6 Month Developmental Milestones

There are some key physical and communication milestones you will expect your 6 month old to reach.

These milestones should be treated as a rough guide, as each child is unique and will develop at their own pace. It is often unhelpful to compare a baby to other babies or their siblings.

Physical milestones:

• roll from their back to their tummy
• when on their back, play with their feet
• when on their tummy, pushing their whole chest off the floor and straightening both arms
• sit up with support
• lean on their hands when they sit on the floor
• get into a crawling position
• grasp a toy using both hands at once
• reach a small object using their finger and pick it up using their thumb and all their fingers
• pick up a small toy with one hand and pass it to the other
• try to get a toy that’s out of reach by rolling, turning on their tummy or crawling
• start teething

Communication milestones:

• holds hands up to be lifted
• makes sounds like ‘ba’, ‘da’, ‘ga’, and ‘ka’
• squeal and laugh
• when playing with sounds they will growl, grunt, and make other deep-toned sounds
• repeats sounds back to you
• enjoy looking at themselves in a mirror
• act differently towards strangers than you or other familiar people such as staring, frowning or crying

Encouraging development with activities and games you can explore with your baby:

• trip to the park
• nursery rhymes and peekaboo
• ready, steady, go games
• playing with your baby by getting down to child’s level (lying down or crouching)
• playing with things they are interested in
• picture books (using the same books helps with familiarity)
• speaking with your baby and talking about what they are looking at
• using different voices and actions when reading, singing and playing
• talking to them in short simple sentences
• responding to their babbling by copying back the sounds they make

Possible development concerns:

Sometimes development can be slower than you expect, or you may notice something different about your child or young person. It’s normal to feel worried but there is lots of support out there.
Contact the Nottinghamshire Healthy Family Team if you notice your baby is:

• not reaching for and holding (grasping) toys
• not bringing hands to midline
• clenching their hands frequently
• not exploring objects with hands, eyes and mouth
• not holding head and shoulders up with good control when lying on tummy
• not holding head with control in supported sitting.