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A mirror catching the light, a wooden spoon tapping a steel katori, and bubbles floating up
By 6 months

6 month baby milestones

Laughing, reaching, and sitting up for a moment

Around now most babies laugh out loud, know the faces they see every day, and lean on their hands to sit for a moment. Here is what most babies do by 6 months, four easy ways to play this week, and what to check on the labels of the first foods you buy.

What most babies do by 6 months

From CDC's 2022 checklists: things at least 3 in 4 babies do by this age. A guide for a chat with your pediatrician, not a test.

Sign in to tick what your child does

Feelings and people

  • Knows familiar people
  • Likes to look at themselves in a mirror
  • Laughs

Talking and listening

  • Takes turns making sounds with you
  • Blows “raspberries” — sticks the tongue out and blows
  • Makes squealing noises

Thinking and exploring

  • Puts things in the mouth to explore them
  • Reaches to grab a toy they want
  • Closes the lips to show they don't want more food

Moving

  • Rolls from tummy to back
  • Pushes up on straight arms when on the tummy
  • Leans on the hands to hold themselves up when sitting

Every baby has their own timing

WHO followed 816 healthy babies in five countries, India among them, and timed six movement milestones. Each bar is the window in which 98 of every 100 of them got there.

Sits without support4–9 mo
Stands with help5–11 mo
Crawls on hands and knees5–14 mo
Walks with help6–14 mo
Stands alone7–17 mo
Walks alone8–18 mo
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Your baby: 6 months

Sitting alone, for example, came anywhere from about 4 to 9 months. Crawling, standing and walking mostly come later, and some babies skip crawling altogether.

Play together this week

Five or ten minutes each, with things already in your home. Do them in any language you speak at home.

1

Mirror chat

5 min · nothing to buy

You need: Any mirror at your baby's height — the almirah or dressing-table mirror

  1. Hold your baby facing the mirror and say their name. Point: “That's you!”
  2. Make a big face — eyebrows up, mouth open — then wait. Give your baby time to answer with a sound or a smile.
  3. Copy whatever your baby does back to them, and laugh together.

Stay close. Hold your baby the whole time. A fixed mirror is better than a hand mirror they could pull down.

  • Looks at themselves in a mirror
  • Laughs
2

Your turn, my turn

5 min · nothing to buy

You need: Nothing — try it during oil massage or a nappy change

  1. When your baby coos or squeals, stop and make the same sound back.
  2. Pause. Most babies answer — that pause is the conversation.
  3. Add something new: a raspberry, a click of the tongue, a long “ooooh”, and see if your baby tries it.
  • Takes turns making sounds
  • Blows raspberries
3

Just out of reach

5–10 min · nothing to buy

You need: A cotton bedsheet on the floor and one bright thing — a steel katori or a rolled-up dupatta

  1. Lay your baby on the tummy on the sheet, and lie down facing them at eye level.
  2. Put the katori a hand's length in front of them. Cheer when they push up and reach for it.
  3. Let them get it, then move it a little to one side for the next try.

Stay close. On the floor, never on a bed or sofa edge. Stop when your baby is tired or upset — short and often is enough.

  • Pushes up on straight arms
  • Reaches to grab
4

Katori drum

5 min · nothing to buy

You need: A large steel katori turned upside down and a big wooden spoon

  1. Sit your baby in your lap, supported, with the katori on the floor in front.
  2. Tap it — tak, tak, tak — then hold the spoon out for your baby to grab.
  3. Whatever they do, a bang, a drop, a chew on the spoon, cheer it.

Stay close. Use only things too big to fit in the mouth. Keep the spoon smooth, with no splinters.

  • Reaches to grab
  • Explores with the mouth

What your baby starts eating and using now

WHO's advice is breast milk alone for the first 6 months, then first foods alongside it. If you buy a packaged cereal or purée, turn it over and check the ingredient list for these:

Scan a label Free. No sign-up. Pick 6–12 months on the result to check it for this age.

CDC also suggests talking with your pediatrician about when to start solids and which foods are choking risks.

If something worries you

You know your baby best. If your baby is not doing some of these things yet, or has stopped doing something they used to do, tell your pediatrician — at the next visit, or sooner. CDC's advice is not to wait: acting early is what helps most.

Born early? For the first two years, pediatricians usually count from the due date — the corrected age.

In India, your pediatrician can also refer you to the District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) at your district hospital, part of the government's Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram.

Questions CDC suggests taking to the visit:

Sources

  1. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Learn the Signs. Act Early. Milestones by 6 months (2022 checklist).
  2. Zubler J.M. et al. (2022). Evidence-informed milestones for developmental surveillance tools. Pediatrics 149(3):e2021052138.
  3. WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group (2006). WHO Motor Development Study: windows of achievement for six gross motor development milestones. Acta Paediatrica Suppl 450:86–95.
  4. WHO Child growth standards: motor development milestones.
  5. WHO (2023). Guideline for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6–23 months of age.
  6. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. Starting solid foods: cook with no added salt or seasoning.
  7. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. Corrected age for preemies.
  8. National Health Mission, Government of India. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK): child health screening and early intervention services.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.