How 9 Month Babies Explore Their World

As Baby becomes more mobile, they’ll start exploring their environment in new ways with their senses! By 9 months, Baby will be able to focus on objects near and far, experiment with the force needed to pick up objects, and investigate toys of different shapes, sizes, and textures. These 6-9 month sensory milestones are important signs that Baby is growing typically and gaining the skills they'll need for future development.

Tracking these milestones helps you support healthy sensory development and notice if Baby needs a little extra help.

Baby should meet these sensory milestones by 9 months:

✅ Explores and examines an object using both hands & mouth

✅ Focuses on objects near & far

✅ Observes environment from a variety of positions - while lying on back or tummy, sitting, crawling, and standing with assistance

✅ Experiments with the amount of force needed to pick up objects

✅ Investigates shapes, sizes, & textures of toys & surroundings

✅ Turns several pages of a chunky board book