Babies 11th month

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Nicole Wendler holds a PhD in biology in the field of oncology and immunology. As a medical editor, author and proofreader, she works for various publishers, for whom she presents complex and extensive medical issues in a simple, concise and logical manner.

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Babies in their eleventh month usually take their first independent steps! Your child will train diligently to run free while hanging around the furniture. With the newly acquired perspective, it becomes more and more independent and begins to disconnect. Read here what developments you can look forward to and how you can support your baby on his journey of discovery in the eleventh month.

The 11th month

In the eleventh month, your baby will diligently pull himself up on objects and use them to train his sense of balance. Bruises and bumps are inevitable. Your child is now attracting attention with defiant reactions. At eleven months, however, your baby is also able to understand a clear "no".

11th month - physical development

Your offspring are still growing more slowly than in the months before. A baby at eleven months usually wears size 80 and hats with a width of 50/52. Significantly thicker and longer hair is now sprouting on his head.

Motorical development

Your eleven-month-old baby can now crawl around pretty quickly. Since attractive objects are often higher up, for example on the table, your baby wants to go high. The starting position is the four-footed position. From there, it pulls itself into a kneeling position with its arms and raises its legs one after the other to pull itself up. In the standing position, a baby in the eleventh month is already clambering along furniture.

Babies are generally not yet able to walk freely in their eleventh month. However, they practice diligently by putting their little feet sideways and taking a step to the side.

Your child will always succeed in eating independently. It can now also be safely drunk from a mug.

The development of the senses

With the skills your baby acquires at eleven months, he or she also stimulates his senses. Since this month, like the previous month, is all about movement, it primarily trains body-related perceptions. The sense of balance is trained by shifting the body's center of gravity to the side. This is an important preparation for the later free run.

In the eleventh month, your baby will receive new stimuli from his environment thanks to his motor skills. The view over the edge of the table offers a completely new view of the environment. The child learns to estimate distances better by reaching for objects on the table top.

Your baby can already eat with the family now. The varied diet trains your child's sense of taste and smell.

11th month - mental development

At eleven months, your baby is fascinated by what it can do by itself. Light switches and buttons on the stove or the music system are particularly popular. It tirelessly presses the buttons and is happy about the light or sounds that it can generate.

The instinct to imitate is particularly pronounced in the eleventh month of your baby. Your offspring imitates your movements and actions in everyday life. For example, they like to clear out the kitchen cupboards or try to put laundry into the drum of the washing machine.

Emotional development

Babies in their eleventh month can be a little unsettled by their rapid development. It is not uncommon for a child to feel that they will be much more independent from their parents in the future, and that is why they now become particularly clingy. Shortly before children learn to walk, they often no longer leave mum's side or that of another caregiver.

At eleven months, your baby is still a long way from the actual defiant phase in the second year of life, but the first defiant reactions are already showing. Your child will understand when you explain with a clear "no" that they shouldn't operate the light switch, for example. They can become outraged and angry if you try to prevent them from doing what they are trying to do.

Does your child have a favorite toy or cuddly toy? Babies look for so-called transitional objects in the eleventh month. They offer emotional support during the transition to independence. When you are not there, your baby may be looking for security with the cuddly bunny or teddy bear.

Social development and communication

Your offspring have developed so much language understanding that you can convey clear messages to them. A "no" is an integral part of his vocabulary.

In the eleventh month of your baby, this is supplemented by reference words such as "Da" or "Das". While taking a walk, your offspring may call out enthusiastically "There" when they see a tractor or a dog.

Your baby wants to keep in touch with you for the eleventh month. Communication through imitation or with first words creates a close bond with you.

11th month - This is how you support your child in a playful way

In the eleventh month, your baby particularly enjoys exercise. Promote body awareness and mental development through small games.

• Through the tunnel: Babies at this age love play tunnels to crawl through. Wait at the other end and encourage your child to venture through. This game promotes physical awareness and mental development.

• Balls in the tube: For this game you need empty cardboard tubes, for example from kitchen paper, and several small balls. Help your little explorer hold the tube and insert the ball into the opening at the top. Your child will be amazed when the ball comes out at the other end. This game promotes the tweezer grip and understanding of cause and effect. But be careful! Do not let your baby play alone so that he does not swallow the balls or put them in his nose or ear.

• Little artist: In your presence, your baby can prove his artistic skills in the eleventh month. With watercolors and a thick bristle brush, it can bring the first works of art onto paper. His hand-eye coordination benefits from this.

Visit to the pediatrician in the 11th month

There is no regular check-up in babies' eleventh month. Nevertheless, as always, if you are unsure about the development or signs of illness, consult your pediatrician to be on the safe side.

You may notice that in the eleventh month of your baby's first steps, your feet turn outward or tip inward. Even if you are concerned about the position of your feet - it is regarded as completely normal well into the second year of life. Your baby will tighten their feet and build arches as they continue exercising. Then the little feet are given a completely different posture.

Acquired foot deformities are rare in babies. As a rule, misalignments such as sickle foot, club foot or equinus foot are determined by the doctor immediately after the birth or as part of the first preventive examinations and treated accordingly.

You can read more about this in the topic special "Foot malpositions".

Tips for the 11th month

The following tips will make everyday life with your eleven-month-old baby easier:

Understand: Your baby is particularly curious at eleven months and cannot easily be dissuaded from his plans even with a "no". Your offspring needs this natural curiosity in order to develop further. Therefore, understand and explain calmly why it is not allowed to use the light switch to play, for example.

Replacement for their favorite cuddly toy: Parents are regularly faced with the task of having to replace their favorite cuddly toy. A few years after purchasing it is not that easy. If you can see that your child is particularly fond of an object, create a twin of it as a reserve. So washing or losing it is not a tragedy either.

Exercise in the fresh air: "There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes!" This saying is tried and tested. Promote your child's development by supporting their urge to discover. The best way to do this is to go on excursions in nature, whatever the weather. Babies in their eleventh month also like to watch raindrops roll off the cover of the stroller. One more reason to be out and about in the rain.

Tags:  pregnancy healthy feet baby toddler