Sitting up and joining the conversation
Sitting is getting steadier, babble is turning consonant-shaped, and your baby is starting to understand that things (and people) still exist when they disappear — which explains the new clinginess.
Development
Many babies now sit with less and less support, and some manage steady unaided moments. Objects get passed hand to hand, banged, shaken and studied.
Listen for consonants creeping into the babble — 'ba', 'da', 'ma' sounds. Chat back, name things, and leave gaps for their turn.
Object permanence is dawning: your baby is learning that a dropped toy hasn't ceased to exist, which makes drop-it-again games and peek-a-boo suddenly hilarious. It also means they notice when you leave — early separation anxiety is a sign of healthy attachment, not of anything wrong.
Sleep
Naps often consolidate towards two or three a day, with slightly more predictable timing. Night sleep may still include feeds — that's within the range of normal.
New separation awareness can bring bedtime protest or fresh night waking; a consistent, unhurried wind-down and calm, boring resettles help most.
Back to sleep for every sleep, in a clear cot, still applies all year.
Food
Meals are building — many babies head towards two or three small ones a day around now, still with milk doing plenty of work.
Keep textures moving on: mashed food with soft lumps and easy finger foods build chewing skills, which also exercise the muscles used for talking. Staying on smooth purée for a long time can make lumps harder later.
Offer water in an open or free-flow cup with meals — the NHS recommends a cup from 6 months, and early practice pays off.
And you
A baby who cries when you leave the room can squeeze your heart — remember it's a milestone, not a complaint about your parenting. The NHS notes separation anxiety is common from around 6 months and completely normal.
If childcare is coming, short practice separations — a happy goodbye, a reliable return — genuinely help both of you.
Somewhere in here you might get a flicker of your evenings back. Take it; it's allowed.
Feeding at this stage
Pick how you're feeding — we'll remember for next time. Every one of these is a good way to feed a baby.
Breastfeeding
- Milk feeds carry on alongside meals — some babies briefly feed a little less as food gets exciting, others don't change at all; both are fine.
- If a teething baby bites, take them off calmly, offer something cool to chew, and try again — most babies stop quickly.
- Night breastfeeds at 7 months are still common and can be dropped later, gradually, when you're ready — there's no deadline.
Breast + expressed
- If you're returning to work in the UK, tell your employer in writing that you're breastfeeding — they must provide somewhere suitable for you to rest, and many will also arrange time and a private space for expressing.
- A breastfeed at drop-off and another at pick-up keeps supply steady around a working day for many mums.
- Insulated bags and cool packs make transporting expressed milk straightforward — label with the date and refrigerate as soon as you can.
Breast + formula
- Solids don't replace milk yet — keep your familiar breast-and-formula pattern and let meals grow around it slowly.
- If you decide to swap a breastfeed for formula, drop it gradually over several days so your breasts adjust comfortably.
- Whatever your ratio looks like this month, it's working if your baby is fed, growing and content.
Formula
- Milk needs ease slightly as meals become real — follow your baby's appetite rather than chasing fixed amounts, and the NHS Best Start pages give a feel for the direction of travel.
- Keep offering water in a cup at mealtimes so cups feel normal well before bottles wind down.
- Still no need for follow-on milk — first infant formula remains the NHS recommendation to 12 months.
Totally normal (even when it doesn't feel it)
- No crawling — the usual window is roughly 7 to 12 months, and some babies skip it entirely.
- Not sitting unaided yet — plenty of babies get there closer to 9 months.
- Food dropped and thrown from the highchair — your baby is doing physics, not defiance.
- Refusing a food they loved last week — tastes swing wildly and keep swinging.
- Sudden clinginess with people they know well — separation anxiety is a healthy sign of attachment.
- Waking again at night after a stretch of sleeping through.
Worth checking
You know your baby best — if any of these ring true, or something just feels off, it's always OK to ask.
- Your baby can't sit even with support.
- There's no babbling or experimenting with sounds at all.
- They don't turn towards sounds or your voice.
- They don't show warmth or pleasure with their familiar people.
- They only ever use one hand or one side of their body.
- They seem very stiff or very floppy.
- If anything here fits, mention it to your health visitor or GP — early conversations are easy, and you know your baby best.