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What does a baby understand from seven to nine months?
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
Starting at six months, your baby can already distinguish between his own and strangers. If he sees you or other family members next to him, he will stretch his arms up for you to pick him up. He already understands that the reflection in the mirror is him, and he smiles when he recognizes himself.
The child pronounces or sings various sounds, he "talks" with toys, calls out to people around him, inviting them to communicate. Of the sounds that he is most successful with, we can single out the sounds "ba", "ta", "ma", "da". Sometimes he can combine them into double syllables. His pronunciation intonation changes depending on who he is "talking" to. If he sees familiar people, he is happy. He can express discontent if strangers pester him. The child understands that if you hide a rattle under a saucepan, it does not disappear. You just need to lift the saucepan - and the toy will appear again. Closer to seven or eight months, the child begins to figure out who is who in photographs. He already understands that a real person can be depicted in a photograph.
The baby begins to respond to his name. He can show mom or dad that he loves them by snuggling up to them.
His sense of humor has grown so much that he can now purposefully make people laugh. If he is forbidden to do something, he understands that he cannot do it.