Sitting steady, babbling strings — and the big review
Most babies now sit solidly, babble in cheerful strings and light up at peek-a-boo. In the UK, the health visitor review lands somewhere between 9 and 12 months — a great excuse to ask every question you've been saving.
Development
By around 9 months, most babies sit without support and can get themselves into sitting. Watch for raking food towards themselves with their fingers, passing things hand to hand, and banging two toys together with satisfaction.
Socially there's a lot happening: looking when you call their name, reacting when you leave, lifting arms to be picked up, and giggling through peek-a-boo.
They'll look for a toy that drops out of sight now — object permanence in action — and babble strings of sounds like 'mamamama' without meaning them as names quite yet.
Sleep
Two naps is the common shape at this age. Separation anxiety can peak around bedtime — a warm, predictable routine and brief reassuring check-ins usually beat prolonged negotiations.
Early waking and the odd rough week (teeth, new skills, colds) are part of the landscape; consistency brings things back.
Food
Three meals a day is a common rhythm now, with lumpier textures and plenty of finger foods. Iron matters at this age — meat, beans, lentils, eggs and fortified cereals all help.
A pincer grip is often emerging, so small soft pieces — peas, blueberry halves, bits of banana — make brilliant practice.
Keep the open or free-flow cup at every meal; water and milk are the only drinks a baby needs.
And you
In the UK, your baby will be offered a health and development review between 9 and 12 months, looking at language, learning, safety, diet and behaviour — you'll usually fill in an ASQ questionnaire beforehand. It's a conversation, not an exam, so bring your list of niggles.
In the US, the 9-month well-child visit typically includes formal developmental screening — the AAP recommends it at 9, 18 and 30 months.
If you're back at work, the juggle is real — and if your mood has slid at any point, that still counts as postnatal depression territory; your GP or health visitor wants to know.
Feeding at this stage
Pick how you're feeding — we'll remember for next time. Every one of these is a good way to feed a baby.
Breastfeeding
- Many babies settle around three or four breastfeeds a day alongside meals — but there's no single right number, and feeding to sleep is still fine if it works for you.
- The morning and bedtime feeds are usually the keepers; midday feeds often fade first as lunch gets interesting.
- Keep up your baby's daily vitamin D drops while breastfeeding remains their main milk.
Breast + expressed
- Now meals carry more, work-time pumping can often shrink — drop a session at a time and let comfort guide the pace.
- A feed either side of the workday keeps supply humming for many mums without any daytime pumping at all.
- If your stash outpaces demand, remember expressed milk cooks beautifully into family food.
Breast + formula
- Mixed patterns often simplify around now — for example breast at morning and bedtime, with formula or meals in between.
- If you'd like fewer night feeds, go gradually: shorten or shrink one feed at a time and add other comfort in its place.
- There's still no need for follow-on or 'good night' milks — the NHS doesn't recommend them over first infant formula.
Formula
- The direction is fewer, smaller milk feeds as food grows — the NHS 10–12 months guidance shows where you're heading, without rigid numbers.
- Keep the bedtime bottle calm and finished before sleep, then teeth cleaned — falling asleep on the bottle isn't kind to new teeth.
- Offer milk after or alongside food rather than just before, so appetite goes to the meal.
Totally normal (even when it doesn't feel it)
- Not pulling to stand yet — that often comes over the next couple of months, and later for some.
- No real words — rich, varied babble is exactly the right sound for 9 months.
- Still toothless — a small number of babies stay gummy past their first birthday.
- An appetite that swings from seagull to sparrow day by day.
- Tears at nursery drop-off followed by happy playing within minutes — the settling is real even if you don't see it.
- Utter fury at having their face wiped — this appears to be universal.
Worth checking
You know your baby best — if any of these ring true, or something just feels off, it's always OK to ask.
- Your baby doesn't sit without support by around 9 months.
- They don't babble — no strings of sounds like 'mamama' or 'bababa'.
- They don't look when you call their name.
- They don't look for things that fall out of sight.
- They don't take any weight on their legs when you hold them standing.
- They don't seem to recognise or respond differently to familiar people.
- The 9–12 month review is a perfect moment to raise any of these — or see your health visitor or GP sooner; you never need to wait for an appointment to ask.