Typical 9- to 10- Month-Old Baby |
YES | NO | ||
MOUTH/FEEDING DEVELOPMENT | ||||
Integrates involuntary suckling reflex (seems to be disappearing 6-12 months) | ||||
Integrates gag reflex (now found on back ⅓ of the tongue secondary to appropriate feeding & mouthing experiences; 6-9 months) | ||||
Integrates transverse (side) tongue reflex (seems to be disappearing 9-24 months) | ||||
Controls the phasic (up-down) bite reflex (5-9 months) | ||||
Integrates phasic (up-down) bite reflex (seems to be disappearing 9-12 months) | ||||
Uses increasing diagonal rotary jaw movement (6-11 months) | ||||
Uses mirror neurons in feeding making it important for care-providers to participate in & demonstrate eating & drinking activities (This is a social, interactive process) | ||||
Gets bottom 2 front teeth (central incisors) between 6 & 10 months | ||||
Gets top 2 front teeth (central incisors) between 8 & 12 months; removes food from bottom lip with top front teeth | ||||
Gets bottom lateral incisors (10-16 months) | ||||
Gets top lateral incisors (9-13 months) | ||||
Has closed mouth & easy nose breathing during sleep & when mouth is inactive/empty | ||||
Rests tongue in the roof of the closed mouth to help maintain palate shape | ||||
Is free of tethered oral tissues (tongue, lip, &/or cheek ties) | ||||
Sucks liquid from breast &/or bottle with up-down tongue & jaw movement | ||||
Increases suck, swallow, breathe sequences on the breast &/or bottle (different on breast than bottle) | ||||
Learns to manage appropriate food & liquid textures; relies less on breastfeeding & bottle-feeding over time | ||||
Drinks from an open or recessed-lid cup placed at lips, but not into lip corners | ||||
Drinks more than 3 consecutive sucks from open or recessed-lid cup with improving jaw control (9-15 months) | ||||
Drinks from a straw with straw placed only on lips (6-12 months) | ||||
Uses 3 or more continuous, consecutive sucks during proper straw-drinking (6-12 months) | ||||
Removes food from a spoon with upper lip movement | ||||
Moves lower lip inward when spoon removed (6-12 months) | ||||
Can close lips when swallowing | ||||
Holds and bangs spoon (9 months); imitates stirring with spoon (9-10 months) | ||||
Can pass a food pieces from one hand to the other (8-9 months) | ||||
Begins picking up small food pieces with thumb and fingers (9-12 months) | ||||
Uses jaw movements matching shape & size of the food when taking bites & chewing | ||||
Tightens lips & cheeks to keep food in place during chewing on side where food is placed | ||||
Moves lips with chewing (6-9 months) | ||||
Moves lips inward slightly when food remains on them; moves lip corner & cheek inward on the side of chewing (8-11 months) | ||||
Moves upper lip forward & downward during chewing (8-12 months) | ||||
Moves lower lip inward while removing food with upper incisors (9-21 months) | ||||
Uses lips & cheeks to control & move food (8-18 months) | ||||
Uses up-down biting & chewing/munching on a soft cookie (6-9 months) & on a hard cookie (6-19 months) | ||||
Uses diagonal rotary chewing on the side where food is placed (6-9 months) | ||||
Bites through a soft cookie (7-12 months) | ||||
Moves tongue up & down with the jaw, but begins moving tongue toward small pieces of food on the side gums with a rolling &/or shifting motion (6-9 months) | ||||
Begins to move the tongue independently from the jaw during sucking (7-11 months); transfers food from center of tongue to both sides of mouth (7-12 months) | ||||
9-12 Month Foods/Liquids (unless advised otherwise by pediatrician, dietician, etc.) |
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Soft, cut-up cooked and safe, soft, cut-up uncooked foods (such as bananas, skinned peaches, peeled avocado, etc.); introduce citrus slowly. | ||||
Cooked fruit or vegetable strips. | ||||
Soft, chopped meats (such as stewed chicken, no bone; ground meat; no fish). | ||||
Casseroles with noodles, pasta, or rice. | ||||
Bread, toast, crackers, dry cereal without sugar (no chocolate). | ||||
Eggs (yolks at 9 months, whites at 12 months) and cheese (soft cheese strips, cottage cheese, yogurt formulated for babies). | ||||
Sips of water, formula, or breast milk from an open-, recessed lid-, or straw-cup | ||||
Breast milk or formula from breast or bottle, allowing baby to self-limit. | ||||
BODY DEVELOPMENT (Typical 9- to 10- Month Old) |
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Full Body Reflexes | ||||
Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex/Response: The flexion part of this response is usually integrated by the brain by 4 months; the extension part of this response may take as long as 3 ½ years | ||||
Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex/Response: Develops between 6 and 9 months; seems to disappear (become integrated by the brain) around 12 months | ||||
When Sitting (Typical 9-Month-Old) |
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Has good trunk/core control and pelvic/hip adjustment while placing legs in a variety of positions | ||||
Can circle/ring, long-leg, and side sit (Note: W-sitting stresses ligaments and can destabilize the trunk/hips) | ||||
Stretches leg muscles in long-leg sitting when reaching forward | ||||
Transitions to crawling from newly acquired side-sitting | ||||
Reaches for objects in a variety of ways, including items overhead | ||||
Can voluntarily push, hold, transfer, and drop objects; begins using a pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) | ||||
When Sitting (Typical 10-Month-Old) |
