Age: 6-8 months

Reflexes

• Mature gag

Oral-motor and self-feeding skills and behaviors

• Munching continues
• Reaching for objects
• Tongue starting to shift laterally
• Beginning vertical chewing
• Holding bottle sometimes
• Closing lips around spoon
• Beginning to sip from a cup held by an adult
• Holding jaw closed while a soft piece of food is broken off

Positioning

• Seat back at 90 degrees
• External support required for sitting
• Feet supported
• Hips flexed and trunk and head in midline

Appropriate foods

• finger foods
• ground foods, soft semisolids
• breastmilk or infant formula

At this stage, the infant is indicating a readiness for finger-feeding large pieces of foods and for ground or mashed table foods.

You can view a video of feeding skills at the 6-8-month old stage here:

• video for broadband (993 KB)
• video for modem (461 KB)

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