6 Months

Discover tips, tools, and support for this age

Your baby’s brain grows quickly during this time period! Spending time and talking with your baby can help them learn. See this learning in action as they begin to recognize familiar faces, respond to their own name, show curiosity, and sit without support. 

Scroll down to learn more about your baby’s development, get support for your family, and find free activities to go to together.

 

The Early Childhood Family Toolkit

The Early Childhood Family Toolkit is a growing collection of our favorite resources for families with young kids. Discover learn-at-home tips and activities, health support, and more—all chosen by the NYC Department of Education.

 

Explore our favorite family resources

Brain Building

Learn through life's everyday moments

What is your child doing? Reaching for a toy? Hitting two blocks together to make a sound? As they discover their world, pay attention, smile, and use words that they will learn someday: "You reached out your fingers and got your toy."

See what your child is learning

When you pay attention to what your child does and share their delight in doing and learning, you start them on the path to becoming a lifelong learner.
Vroom

Milestones

How your child plays, learns, speaks, and acts offers important clues about their development.

What most 6 month olds do at this age:

  • Social

    • Know familiar faces and begin to tell who's a stranger
    • Like to play with others, especially parents
    • Respond to other people's emotions
    • Like to look at self in the mirror
  • Communication

    • Respond to sounds by making sounds
    • Make sounds to show joy and dislike
    • String vowels together, such as "ah," "eh," and "oh," called babbling
    • Begin to say consonant sounds, such as "m" and "b"
    • Respond to their own name
  • Learning

    • Look around at things nearby
    • Bring things to mouth
    • Show curiosity and try to get objects out of reach
    • Begin to pass things from one hand to another
  • Physical Development

    • Roll over in both directions, front to back and back to front
    • Begin to sit without support
    • Support weight on their legs when standing
    • Rock back and forth, sometimes crawling backward before moving forward
  • Health

    • Begin to want and eat solid food with breast milk or formula.
    • Eat a variety of single-ingredient pureed food from all food groups, including iron-fortified cereal, vegetables, fruit and protein foods such as beans, lentils, tofu, poultry, fish, eggs, and meat.
    • Sleep about 14 hours per day, including 3–4 hours in the daytime
    • Stay on schedule with shots

Act early by talking to a doctor, teacher, or social worker if your child:

  • Act Early

    • Doesn't try to grab things that are in reach
    • Shows no affection for caregivers
    • Doesn't respond to sounds around them
    • Has trouble getting things to mouth
    • Doesn't make vowel sounds, such as "ah," "eh,"and "oh"
    • Doesn't roll over in either direction
    • Doesn't laugh or make squealing sounds
    • Seems very stiff, with tight muscles, or floppy like a rag doll

Programs

Get the support your family needs to thrive

The Early Intervention Program (EIP)

NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)

Help for infants and toddlers with disabilities

Early Intervention is a voluntary program for infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays with support for families.

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

NYS Department of Health (NYS DOH)

Healthy food for families

Free healthy food, counseling about healthy eating, breastfeeding support, and referrals for women, infants, and children under five.

Infants and Toddlers

NYC Department of Education (DOE)

Free or low-cost child care for children six weeks to two years old

Early child care and education services for up to 10 hours a day.