Hi Barbara,

From: Carrie, Medford, MA
So this has me wondering if this is just a fluke or whether it is reasonable to expect her to follow instructions. For example, keeping her sun hat on at the beach this summer. I'd like to get off on the right foot with this, but she's just a baby and I don't want to be unreasonable either.
Thanks for your insight!

Hi Carrie,

Babies are amazing, aren't they? As a society, we tend to underestimate their abilities and their sensitivity. (If a mom has post partum depression, for instance, the baby is considered to be at risk, because they react so strongly to a mom's moods.) That said, I don't want to burst your bubble. Is your baby responding to your words or to your tone of voice? Presumably, when you say, "No biting," your tone if very different compared to probably everything else you say, different enough to cause him to take notice: "Whoa, what's that all about?" But let's give credit where credit is due: Pretty amazing for that to register, isn't it?

Take advantage of it. Nine months, says author and pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, is the time parents need to start to think about discipline and safety because a baby's sense of curiosity is so strong, it can get baby in trouble. Brazelton writes, "The first time the baby crawls to the TV or to the radiator and looks around to be sure you're watching, he is asking for discipline. He demonstartes his awareness of the forbidden and his need for limits." (The italics are Brazelton's.)

What are babies capable of at 9 months? Motor skills and hand/eye coordination typically make great strides. For a very insightful (and perhaps eye-opening) understanding of this time in your baby's life,, check out my favorite book on child development, "Touchpoints, Birth to Three," which, not incidentally, is written by Brazelton.