🍼 Age-based baby guide

At around 10 months, many babies are busy explorers, crawling or shuffling to new places, pulling up to stand, tasting new foods with their hands, and showing clear likes and dislikes for people, toys, and routines as they move towards the end of their first year.

Jump to guide Download the app

Key points

Quick scan

Around this age, many babies are much more mobile, often crawling, bottom-shuffling, or pulling themselves up to stand while holding on to furniture, so everyday spaces can suddenly feel like adventure zones.
Fine hand skills are growing, and many babies enjoy picking up small safe pieces of food or toys with their fingers, banging objects together, and dropping things just to see what happens next.
Social life becomes stronger, with many babies smiling, laughing, and clapping with familiar people, while also showing more distress when a parent leaves or a stranger comes close.
Many babies begin to understand simple words and gestures such as their name, “no”, and “bye-bye”, and they often babble with repeating sounds that can sound a little like early words.
Feeding often includes a mix of breast milk or formula and a variety of solid foods, with soft family foods and finger foods giving chances to chew, touch, smell, and play with different textures.
Sleep can still change from week to week, with some babies starting to have clearer bedtime routines and longer night stretches, while teething, growth, and busy new skills can still lead to night waking.

Feeding

Guide

By around 10 months, many babies are having solid foods alongside breast milk or formula, often joining family mealtimes and sampling soft versions of what everyone else is eating.
Finger foods are usually very popular at this age, and letting your baby pick up small, safe pieces can support their hand control and help them enjoy the smell, taste, and feel of different foods.
Parents are often advised to follow responsive feeding, watching for hunger and fullness cues such as leaning in, turning away, or losing interest, rather than keeping to strict feeding times.

Sleep

Guide

Many 10-month-old babies sleep for a large part of the day in total, often over several naps and a night-time stretch, but patterns still vary widely between babies.
It is common for babies at this age to wake in the night, especially when teething, learning new skills, or going through a phase of separation worries, and they may need extra comfort to settle again.
A simple, predictable wind-down routine, such as a short bath, quiet play, a story or song, and dim lights, can gently help your baby link these steps with sleep over time without using strict clocks.

Pee and Pooping

Guide

With more solid foods in the diet, many babies’ poos become more formed and smelly than in the early months, and the colour and texture can change depending on what they have eaten.
Some babies poo several times a day while others may go less often, so getting to know your own baby’s usual pattern is often more helpful than comparing with other children.
Plenty of wet nappies, along with an alert baby who is growing, playing, and feeding, are everyday signs that fluid intake is generally going in a good direction, but if something suddenly seems very different and you are worried, parents are usually encouraged to contact a midwife, health visitor, paediatrician or local emergency service for advice.

Learning

Guide

Many 10-month-old babies love simple games like peekaboo, clapping games, or rolling a ball back and forth, and a few short play times of around 10 to 15 minutes during the day can give plenty of chances to practise these new skills.
Looking at picture books together, pointing at familiar objects, naming them in a calm voice, and copying your baby’s babble can support their language development in a fun, relaxed way.
Daily floor play, including short bursts of supervised tummy time and safe space for crawling or cruising around furniture, helps build strength and balance while your baby explores their world.

Sources

This content is general information only and is not medical advice. If you are worried about your baby, contact your midwife, health visitor, paediatrician, or local emergency service.