Using his developing muscles and strengthened extremities, he can now crawl and sit well without an adult supporting him. It delights mothers to see their little child propelling himself with his butt to turn around while supporting himself with his hand and toe.
At this age, the baby's body weight balances with the weight of his head, this developed first. He can now stand on his own while supporting himself, perhaps by holding your hand, or any solid object like a piece of furniture, bearing his own weight on his legs. Of course, struggling to stand a child is still fragile and experiences falling down many times. This is normal, and at times he may hurt himself, nevertheless he never gives up in standing up again.
The 8-month old baby is enjoying some freedom of mobility now, and can reach for objects by crawling or adjusting his posture while standing. He is becoming playful as it seems when he picks up an object like a toy but release it, only to pick it up again.

The baby now starts to learn through reinforcement. The things he does when given positive regard by the cheering or applause of his significant others, he repeats. This shows his more developed emotions. He can actually “feel” the emotions outside him. An 8-month old baby may tend to cry if he sees an older child or an adult crying. In adults, we call this empathy, a human quality which start early well at this age.

Language development is now becoming more salient. The baby tries out the tones and syllables he hears from his environment. Although he does not understand the many spoken words he hears, the child uses his innate capacity of selective listening, discriminating the words he does not understand and focusing on the ones familiar to him. It is best to read to babies as it fosters his language development and communication skills later in life.


Because the child now explores his world by reaching out to objects which may harm him like a hot stove or a mug of coffee when he is carried by an adult, he now often hears the protests with a "No!"Here and a "No!"There. He understands what "no “means” but he just do not have enough maturity to discern and obey. By this he can learn later to associate how hot feels. But households with babies at this age must take precautions and extra care.

Some children at this age have learned to discriminate faces of strangers from his significant others. Again, the display of his emotions is shown when he cries if a stranger or someone he is not familiar with tries to reach out or carries him.

It is good for parents to be always reassuring to their 8-month olds as he is distressed by their distance and absence. His crying spells when the mother or father leaves is a sign of separation anxiety. This is relieved when parents return to cuddle and caress him. This is important for his overall development.

No wonder God made the family arrangement as the avenue for childbearing and childrearing, where the child though starting in life helpless develops and grows through adulthood with love and confidence.