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Brought to
you by the
Johnson & Johnson
Pediatric Institute &
ZERO TO THREE®
To order more copies, contact:
Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute
Phone: 1-877-JNJ-LINK (565-5465); Phone outside USA: 314-216-3560
Fax: 1-877-JNJ-FAXX (565-3299); Fax outside USA: 314-216-3569
Visit: www.JJPI.com
Published by:
ZERO TO THREE
2000 M Street N.W., Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036-3307
www.zerotothree.org
Copyright © 2000 ZERO TO THREE
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
The Magic of Everyday MomentsTM: 6-9 Months
Authors: Claire Lerner, L.C.S.W., with Amy Dombro, M.S., and Karen Levine
Design: AXIS Communications, Washington, DC (www.axiscomm.com)
Photos on cover and page 2: © Ross Whitaker, New York, NY (www.rosswhitaker.com)
Table of Contents
The Magic of Everyday Moments™ . . . . . . . . . .1
What It’s Like for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Bath Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Saying Good Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Reading Your Baby’s Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 & 12
What You Can Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 & 13
What Your Baby Needs Most . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization of
renowned pediatricians, educators, researchers, and other child
development experts who specialize in the first years of life.
The Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute is an organization dedicated
to research and development conducted in support of improving pediatric
care around the world by partnering with leading healthcare professionals
on topics in pediatrics, parenting and infant development.
The Magic of Everyday Moments™ campaign is an initiative between ZERO TO THREE and
the Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute.
Acknowledgments
ZERO TO THREE and the Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute acknowledge the generous
contributions of ZERO TO THREE’s Parent Education Task Force in helping to shape, write,
and edit this series of booklets. We especially appreciate the efforts of the following individuals:
From our Board of Directors: From our staff:
Joy Osofsky, Ph.D. Lynette Ciervo
Kyle Pruett, M.D. Nancy Guadagno
Marilyn M. Segal, Ph.D. Joan Melner, M.S.
Bernice Weissbourd, M.A. Stefanie Powers, M.S.
Tom Salyers
Executive Director: Nancy Seibel, M.S.
Matthew E. Melmed, J.D. Vicky Youcha, Ed.D.
ZERO TO THREE also acknowledges our partner, the Johnson & Johnson Pediatric
Institute, which, through its educational efforts, is shaping the future of children’s health
around the world.
If you are like most parents today, your greatest challenge is
probably caring for your baby while also taking care of yourself
and your responsibilities. The competing demands on your time
and energy make finding the time to connect with your baby
no small challenge. But daily activities, such as feeding, bathing
and grocery shopping, don’t need to take time away from bonding
with and enjoying your baby. In fact, these everyday moments are
rich opportunities to encourage your child’s development by
building her:
• self-confidence • curiosity • social skills
• self-control • communication skills
Most of all you build her desire to learn about her world.
The booklets in this series are not intended to be general guides
to everything that is happening at each specific age. Instead, they
focus on how, through interactions with your baby during every-
day moments, you can support your baby’s social, emotional and
intellectual development.
It’s the special interplay between parent and child that
makes everyday moments so meaningful. The potential is
limitless. The starting point is you.
•1•
The Magic of Everyday Moments™
Loving and Learning Through Daily Activities
What It’s Like for You
Six-month-olds are motivated, energetic, busy, opinionated and,
for the most part, fabulous! They are on the verge of huge devel-
opmental strides—intellectual, emotional and physical—and
they have many, many things they want to do. The challenge—
for them and for you—is that they can’t yet do everything they
have in mind. Their fingers aren’t working well enough for them
to make objects do what they want. They don’t yet have the
balance or coordination to stand up and walk, let alone crawl.
They’ve got so much to say, yet they don’t have the words. But
they experience every imaginable feeling, sometimes all at once.
Although there is great variation in development at this age,
during the next 3 months many of the skills babies are eager to
master will, in fact, kick in. Until then, they are likely to get
frustrated often; and you will most likely bear the brunt of that
frustration. Somehow, you need to walk the line between doing
things for your 6-month-old that she can’t do yet, and finding a
way to help her do things for herself. If, for example, she wants
to crawl toward a toy but finds herself moving backward instead
of forward, you can sit behind her and place your palms against
the soles of her feet. Then she might be able to push herself for-
ward and get it for herself. Of course, there’s always the possibil-
ity that she’ll be mad if you do that, because what she really
wants is to do it on her own. But hang in there — if you’re
patient, she’ll learn patience and persistence, too.
