to stay without a parent for a minute. But there are families where an eleven-month-old toddler requires attention equally from both mom and dad when performing certain actions and everyday rituals. Do not miss such a moment in the development of the baby, as this can later lead to scandals, whims and frequent demands from the baby. The child's parenting methods should include as much independence as possible.
Developing the ability to fall asleep on your own and separately from your parents. It is worth gradually accustoming the baby to this, taking into account his mood and state of health.
Speech development
At 11 months old, the child actively begins to speak. Baby talk is gradually disappearing, full-fledged words and phrases appear in speech. A baby can even utter whole monologues in "his" language alone. At the same time, they can be accompanied by vivid gestures.
"Mom", "dad" and "give" are the main words that a child must know at this age. And such prepositions as "on", "in" and "out" become understandable to the baby. In other words, the parent may ask to stand on "legs" or put the toy "in" the basket.
Pointing a finger at a certain object also indicates the normal development of the child.
⭐Read also: Speech development in children by age
What can a child do at 11 months old
So, at the age of 11 months, the child:
develops his motor skills: he stands without support or already walks on his own without the help of adults;
skillfully and deftly manipulates toys: shifts them from side to side, puts small towers out of cubes, squeezes and unclenches his palm to grasp or transfer an object;
he begins to show a love for music and, in particular, musical toys;
understands adult speech addressed to him; can respond to it with emotions or words, and, sometimes, maintain a dialogue;
shows body parts with a finger at the request of parents, waves his hand in greeting or farewell, claps his hands;
he can take off his socks on his own, unzip the zipper;
pronounce words consisting of more than 1-2 syllables;
gradually, he begins to perform simple household actions: brushing his teeth, washing, eating with a spoon, cleaning toys after himself;
improves his emotional development: to show discontent without tears, reacts differently to the situation (with a smile, laughter, gestures, grimaces, etc.);
shows interest in books with bright illustrations, can leaf through them with pleasure and look at them for quite a long time.
Differences in the development of boys and girls
It is noted that boys and girls develop differently before and after the year. Indicators of physical changes for both sexes have been developed by the World Health Organization and look like this:
The weight of boys should be in the range from 7,600 to 11,700 grams;
it is possible for girls to enter the range from 6900 to 11200 grams;
the height of the little heroes ranges from 69.9 cm to 79.2 cm;
little beauties are normal from 67.7 to 77.8 cm.
Daily routine
It is important to keep the daily routine, but taking into account the age characteristic of the child. An eleven-month-old baby should sleep 14-15 hours a day to maintain a normal physical and emotional state. Most of the sleep (about 10 hours) should be at night.
The daily routine of a baby at 11 months looks like this:
7 a.m.
At this time, the child wakes up. Almost immediately comes the first feeding of crumbs with a mixture or breast milk.
7 hours and 30 minutes
After the first morning meal, a period of wakefulness begins, including various hygienic procedures, as well as light gymnastic exercises to strengthen the muscles of the growing body.
10 hours and 30 minutes
The long-awaited "second breakfast". The diet here is already more diverse: porridges selected by age, hard-boiled egg yolk, fruit purees and juices, high-quality natural butter.
11:30 a.m.
A walk in the fresh air in a stroller. At this time, the child should have his first daytime nap, lasting 1-2 hours. If the weather conditions do not allow you to go outside, then the baby should sleep at home. Very often, parents in bad weather (heavy rain, snowfall or gusty wind) carry the stroller to the balcony with the baby dressed as for a walk and simulate sleeping in the fresh air.
14 hours and 30 minutes
At this time, after waking up and staying awake for a short time, the crumbs have a third meal, similar to an adult dinner. It includes a vegetable soup with the addition of vegetable oil, a meat or fish dish, a piece of bread, fruit juice.
15 hours
The period of active wakefulness, communication with parents. Educational games must be held with the child, as well as simple fun for a great mood of the crumbs.
16 hours
The beginning of the second day's sleep period. It is recommended to spend time outdoors. One part of the walk should be spent sleeping, and the other on playing outside.
18 hours and 30 minutes
An afternoon snack (the fourth meal) containing a fermented milk or cottage cheese product according to the age of the child, fruit puree, baby cookies.
19 hours
The baby's wakefulness with quiet and calm games, since a night's sleep is already approaching and it is not necessary to play the child, increasing his excitability.
21 hours and 30 minutes
Water treatments: taking a bath (possibly with soothing herbs), brushing the first baby teeth.
22 hours and 30 minutes
The last meal of the day (breast milk or a mixture), bedtime rituals, putting the baby to bed.
Overnight until 7 a.m.
The time of a long night's sleep. Whether the baby will wake up at night for feeding depends on the method of feeding. Artificial babies, as a rule, do not wake up at night to eat. But breastfed babies can be breastfed a couple of times a night.
This table shows the approximate time frame. Each child is different, for example, they can sleep longer during the day or at night.
Parents of 11-month-old children can be advised:
There is no need to be ahead of the child's development. If the baby is actively crawling and is too lazy to walk on two legs, you should not force him to take the first steps to hysteria. Crawling is the key to good posture in the future and early speech development.
The baby needs the right, comfortable first shoes to prevent various orthopedic diseases. When a child is just learning to walk, his foot is still in the formation stage.
Encourage self-reliance. And if he does not show it, then calmly teach it. Let the child try to eat porridge for breakfast with a spoon, fasten the lock on his jacket or Velcro on his shoes.
Choose interesting educational games for an 11-month-old toddler to make it interesting and useful for him.
