Development Milestones 8-12 Months

Your Baby’s Development Milestones 8-12 Months

From 8 to 12 months, your baby continues to grow and develop at a rapid pace, becoming increasingly more social and quick on their feet—turning into a little explorer as they crawl, walk, and keep you on your toes.

It is important to remember that each baby develops at their own pace and follows a unique timeline. Book an appointment with your GP if you are concerned about your baby’s growth and development.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Your baby’s brain develops at an amazing pace during these months and forms new connections with every experience.

  2. Most babies can pull themselves up and cruise along furniture. Their gross motor skills such as their grasp becomes more precise too—picking up tiny objects between their thumb and finger.

  3. They become more social and engage in games like peek-a-boo, or show signs of stranger anxiety - all natural parts of emotional development.

  4. Your baby starts responding to simple commands like ‘wave bye-bye’ or ‘come here’. They use gestures to communicate and might say their first meaningful words.

What Counts as a Developmental Milestone

We group developmental milestones into distinct areas:

  • Gross motor skills are your full-body movements that require the use of multiple muscle groups. Actions for this development period include crawling, pulling to stand up, walking, and climbing.

  • Fine motor and cognitive skills are precise movements that utilise hand, fingers, feet and toes. They cover skills like grasping or picking up objects, pointing, clapping hands, and intentionally releasing objects.

  • Social and emotional skills involve how your baby interacts with other people and regulates its own emotions. At this stage, your baby will be able to recognise familiar faces, exhibit anxiety around certain strangers, and show preferences for certain people or toys.

  • Communication skills refer to your baby’s ability to communicate verbally. They cover actions such as saying their first words, responding to hearing their name, vocalising needs, and imitating sounds.

  • Vision development relates to how well your baby can see. Your baby’s depth perception becomes more accurate as does their hand-eye coordination.

  • Hearing development covers your baby’s ability to hear and intimate sounds. At this stage, they can usually recognise familiar words, respond to their name, and listen to conversations.


Your Baby’s Development Milestones 8-12 Months

Between 8-12 months, babies experience rapid growth and development, mastering new physical, cognitive, and social skills that allow them to explore their surroundings, communicate more effectively, and build stronger connections with those around them.

Baby standing by itself

Gross Motor Skills

At 8 months, your baby will be able to sit up without support. Others will be able to use different techniques that range from belly-crawling to hands-and-knees movement. 

Between 8-12 months, they will start pulling themselves up to stand, usually by holding onto furniture.

After 12 months, you can expect to see your baby stand independently. Babies typically take their first steps around their first birthday. They can also squat to pick objects up.

Safe spaces help support these developments. Put interesting toys just out of reach to encourage movement. Make sure furniture is secure before they start pulling up to stand. Baby walkers can slow natural development and create safety risks, so it's best to avoid them.

Note that movement milestones vary widely—babies typically walk between 8 and 18 months. Your baby might prefer certain ways of moving, and that's normal as long as they use both sides of their body equally.

Fine Motor and Cognitive Skills

    At 8 months, as your baby’s curiosity grows, they will explore more by using their hands and fingers. They learn to use their thumb and index finger in a pincer grasp that lets them pick up small objects with amazing precision.

    Between 8 and 12 months, their brain development takes a big leap as they learn about object permanence. This is a huge milestone—hide a toy under a blanket and watch them search for it. Most 10-month-olds are so sure hidden objects still exist that they’ll keep looking until they find them.

    After 12 months, your baby will continue to use their fingers to do things like point at objects they want. They will spend hours dropping, rolling, and throwing objects to see what happens. This helps them learn about shapes, textures, and sizes.

    Their attention span grows quickly during these months. A twelve-month-old will be able to focus on a toy or game for 2-5 minutes by their first birthday. This time will increase the older they get.

    Your baby used to learn about objects by putting them in their mouth. Now they run more complex tests, like seeing which items fit inside others or watching how different things fall. This hands-on discovery builds their foundation to learn and develop.

    Social and Emotional Skills

    At 8 months, your baby’s personality will start to really shine through. They learn how to engage with adults and other children, forming deeper connections with family members.

    Between 8-12 months, your baby will exhibit emotions in more complex ways. They will express their fear and anxiety in new situations, affection through hugs and kisses, and will even learn to comfort themselves with a favourite toy.