•3•
bath
time
For parents, baby’s bath time is usually about cleaning
up after a messy day in the trenches. For babies, how-
ever, a bathtub is a personal water park; and bath time
becomes a special time to connect with and have fun
with you.
If your baby could talk:
What could be more awesome than a giant puddle in a steamy, warm
room, where I’m center stage and no one is allowed to interrupt us? Just
you and me and my belly and my nose and my fingers and all the other
parts of me that you tell me about. I can fill cups with water and dump
them in the tub. And when you soap me up it feels so good. Watch me! I
can rub my belly clean just the way you do. Floating boats and ducks and
bubbles all make my bath time even more fun. When we’re done, I love to
be wrapped up in a warm towel and snuggled, and hear you tell me how
sweet I smell. Hmmm. I’m something special.
What your baby is learning:
Your gentle and respectful touch, during the bath and when you’re cud-
dling afterwards, builds your baby’s self-esteem because it makes him
feel good about himself. He develops important social skills when he gets
you involved in a playful splashing game. He figures out how to engage
you, take turns and have fun. This helps prepare him to share good times
with other people as he grows.
A few simple water toys can go a long way toward enhancing the learning
opportunities of bath time. When he creates a splash by dropping his rub-
ber ducky in the tub, or empties the full container, your baby learns
about cause and effect—how things work. He is also discovering basic
math and science concepts such as full and empty, floating and sinking,
and the difference between liquids and solids. Most important, all of this
learning takes place within the context of his loving relationship with
you. There’s no better way to stimulate his curiosity.
What you can do:
•Always keep your baby safe in the bath!
•Six-month-olds learn by imitation. Fill up a bucket, or make the rubber
ducky squeak and encourage him to do the same.
•You don’t have to wait until nighttime to give your baby a bath. Even
during the day it can be soothing and help him switch gears.
•5•
saying
good night
While some 6-month-olds may snuggle happily into their
cribs at bedtime and drift off, many are inclined to put
up a good fight...no matter how tired they are. How can
we avoid a daily struggle when we, ourselves, are just as
tired as our babies?
If your baby could talk:
Want to know why I cry and fuss so much when you put me to bed?
Well, why in the world would I want to leave your nice warm arms to lie
alone in my crib? All I know is that I’m happy when I’m with you, and bed
time means an end to all of that. How can you help? Well, if we do lots of
nice things that lead up to bed time, it will help me feel relaxed. A bath, a
dimly lit room, a book, a gentle song and a rub on the back. I like that.
And make sure to give me something to hold on to when I can’t hold on to
you . . . my teddy or comfy blanket are good. Okay, I still might cry a little,
but I think I’m ready. I can’t promise anything, though, about tomorrow.
What your baby is learning:
Separating from the people they love is one of biggest challenges young
children face. When you make this transition easier by snuggling up and
devoting uninterrupted time at bed time, your baby learns that she is
special and deeply loved. This forms the foundation for healthy social and
emotional development and future positive relationships. When you
establish regular bed time routines, you offer your baby the predictability
she needs to feel in control of her world. When she knows what to expect,
she feels secure, and is more willing to believe that while people some-
times disappear, they also can be trusted to return. This helps her adapt
to separations.
When you gradually help her unwind, in preparation for bed time, and
give her the opportunity to fall asleep on her own (without feeding or
rocking), you are helping her learn how to soothe herself to sleep. This is
an invaluable skill that will benefit her (and you!) for years to come.
What you can do:
•Give your baby a chance to get herself to sleep. Babies are often much
more resourceful than we think. While it can be very distressing to par-
ents to hear their baby struggling, if you always do it for her, she misses
opportunities to figure out how to soothe herself to sleep.
•7•
Reading Your Baby’s Cues
What follows is a chart that describes what babies are learning
at this stage and what you can do to support the development of
these new skills. As you go through the chart, it’s important to
remember that every baby is an individual person, and
grows and develops in her own way, at her own pace.
Building a strong and close relationship with you is the founda-
tion of her learning and her healthy growth and development.
Any concern about your baby’s behavior or development
deserves attention. Always discuss your concerns with your
child’s pediatrician or other trusted professional.
•9•
Your baby’s brain power grows
as he experiments with toys in
more complex ways.
