In the tenth month, your growing little one may be a regular baby-about-town, interacting with people and showing off her new skills — pulling herself to a standing position, walking while holding on to furniture, and more. You can help her deal with her broadening world this month by reciting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and more. Also this month, learn about:
Engaging Your 10-Month-Old's Mind
At this point, you can interact in an even more complex and creative way with your baby. While classic activities such as chatting with and singing to your baby are still effective, you can also try the following, including:
- Buy puppets or make them from old mittens or socks by drawing faces with marking pens. To help increase your baby's language skills, make the puppet talk to your baby and encourage her to talk back.
- Cut out pictures of things such as a ball, animals, and other familiar objects from magazines and paste them in a scrapbook. Look at this scrapbook with her and help her point to the pictures as you name them.
- Singing familiar songs and reading nursery rhymes.
Back to Top >Separation and Stranger Fear
Believe it or not, continuing separation anxiety and fear of strangers are signs that your baby has a healthy relationship with you. Fortunately, here are some ways you can cope with them:
- Do your best to leave her with people she's familiar with.
- Be sensitive to your baby's needs. Introduce her to new people and new situations gradually and carefully. Try not to leave her when she's tired, hungry, or sick.
- Practice separating by leaving her with someone in another room for short periods. Your baby will learn that she's OK when you're gone, and that you'll always come back.
- Leave quickly — she'll gradually stop crying once you're out of sight.
Choosing the Right Baby Shoes
By this month, baby needs a new pair of shoes. But how do you choose the best for her? First, think seasonally — sandals or lightweight shoes for the warmer months and warmer, sturdier shoes for cold weather. Also, look for:
- Soft and flexible, allowing your baby to move her feet easily
- Flat, non-skid soles so she doesn't slide and fall
- Soft, porous tops that allow feet to breathe
Baby shoes don't have to be expensive. The shoe of choice? Sneakers, secured with laces or Velcro® fasteners, to prevent trips or falls. Remember: Since your baby's feet will grow rapidly, the shoe size will have to keep pace. Check for sizing monthly.
Back to Top >Helping Your Baby Deal With Situational Anxiety
Aside from fear of strangers and separation anxiety, your baby's growing awareness of the bigger world may cause her to fear situations that never bothered her before — for instance, darkness, thunder, and the vacuum cleaner.
Here's how to help ease your baby's fears:
- Eliminate the source as much as possible. For example, use a night-light in her room at night (use only "cool" night-lights that don't get hot).
- Try turning her fear into a positive learning experience. For instance, while holding her hand and saying comforting words, encourage her to touch the vacuum while it's running. She may start to back away. If so, you may want to let it go, to prevent further fear.
- If that approach doesn't work, try vacuuming (or using the hair dryer, etc.) when she's sleeping.
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