As your baby gets closer to his first birthday, he is beginning to understand the use of communication and is now able to reason. This development leads to actions that require the use of discipline which can sometimes be a point of contention between parents.
Your Child’s Development
In the eleventh month of your baby’s life, he is beginning to understand how to reason. He will learn that saying words is how we communicate and that the words have meaning. At this stage he will relate certain words to an outcome, and will know that if he says “ba-ba”, you will give him a bottle. This milestone in his development requires encouragement. Make sure that you are a good listener and when you understand his word-like sounds, respond to them. Memory skills play an important part in your baby’s ability to reason. Play games that involve repetition, like peek-a-boo. These games are not only fun for your baby, but they are a great way to develop your baby’s memory skills.
Around this time, your baby may start to do things that require you to start a little bit of gentle discipline. Your baby will soon understand the concept of 'no' as well as your tone of voice, however, you might want to limit your discipline to actions that are dangerous, or you will find you are just giving out all the time, or that it becomes a redundant instruction as he decides to ignore you.
Your baby has grown in independence and may now be able to walk with a bit of hand holding assistance; at food times he likes to attempt to feed himself and he is confident about drinking from his own cup. But best of all is baby's first words, which you may hear in the 11th month, so be prepared for 'mama' and 'dada' and any other combination of sounds that you decide are words, even though you are the only one to identify them - they are all yours to love. This is not the time to assume your boy wonder will envelop you in a vocal world not yet experienced, but do listen out to progress made with words and body actions that suggest his noises and babbles are moving closer to words with meaning. Encourage talking to him, keep reading to him, keep singing to him - imitation is one of the best skills an 11 month old has.
And remember milestones happen at different times because every child is different, so don't be concerned if your little one is not reaching each and every one. The rate of progress differs for every child, but if you are very concerned however, you can always talk to your GP.