    After 12 months, more complex displays of empathy will emerge as your little one responds to others’ emotions and tries to comfort those who feel sad. Social games like peek-a-boo become more fun, helping them grasp that people exist even when hidden from view.

    Your baby’s personality becomes more distinct as they grow more assertive about their likes and dislikes. Resistance during nappy changes or clear activity priorities shows their increasing independence.

    Communication Skills

    At 8 months, your baby will be able to respond to their name, usually with babbling sounds that mimic conversation. They will also start pointing at objects they want, like bottles and toys.

    Between 8 and 12 months, your baby’s vocabulary grows from babbling to consonant-vowel sounds like ‘da-da’ and ‘ma-ma’. These first words usually appear during these months.

    After 12 months, your little one will be able to follow simple commands like ‘come here’ consistently and will use different sounds and imitations of speech patterns.

    During this time, your baby will understand many more words than they can say and recognise common object names and body parts.

    They will use specific sounds to express specific needs. They shout to get attention or make particular noises at the time they’re hungry. This is the period when complex language develops, as your baby discovers that sounds and gestures carry meaning.

    Baby looking at its own reflection in mirror

    Vision Development

    At 8 months, your baby’s colour vision will start to match what adults see. They can tell different shades and colors apart clearly and their depth perception will sharpen to an almost adult level.

    Between 8 and 12 months, they figure out distances more accurately, which helps them reach for toys and crawl with confidence.

    After 12 months, they can follow moving objects smoothly and throw things with surprising aim. Familiar faces and toys will be noticed from across rooms.

    Your baby’s vision keeps getting better, which helps them become more independent and curious. Their eyesight works with their growing movement skills. This ends up building a strong base that helps them learn and explore their world.

    However, you should also look out for signs that might mean vision problems: eyes that keep turning, being too sensitive to light, or tears that won’t stop. If you notice any of these signs, a quick chat with your doctor will help catch any issues early.

    Hearing Development

    At 8 months, your little one’s auditory abilities continue to develop. They become more responsive to environmental sounds and more easily recognise familiar voices.

    Between 8 and 12 months, common words that they hear everyday will become more familiar to them. They will react to changes in your tone of voice and start to respond to simple requests like ‘come here’ and ‘sit down’.

    After 12 months, familiar sounds like a sibling’s voice or a favourite toy’s music make your baby excited. They learn to connect specific sounds with daily routines, such as bath time or bedtime.

    Your baby’s sound recognition becomes more sophisticated each day. Your little one starts imitating simple words and sounds with better precision and will look at objects you name.

    Your baby’s hearing milestones are the foundations for future language development. They should understand simple ‘yes-no’ questions and follow one-step commands with gestures by their first birthday. This growing grasp of sounds and words is a vital stage in their cognitive and social growth.

    If they don’t respond to loud noises or turn toward sound sources, your baby might need a hearing evaluation. Early detection of hearing issues will give a better chance for timely intervention and support.

    Baby Sleep Routines 8-12 Months

    Consistent sleep patterns become significant when your baby reaches 8-12 months. Babies this age need 11-14 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period.

    Your baby's sleep schedule evolves naturally during these months. Most babies can sleep 8-12 hours at night by 9 months. They usually take two daytime naps that last 2-3 hours total.

    A relaxing bedtime routine helps babies sleep better and longer. A routine that works might include a warm bath, cozy sleepwear, and story time.

    Your baby’s wake windows stretch to 3-4 hours between naps by 12 months. They might skip their third nap, showing they’re ready for a two-nap schedule.

    Night wakings are normal between sleep cycles. Keep interactions brief and calm when your baby wakes up. Some babies still need one feeding at night, usually between 3:00-5:00 am.

    Separation anxiety peaks around this age and affects bedtime. Your response should stay consistent—give gentle reassurance while helping your baby learn self-settling skills.

    Learn About Your Baby’s Development With Nourish Baby!

    Some babies reach certain milestones earlier or later than others—this is part of normal development.

    If you want to know more about baby development and how you can encourage their growth, Nourish Baby can help.

    Nourish Baby offers antenatal education that covers pregnancy, labour, birth, and early childhood. Our courses provide great information on developmental milestones and what you can expect in their first few years of life.

    Check out our range of online antenatal courses or contact the team today to learn more about your baby’s growth!

    Where are you in your journey?

    All journeys are unique and exciting, so we have matched our courses to your current stage of pregnancy or parenting. Simply select where you're up to below.