Month 12: Baby development at 48 weeks and milestones
After the 12th month, the first year of life is over. So your baby will soon be a toddler. It has made enormous developmental progress and in its first year of life it grew faster than it will ever do in relative terms: its size and weight have roughly doubled since birth. A healthy developing baby usually already has 4 to 6 teeth in the 12th month and has grown into a small person who can move independently and communicate with his environment. Learn more about baby development in the 12th month here.
Month 12: Baby development milestones
Movement: In the 12th month your baby is almost constantly moving. It is always more adept at crawling and also tries to perfect its steps. Now the fine motor skills are no longer trained to a large extent, but rather the large muscles are strengthened. You may notice that by the age of 48 weeks, your baby likes to knock over, push or push larger things.
In addition to crawling, your baby in the 12th month likes to use the “kneeling” and the “railing gear” to get around. The first type of movement is based on the fact that your baby will always be more comfortable if they have something to hold on to. If these things can also be pushed well at the same time, your baby will be happy to use them as a movement aid by resting his hands on the moving object rather than on the floor.
The name Reling-Gang has its origins in a ship’s railing, where people often look for support when the sea is rough. Your baby’s attempts are similar to this process when it walks sideways along the furniture in both directions. At 12 months, your baby is trying to perfect the railing gait he has already mastered by trying to hold on with just one hand. The other then remains free, for example to reach for an interesting object.
Grasping and motor coordination are now so well developed that your baby will want to hold the spoon on its own. Eating independently with a spoon doesn’t always go smoothly, but your baby is not discouraged. Now is the right time for your little one to eat at one table with the whole family.
Senses: At 48 weeks, your baby can spot the smallest crumb on the floor. It now understands the spatial relationships better and better, such as above and below or inside and outside. The baby also continues one of his favorite pastimes, which is packing and unpacking different things all the time.
Communication: Your baby keeps inventing new sounds in the 12th month, which may not seem like anything new to you at first. After all, babbling has been his specialty for a few weeks now. However, now the language is getting smarter and smarter. Since your baby is not yet able to pronounce most of the words, but already understands their meaning, it invents sounds that it then assigns to individual things and activities. This is how he develops his own temporary vocabulary that your baby will use until he can name things correctly. It is still important that you talk to your baby at every opportunity. It learns the language faster and more effectively.
Your baby can now also show you that it understands you. In the picture book, it can point to the pictures you name and fulfill small orders better and better. Always remember to address your baby politely when giving instructions. This is how you lay the first foundations of social upbringing and show your baby that it is important to you.
Sleep: Your baby still needs around 12-14 hours of sleep at 12 months – most of it at night. During the day it still has 1-2 short periods of sleep, but during this time it can become increasingly difficult for you to motivate your baby to take a nap. It’s possible that your baby just hates wasting the day sleeping when there’s so much to discover.
Month 12: Baby-related appointments
- meningococcal vaccination
- Prepare children’s birthday
Month 12: Tips for the 48 week old baby
learn to walk
Your baby is well on his way to walking at 12 months. It won’t be long before your baby will be walking hand in hand with you. Crawling and railing are natural intermediate steps to strengthen the muscles and sense of balance. In our article “ Baby’s first steps ” we give you tips on how you can help your baby learn to walk.
Wean yourself off the pacifier
It is often a controversial and hotly debated topic when it is best for the baby to wean him/ her from the pacifier . We give you tips and present beautiful and practical rituals that you can use in the weaning phase. In general, the sooner the better. You can therefore start getting your baby used to life without a pacifier from around the first birthday.
family outing
In the 12th month there is nothing to stop you from going on an all-day family outing when the weather is nice. Depending on how far your destination is from home, in addition to food, diapers and a change of clothes, you should also pack a few other essentials that will help you enjoy the trip to the fullest. We’ll tell you which are the best free family excursion destinations .