Monday, February 04, 2013

Milestone Mondays: 10 months!


Milestone Mondays

Last week on the WeeHands fan page we asked about your babies’ ages. Melissa and Alyson shared that their little ones were 10 months old...oh, what a wonderful age!

So What Can Your 10-Month Old Baby Do?

A baby at around 9-10 months is able to reach for items with their fingers and they can also use what is called a pincer grasp, which uses an F shape in the American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet, to transfer small items between their fingers. Your baby will also this pincer grasp to pick items up off their high chair tray or, be careful, the floor!


There’s No Need to Simplify ASL Signs for Your Baby

Now some people say that American Sign Language (ASL) is too hard for babies to learn and that you have to modify it. I disagree! If they can make an F shape they'll be able to make so many other signs!

What Else Might A 10 Month Old Baby Be Able To Do?

At this age, signing with your baby will get their attention and their first sign may appear but every baby is different.

Your baby will most likely be babbling at this age with their hands and voices. Playing with sounds that will become their first words, e.g., “ma-ma-ma-ma” will become mama; shaking both hands may become bye-bye; and clapping may become "more".

Why Sign With Your 10 Month Old Baby?

Because the most important thing they want is your attention! Your baby's memory is develop and though they might not sign back to you get they are starting to understand what you sign to them, e.g., calming down when you sign milk or getting excited when you sign bath.

Now I'd love to hear from you! Please let us know how both you and your baby are doing. Do you have a 10 month old? What new things have they learned? Crawling? Walking!?!

Has that first signed appeared? Has you baby started to wave "bye-bye"? What does your 10 month old do when you leave the room?  When was the last time you went to the bathroom alone!?

We want to hear your stories! Share your baby’s story below..

4 comments:

SwanJames said...

Thanks, Melissa!

My daughter hit her milestones much, much after what you are describing and that's because she was born 3.5 months early.

What did happen, even after we got her into Speech and Language Therapy, was that she would hit me - unexpectedly in the face. At first I was really upset. She would smile at me and then pow!

What we figured out is that she was in pain. She couldn't tell me, and so she was hitting me to get my attention. Thankfully she had a child interventionist who taught us a bit of signing and also how to recognize her "communication attempts" - which is what you talk about a bit here.

If we didn't have that information, who knows how many years we could have gone, thinking this was just her "being bad" for no good reason.

Although the milestone info in this video won't apply to a premature baby, I'm going to share this info with my preemie community on FB and Twitter. You can connect with me there too, and then I won't miss your updates!

Susan James, Preemie Coach
www.preemiecoach.com
Facebook.com/islas.story
Twitter: @susan_swanjames

Thanks again for this information!

Cheers,
Susan

Unknown said...

Hi! I too have a preemie who is 10 1/2months old (8 months corrected) who has mild/moderate hearing loss. Im starting to learn basic signs and I noticed my baby possibly using the sign for milk while sitting in her Bumbo chair waiting for food. Im thinking maybe she's interpreted the sign for food but none the less I find it exciting!! Ill be using this site as a resource as she continues to build upon her language skills. Thx!!

Unknown said...

My baby is 15 months and since we started signing with her about 3 months ago she really is taking off. All done is her favorite and the first one she got. She uses "more" alot. And milk. She also uses Dog correctly. Its so fun to see her making the connections! My husband and I are currently in the momma daddy battle to see which one she does first!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for sharing everyone!

Susan and Melanie, I'm going to alternate weekly between presenting "ages and stages" so every second Milestone Mondays I won't specifically look at months or ages but at specific language or cognitive stages.

Jessica, I'll just say "Go Mommy go!" :)