What Can My Baby See?

Babies this age can see much farther away (several feet or more) than just a few months ago. They can usually focus without going cross-eyed and can tell the difference between different colors.

Your baby is becoming much more aware of the environment. He or she can now follow the course of a rolling ball and watch the quick movements of an older sibling playing nearby. You may see your baby staring in concentration while holding a toy or studying his or her own hands. Hand-eye-coordination is improving, so watch as your little one stares for a while at an object, then slowly reaches out to get it.

Help improve your baby's sight skills with these tips:

• If your baby has been looking at the same toys or crib mobile for several months, now is a good time to change the scenery. By this age, most babies start to pull themselves up to a sitting position, so if you have a mobile over the crib or wall hangings within reach, remove them so your baby doesn't get hurt.
• Babies this age enjoy more complex patterns and color variations. Try reading books with large, brightly colored pictures to your baby, who will enjoy staring at the pages.
• Stimulate your baby's vision with trips out into the world. Walks in the neighbourhood, a trip to the supermarket, or an outing to the local zoo all provide wonderful opportunities for your baby to see new things.

What Can My Baby Hear?

Hearing is crucial to developing the ability to talk, and now your baby is picking out the parts of speech.

When younger, your baby understood your meaning through the tone of your voice: soothing tones made your baby stop crying, agitated tones meant something was wrong. Now, your baby can hear and pick up on the different sounds you make and the way words form sentences. In the next few months, your baby will respond to "no" and recognize and respond to his or her own name.

Babies this age also are cooing and may start to babble and make more attempts to imitate sounds. Make no mistake, these are your baby's early attempts at speaking and should be encouraged as much as possible. So repeat sounds you hear your baby making and introduce simple words that apply to everyday life. Have "conversations" with your baby and wait for a pause in the babble to "answer." The give-and-take of these early discussions sets the stage for your baby's first real words.