Baby This Week: 35 Weeks Old

Your baby is starting to grasp what it means when someone can no longer be seen, the result of a growing understanding of what's called object permanence. An exciting demonstration of this comes the first time your baby tries to imitate a goodbye wave by twisting a wrist or flapping a hand. Not all 8-month-olds can wave bye-bye, but it's a fun new feat to anticipate. It takes a certain amount of fine-motor coordination to wave in the style of the Queen (or Mom and Dad).

Your baby may be creeping (pushing himself around on his belly), crawling, or moving about by bottom shuffling — scooting around on her posterior using a hand behind her and a foot in front of her to propel himself.

Creeping is your baby's first method of getting around efficiently on her own. Usually, she'll first learn to pull himself with her hands and then get up on her hands and knees. Then she'll figure out how to move forward and backward by pushing off with her knees. (A "combat crawl" is a variation in which one leg is the pusher and the opposite arm the lead puller.)

 All of these variations on crawling strengthen the muscles that will soon enable her to walk. Whichever mode of mobility your baby's using, it's fascinating to see how he solves the problem of getting around.

Your baby may be able to pull himself up to a standing position while holding on to furniture. In fact, if you stand your baby next to the sofa, she may be able to hold herself up, although she may be hanging on for dear life.

At this stage some parents put their children in baby walkers, but that's not a good idea. Walkers are unsafe: Your baby can use a walker as a stepladder to reach things he couldn't normally get to, such as a hot stove or bottle of bleach. What's more, they discourage floor play, which helps her learn to walk by giving her opportunities to crawl, pull up, and cruise while holding on to furniture — all activities that lead to walking.

Your baby's newfound mobility means that he's now entering the land of bumps and falls. These are an inevitable part of childhood, and although your heart may occasionally skip a beat or two, try to enjoy watching your baby explore his surroundings and discover his limits.

Restraining your innate desire to protect your baby allows her to grow and learn for herself. However, do make every effort to make your home baby-safe. A good way to do this is to get down to her level to find the possible danger zones. Secure fragile objects so they won't topple, for example, and keep rickety furniture in rooms that don't get much baby traffic.

Now's a good time to move drapery and blind cords out of reach, pad sharp coffee-table corners, install toilet-seat locks, relocate hazardous houseplants to higher ground, lock away poisonous cleaning supplies and medications, cover electric outlets, and secure safety gates at the top and bottom of each staircase.

-BabyCenter.com