I’ve Got
Brain Power
I Can Move
and Shake
I’m Good
With My
Hands
I See You!
Your baby is increasingly
mobile—creeping, crawling
and even pulling herself up to
stand.
Your baby’s ability to use his
hands and fingers is
increasing every day.
Your baby begins to under-
stand that people and things
exist even when she can’t see
them.
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Provide a variety of safe toys for the bath—containers, rubber
toys, plastic bath books, plastic ladles. Join his exploration and
show him different ways to use the objects.
Show him how to take a cup of water and pour it over the ducky
to let him watch what happens. Help him fill up the whale and
squirt the water out.
Create an environment that is safe for exploration. Make sure
only safe objects are within her grasp and that anything she
might use to pull herself to standing is sturdy and fastened down
to support her weight.
Remind yourself that babies develop their motor skills at very dif-
ferent rates. Sometimes early crawlers are late walkers
(why bother walking when she can get to where she needs
to go so easily on all fours?). Development is an unfolding
process . . . not a race.
During the next few months he will begin to hold things between
his thumb and forefinger. This makes it much easier for him to
do things with his hands, like feeding himself.
Play back-and-forth games. He’ll love to hand you things that you
hand back to him. This can go on for hours, and it’s a great way
to learn give-and-take!
Now that your baby can pick up lots of things, make sure he
doesn’t get his hands on objects he can choke on – anything that
he can fit entirely into his mouth.
Play peek-a-boo. Even though you’re hiding your head for just a
moment (and in a very obvious way), this kind of game is
practice for saying good-bye in other settings.
Play disappearing and reappearing games, such as find the miss-
ing toy (hidden under cloth, table, etc.) or drop an object and
watch her try to locate it.
w
h
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:
Your baby begins to be
uncertain or fearful around
strangers or even family
members he doesn’t see very
often. Becoming quiet or even
distressed when meeting
someone new is quite typical
of 6- to 9-month-olds.
Who, May I
Ask, Are
You?
Now Hear
This!
I’m a Copycat
Inquiring
Minds Want
to Know
Your baby begins using sounds
and gestures to communicate
her wants and needs.
Your baby becomes a great
imitator. Imitating is not only
a great learning tool . . . it’s
lots of fun.
Your baby is intensely curious
and wants to spend almost
every waking hour exploring.
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Introduce your baby to new people from the safety of your arms.
Ask the new person to approach him slowly.
Give the new person one of your baby’s favorite toys or books to
help engage him.
Prepare your extended family and friends for your baby’s new
wariness and make sure they understand that it isn’t anything
personal.
Become your baby’s interpreter. If she points to her bottle, ask,
“Do you want some juice?”
Encourage communication and motor skills by describing what
she is doing. When she throws a toy down, you can say, “Okay,
you don’t want the car. But you’re looking at the bear. Do you
want to hold him?” Then put the bear within her range and
encourage her to get it.
Play copycat games. Make a sound and give him time to
copy you.
Push a button on the jack-in-the-box to make the clown appear,
then wait for him to do it. This teaches him cause-and-effect and
that he can make things happen.
Follow her lead on what interests her and encourage
exploration.
Think about the way your baby explores things. Does she explore
a book, for example, from beginning to end, page by page? Does
she turn it upside down, flip the pages quickly or look at one page
again and again. There are no “rights” or “wrongs.” Some babies
may find books so delicious that they’ll want to chew on them for
a while. That’s okay, too, as long as they’re safe.
w
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:
What Your Baby Needs Most
We know that you want to do your best to nurture your baby’s
healthy development. We also know that many parents are over-
whelmed by busy days, and the thought of adding extra activi-
ties to boost their child’s development may simply be too much.
That is the power of the magic of the everyday moment. What
your baby needs most to thrive is you. Nothing else can replace
the power of what your child learns as he explores the world and
shares his discoveries during everyday moments with you.
We hope this booklet has shown you that the magic of parenting
is not in any toy you buy or in the latest product claiming to
make your baby smarter. The magic is in your everyday interac-
tions that help your child build the crucial capabilities — such as
confidence, curiosity, cooperation, and communication — needed
for lifelong learning and success.
•15•
For more information on early childhood development, go to:
Don’t miss the other booklets in
The Magic of Everyday Moments™ series:
Remember, everyday moments
are rich bonding and learning
opportunities. Enjoy the magic of
these moments with your child.
www.JJPI.com www.zerotothree.org
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