6 month old baby

What a 6 month old baby is doing

Six months is the halfway mark and it looks like it. The HSE describes a baby who can sit with support, roll their body from back to front, and move things from one hand to the other. That last one matters more than it sounds: transferring an object between hands is a coordination step that feeds directly into self-feeding.

Babbling arrives, with sounds like "baba" and "gagaga". Your baby may turn and look towards new sounds, turn towards people entering the room, and enjoy talking back and forth with you using cooing and babble. Socially they will show a preference for a particular person, may get upset when they cannot see their main caregiver, recognise familiar faces, react to tone of voice, smile more often at parents, and try to hold their bottle while drinking. When they drop a toy, they will look to the floor for it.

Starting solid foods

The NHS advises introducing solid foods at around six months, and gives three clear signs that, appearing together, show readiness: staying in a sitting position with a steady head, co-ordinating eyes, hands and mouth to pick food up and get it to their mouth, and swallowing food rather than spitting it back out.

At the start, how much your baby eats matters less than getting used to the idea of eating. They will still be getting most of their energy and nutrients from breast milk or first infant formula. Offer a small amount before the usual milk feed, go at your baby's pace, and stop when they firmly close their mouth or turn their head away. Do not force a feed; wait until next time if they are not interested. The NHS says it may take ten tries or more for a baby to get used to a new food, and that days of eating more, days of eating less and days of rejecting everything are all normal.

Move on from purée to mashed, lumpy and finger foods as soon as your baby can manage, because that is how they learn to chew, move food around their mouth and swallow. Some babies like to start straight on lumps and finger foods; others need longer with smooth textures. Let your baby touch and hold food and feed themselves with their fingers as soon as they show interest, keep distractions to a minimum, and eat together where you can, because babies copy. Do not add sugar or salt, including stock cubes and gravy: salt is not good for a baby's kidneys and sugar causes tooth decay.

Safety at the table

Always stay with your baby while they eat. Avoid hard foods like whole nuts and raw carrot or apple, remove pips, stones and bones, and cut small round foods such as grapes and cherry tomatoes into quarters. Use a high chair with a securely fitted safety harness so your baby is upright enough to swallow properly, and never leave a baby unattended on a raised surface. Gagging is not choking — the NHS describes gagging as watering eyes, the tongue pushing forward, and retching to bring food forward or vomiting, and treats it as part of learning to handle solids.

Cups from six months

Introduce a cup from around six months and offer sips of water with meals. An open cup, or a free-flow cup without a valve, helps your baby learn to sip rather than suck and is better for their teeth.

Vitamins from 6 months

The recommendation changes this month. The government recommends all children aged six months to five years are given a daily vitamin supplement containing vitamins A, C and D. Babies having more than 500ml of infant formula a day should not be given supplements, because formula is fortified. Breastfed babies should already be having a daily vitamin D supplement of 8.5 to 10 micrograms from birth. Your health visitor can advise where to get vitamin drops, and they are free if you qualify for Healthy Start.

Sleep at 6 months

The NHS band shifts upward here: by around six months old your baby may sleep for up to 12 hours at night — but it immediately adds that teething pain and hunger can disturb that. "May" is doing real work in that sentence. There is still no official nap schedule or wake window figure from any national health body, at this age or any other.

Six months is also the month the room-sharing advice reaches its stated minimum. Our safe sleep guide covers what stays in place after that, which is most of it.

Teeth

Most babies start teething at around six months, though the NHS notes some start before four months and some after twelve, and a few are born with teeth. Central incisors usually come first at around six months, lateral incisors at around eight and first molars at around twelve. Signs include a sore red gum, one flushed cheek, a facial rash, ear rubbing, extra dribbling, gnawing and chewing, being fretful and not sleeping well. Teething can raise a temperature slightly, but to less than 38C — anything higher is not teething. There is no evidence teething causes diarrhoea.

Vaccinations: check your country

The UK offers no routine vaccination at six months. The schedule runs 8, 12 and 16 weeks, then one year, then eighteen months, and the vaccines offered at those later appointments now depend on your child's date of birth. Other countries do vaccinate at six months, so this is the month schedules diverge most visibly — use the one published where you live.

What is worth raising

The HSE lists these as reasons to contact a GP or public health nurse at six months: a baby who does not reach for and grasp toys, does not bring their hands to the middle of their body, does not explore objects with hands, eyes and mouth, does not hold their head or shoulders up with control on their tummy or when sitting with support, or who loses skills they had before.