Part 2 Building Your Child's Intellect from 5 to 7 months

Let your baby struggle...a little

At this age your 5 to 7 month old gets to learn to cope with gravity from the experience of falling from a sitting position.  Obviously this type of experience should only occur in carpeted or padded areas. When the five- to seven-month-old topples from a sitting position, wise parents will let him struggle briefly before coming to his assistance. Parents who rush too quickly to help often do a disservice to the infant by removing his opportunity to respond to and struggle through this situation successfully.  Allowing him to try to recover from a gentle fall will increase his physical balance and allow him to build muscular capacity.

Part 1 Building your 5 to 7 Month Old's Intellect

By the time a baby is five to seven months old (depending on each child’s individual abilities), he is becoming ego-centered and is demanding more attention. He prefers to be in the sitting position and struggles to be where he can see and interact with others. At this age, his sensory experiences will have increased greatly. He should have many objects to grasp and examine. He should be able to to shift objects from one hand to another. Help him practice this.


Increase your baby’s exposure to music and conversation during this time. Your infant now has more social awareness and will respond readily to things that happen around him. He should have an opportunity to grasp and bang toys or his fists on his high chair or feeding table. This and other similar experiences will stimulate him to make vocal sounds. Encourage his vocalization as much as possible in other experiences besides crying. Try to get him to make sounds and make a special effort to react to the sounds he makes.