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Is usually eating and drinking (hopefully in a suitable, well-fitting chair) or examining toys; otherwise, the baby is typically moving (e.g., crawling, pulling to stand, cruising) | ||||
Long-leg sits (legs out in front), side-sits, and frequently tailor-sits (with feet together or ankles crossed) | ||||
Can move easily out of side-sitting and tailor-sitting to crawling and climbing | ||||
When Using Hands (Typical 10-Month-Old) |
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Increasingly manipulates/explores toys with hands and vision (visual, tactile, proprioceptive systems) | ||||
Picks up small, appropriate, safe food pieces with pincer grasp; uses thumb, index, and middle finger to pick up appropriate small toys (three-jaw chuck) | ||||
Takes objects easily out of containers with improving toy release to drop into containers | ||||
Coordinates hands in activities (e.g., moves objects from hand-to-hand, bangs objects together, holds a container while removing objects/food - such as finger feeding appropriate foods from a bowl) | ||||
When Crawling (Typical 9-Month-Old) |
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Explores the environment, as well as attains and transports toys | ||||
Returns to sitting by shifting hips and legs to one side or the other | ||||
When Crawling Typical 10-Month-Old |
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Moves legs and arms reciprocally, smoothly, and quickly with trunk/core rotating appropriately in opposite directions (main way of moving around the environment) | ||||
Kneels and half-kneels while playing | ||||
When Kneeling or Half-Kneeling (Typical 9-Month-Old) |
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Can play with toys with one hand placed on a bench or step to stabilize the body | ||||
When Climbing (Typical 9-Month-Old) |
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Shifts weight to one side or the other and lengthens the weight-bearing side | ||||
Can shift from climbing to kneeling or half-kneeling but cannot climb down stairs or from furniture | ||||
Combines climbing, kneeling, half-kneeling, and rotating hips/pelvis to sit in a chair | ||||
When Climbing Typical 10-Month-Old |
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Experiments with climbing over and onto objects (e.g., furniture) | ||||
Learns which items are safe or unsafe on which to climb via experimentation | ||||
Uses active problem solving and motor planning while making refined changes in postural control (dynamic stability) | ||||
Enjoys climbing stairs | ||||
Begins to demonstrate mindfulness when descending stairs (i.e., looks behind, lowers weight-bearing leg, tailor-sits on step, rotates trunk/core, stabilizes body with arm(s), and repeats) | ||||
When Standing (Typical 9-Month-Old) |
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Places one hand on furniture to stabilize and balance body while placing weight on legs | ||||
Rotates body over hips from one side to the other while holding onto furniture with one hand or the other | ||||
Can lower from standing unless using both hands to manipulate a toy (may drop to sitting) | ||||
When Standing Typical 10-Month-Old |
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Rises from half-kneeling position using the weight-bearing hand for balance and postural control; may squat from standing | ||||
Uses one hand for support while reaching with the other (developing increasing postural control) | ||||
When Cruising Typical 9-Month-Old |
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Shifts weight laterally (to one side or the other), rotates hips/pelvis toward unweighted leg (face-side) and transfers weight to that leg | ||||
Changes side-to-side cruising toward forward walking while holding onto furniture with skull-side hand | ||||
When Cruising Typical 10-Month-Old |
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May move sideways (stabilizing with two hands) or turn body in direction of movement (stabilizing with one hand) | ||||
Increasingly engages motor planning while cruising along a variety of items in a variety of directions (variations on a theme develop generalization – Suzanne Evans Morris) | ||||
During Supported Walking Typical 9-Month Old |
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Makes stepping motions while fixing the shoulder girdle, upper trunk/core, and hips with arms upward and hands/arms held by care-giver’s hands | ||||
When Supported in Walking Typical 10-Month-Old |
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Fixes shoulder girdle, trunk, and pelvis but increasingly dissociates leg movements with one or two hands held |
Primary References
•Bahr, D. (2018). Feed your baby and toddler right: Early eating and drinking skills encourage the best development. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
•Bahr, D. C., & Hillis, A. E. (2001). Neurological and anatomical bases. In D. C. Bahr Oral motor assessment and treatment: Ages and stages (pp. 1-41). USA: Pearson College Division.
•Bly, L. (1994). Motor skills acquisition in the first year: An illustrated guide to normal development. USA: Psychological Corp.
•Feldenkrais, M. (1972). Awareness through movement (Vol. 1977). New York: Harper and Row.
•Morris, S. E., & Klein, M. D. (2000). Pre-Feeding skills: A comprehensive resource for mealtime development. (2nd ed.)
. San Antonio, TX: Therapy Skill Builders.
•Neuro Restart (2019). Primitive reflexes. Retrieved from http://www.neurorestart.co.uk/primitive-reflexes/
•Vulpe, S. G. (1994). Vulpe assessment battery-revised: Developmental assessment, performance analysis, individualized programming for the atypical child. East Aurora, NY: Slosson Educational Publications.