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8 Month Old Baby: Developmental Milestones

Your eight-month-old will show a steady progress in terms of physical and mental development. Let us take a quick look at what your baby will be doing this month.

Physical development

Growth DetailsBoysGirls
How much should an 8-month-old weight15.43 to 23.14 pounds [1]13.88 to 22.04 pounds [2]
What should the height of an 8-month-old be26.18 to 29.40 inches [1]25.31 to 28.81inches [2]
How much should their head size be16.61 to 18.46 inches [1]16.10 to 18.07 inches [2]
What is the respiratory rate of an 8-month old [3]25 to 40 breaths per minute25 to 40 breaths per minute
What is the heart rate of an 8-month-old [3]80 to 120 beats per minute80 to 120 beats per minute

What should your baby be doing at 8 months

Motor development

Your baby will surprise you this month by displaying a host of new motor skills such as creeping, scooting as well as crawling [4, 5]. However, some of them might skip crawling, transitioning straight to walking [4]. Having flexible leg muscles, he may succeed in bringing himself to a standing posture with support [5]. In fact, a few babies might even start walking as early as this month [6]. His ability to use his hand, thumb and finger for picking up and dropping objects also improves [4,5].

Communicative development

Acquiring a developed language skill, their babbles, squeals and coos appear more meaningful. In fact, words formed by combining vowel and consonants like “da-da” “and “ma-ma” might be aimed at you. He also begins understanding the meaning of certain simple words like “bye-bye”, “mommy”, “daddy” and “milk” [4]. Your baby continues to use a lot of nonverbal modes of communication such as growling, squealing and grunting to express his pleasure or annoyance [26].

Cognitive and behavioral development

He gets aware of his surroundings, starting to anticipate his schedules. The sight of a bottle reminds him about milk time, whereas he understands it is time to sleep when put into his crib. His imitation skill also advances a step further, making him keen to try out a new trick he has just seen [7]. Developing a better understanding capacity, he can respond to his name more efficiently [9].

He displays traits such as throwing, banging, shaking and dropping his playthings or objects near him as it is his way of exploring them [5].

Your eight-month-old develops a stronger bond of attachment towards you, wanting to be held and cuddled all the time, crying on being put down. Your absence even for a short while will intensify the behavioral trait of separation anxiety. The little one’s unwillingness to remain in the company of strangers also intensifies.

Sensory development

His vision nearly equals to that of an adult in terms of depth perception and clarity [5]. Though he still prefers close-ups, he can follow and identify people as well as objects across the room [8]. Because of an improved hand-eye-brain coordination, he crawls up to the other end to get to his favorite toy lying in one corner of the room [4].

As the brain and ear are coordinating well, he can perceive different sounds, getting startled by the unfamiliar ones like the whistling of a cooker or kettle and ringing of the doorbell [5].

What feeding schedule should an 8-month-old follow

How much baby food should an 8-month-old eat

As the infant may have already cut his first tooth the previous month or will do so in the present month, teething symptoms like drooling, teeth grinding, fussiness and ear pulling persist [23]. He is able to eat a variety of solid foods like mashed or pureed vegetables and fruits such as cooked carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, bananas, pears, peaches and avocado [4, 11].

As he has an advanced pincer grasp reflex, you can introduce your baby to finger foods if you have not yet done so [4]. The suitable table foods that may be added to your baby’s platter for breakfast or lunch include pieces of ripe banana, cooked potatoes, carrots or squash cut into pieces, small pieces of soft cheese, bits of bread or bagels (lightly toasted) and hard-boiled egg (chopped) [4,10,11]. Before introducing juice to your kid’s diet, do consult your healthcare provider [25].

Make sure to be by your baby’s side while giving him finger food [4]. If you feel he is getting allergic to egg, meat or any other newly added food, discontinue it right away and talk to your doctor about the same.

How much milk should an 8-month old have

Their daily milk intake, whether breastfed or formula-fed should be at least 600ml to maintain the essential nutrients [4].

What is the sleep schedule of an 8-month-old

An eight-month-old will sleep for about thirteen to fourteen hours a day including two naps varying from about twenty minutes to an hour [4,12]. Sleep regression may again be seen in this month causing them to have an unsettled sleep [13]. Make sure that your baby sleeps on his back instead of his stomach, as the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) remains until the first year [14].

When to call a doctor

  • Having a fever, with body temperature rising above 103 °F along with symptoms such as coughing, unwillingness to eat, earache, diarrhea, vomiting and fussy behavior [15].
  • Being severely constipated, losing weight, reduced appetite, and having blood in stool [16].
  • Getting affected by diarrhea and showing other signs such as sunken fontanel, fever, abdominal pain, tearless crying and less urination [17, 18].
  • Baby not being able follow an object properly with one eye when the other is covered. It might be a symptom of lazy eye [19].
  • Being gassy with other symptoms such as increased crying, burping, flatulence, clenching of fists and moving legs [21].
  • Vomiting persisting for more than twelve hours accompanied by rashes, fussiness, swollen abdomen, difficulty in breathing or presence of blood and bile (yellowish-green substance) in vomit [22].
  • Skin getting yellow, especially around the tummy, legs, arms or sclera (white part of the eyes), along with a lack of appetite and fever as it might indicate jaundice [28].
  • Showing symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux like spitting up a lot after a feed, having frequent hiccups [28], coughing while eating, having pain in the abdomen, arching back and waking up from sleep screaming [24].
  • Having acne or small bumps on cheeks, forehead, chin and back for more than three months [27].
  • Baby appearing to be cross-eyed or having misaligned vision [20].

In this month, there are no immunizations, however, talk to your doctor if your baby has skipped any of the past vaccinations.