What a 7-month-old baby does

By seven months most babies sit without help and have started first foods alongside their milk. Stools change colour and smell once food arrives, which is expected. Games like peekaboo are doing real cognitive work, not just passing time.

What is my baby doing at 7 months?

Your baby may be playing peekaboo like it's science — object permanence.Source: AAP · Cognitive Development: 8 to 12 Months
Your baby may be working on the finger-and-thumb pincer grasp.Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 Months
Your baby may be judging distances well — crawling season.Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
Your baby may be sitting steadily, hands free for toys.Source: AAP · Movement: 8 to 12 Months

What does a baby need at this stage?

First foods start now — alongside milk, not instead of it

From 6 months, safe and adequate complementary foods begin while breastfeeding continues.

What to do: Introduce foods one at a time and keep the milk feeds going.

Source: WHO · Infant and young child feeding

Play peekaboo — it is doing real work

Your baby is learning that things still exist when they cannot see them.

What to do: Vary the game: hide behind a cloth, behind furniture, or take turns covering your heads.

Source: AAP · Cognitive Development: 8 to 12 Months

Stools change with food, and that is expected

Colour and consistency shift once solids begin.

What to do: Keep an eye on comfort rather than counting — and ask your paediatrician about anything painful.

Source: AAP · Baby's First Days: Bowel Movements & Urination

Follow the cues, not the clock

Rooting, hands to the mouth and lip smacking are the early signs. Crying is a late one.

What to do: Offer a feed at the first cue rather than waiting for the cry.

Source: AAP · How Often and How Much Should Your Baby Eat?

Things worth knowing at 7 months

Peekaboo is brain-building: your baby is learning that things still exist when out of sight.Source: AAP · Cognitive Development: 8 to 12 Months
The pincer grasp — finger and thumb — usually clicks in around 9 months. Tiny objects, big skill.Source: AAP · Movement: 4 to 7 Months
By around 9 months babies judge distance well — handy for the crawling adventures ahead.Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
Sitting steadily without support usually lands in this stretch — hands finally free for toys.Source: AAP · Movement: 8 to 12 Months
Your baby understands far more words than they can say — name a favourite toy and watch their eyes find it.Source: AAP · Language: 8 to 12 Months
Pointing and gesturing counts as talking — it's the bridge your baby crosses on the way to words.Source: AAP · Language: 8 to 12 Months

When should I call a doctor?

Some signs mean call the same day whatever the stage — a rectal temperature of 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) or higher under three months, fewer wet nappies with a dry mouth, or a baby who is unusually hard to wake. The full list, with thresholds and sources.

Before this: 5-Month-Old Baby: What to Expect. Next: 9-Month-Old Baby: What to Expect.

This is general information, not a substitute for your own doctor, midwife or health visitor — they know your baby, and this page does not.

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