Baby's First Year
Month 7 — On the Move
Baby This Month
approximately 68–72cm and 7.5–9kg
Month 7 is the month things start disappearing from coffee tables. Crawling — in whatever form it takes, whether classic hands-and-knees, army crawl, bottom shuffle, or crab scuttle — usually arrives around now, and with it comes a completely new level of independence and curiosity. Your baby can sit unaided for longer stretches and will start pulling themselves up on furniture before long. They're responding to their own name, starting to understand the word 'no' (though obeying it is a different matter entirely), and babbling with more purpose and variation.
No scheduled vaccinations this month, but your baby's diet is expanding rapidly. Three small meals a day of soft foods alongside breast milk or formula is a reasonable target. Your baby should be getting iron-rich foods as iron stores from birth start depleting around 6 months. Sleep may be disrupted again around 7–9 months as mobility milestones and growing separation anxiety peak simultaneously — this is the 8-month sleep regression window and is completely normal.
Your baby's crawling style is completely irrelevant to their future development — every variation of crawling leads to the same outcome. What matters is that they're moving. The classic hands-and-knees crawl builds specific core and shoulder strength, but babies who bottom-shuffle or army crawl reach the same walking milestone at the same average age. If your baby has invented their own bizarre locomotion method, they're just being creative.
Babyproofing can feel overwhelming, but focus on the real dangers rather than trying to eliminate every risk. The priorities are: stairs (gates top and bottom), accessible cleaning products and medications (locked away), strings and cords (tied up high), and heavy furniture that could tip (anchored to the wall). Babies need some bumps and tumbles to learn about their physical world safely.
Texture progression matters — move from smooth purées to mashed, then soft lumps and finger foods by 9 months. Delaying textured foods past 9 months increases the likelihood of food fussiness later.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Read full disclaimer
Babyproofing is a two-person job — do a lap of the house together at floor level to see what your baby can see and reach.
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