Discover what skills your 10-month old needs to build this month.

At 10 months, your baby is more more mobile, more communicative, and more determined to interact with the world around them. Whether they’re pulling to stand or pushing a toy across the floor to get your reaction, they’re learning how their actions influence people and the environment. With over 33 new milestones across six key developmental areas, your baby is learning and growing fast.

Is your baby up to the challenge?

Babies are wired for extraordinary growth—and it all starts before they’re even born. During pregnancy, a baby’s brain forms at an astonishing pace, generating roughly a quarter of a million neurons every single minute. By the time they're born, they already have around 100 billion brain cells ready to support learning and development. [1]

But the brain doesn’t slow down after birth. From the moment they enter the world until age two, a baby’s brain creates an estimated 700 new neural connections every second. [2] These lightning-fast connections lay the foundation for everything from grasping toys and crawling to taking those exciting first steps and beginning to speak.

This month, you’ll see signs of growing independence, stronger opinions, and more creative ways to engage with you.

Why this month matters?

At 10 months, your baby’s milestones show a leap in agency, problem solving, and emotional connection. They’re not just responding to the world, they’re testing it, and attempting to shape it, all while pulling you into it. Experts highlight this stage as a critical period for social learning, language comprehension, and gross motor coordination. [3] Babies begin to build stronger memory, form expectations, and recognize how their actions affect others, which is all essential for upcoming skills like talking, walking, and forming deeper emotional bonds. [4]

What are this month's milestones?

When it comes to movement, your baby is becoming a confident crawler and starting to climb. This month’s fine motor milestones have them crawling under and around furniture, crawling up stairs, and even standing from a crawling position. They'll start to climb onto furniture and figure out how to get down on their own. Pulling to stand on their own becomes more consistent now, which is helping to build leg strength and balance. Those early steps are just around the corner.

Cognitive milestones show that your baby’s problem solving and fine motor skills are working together. They’ll start rolling a ball across the floor, placing objects into containers, pulling items apart, and even arranging blocks with intention. They'll also begin to point at distant objects and let go of items deliberately; showing clear signs of developing intentional control and early communication.

Emotionally, your baby is beginning to recognize differences between objects, which helps them make sense of their environment. They'll love repetitive games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake, and may even start repeating simple sequences of actions with objects. They’re also beginning to understand their own comfort; realizing they can remove something uncomfortable, like a sock or a headband.

In terms of sensory and emotional engagement, your baby is learning how to connect with others more intentionally. They may hand you an object to get your attention or crawl after you when you leave the room. If they’re upset or "hurt," they’ll reach up for comfort, and they may start to self-soothe with a toy or blanket. They’ll push toys on the floor repeatedly to see if you’ll pick them up, and may push your hand away when they don’t want something, like getting dressed. They're also expressing frustration more clearly, and learning to look to you for help when they need it.

In the connection category, your baby is tuning in to the world around them in more sophisticated ways. They begin to recognize the start of familiar songs, show excitement for music, and tolerate a wider variety of food textures. They’re also forming associations between familiar smells and tastes.

Communication skills are growing fast this month. Your baby is likely experimenting with consonant sounds like “d,” “b,” “l,” and “m.” They may babble to themselves or try to communicate with you using gestures and body language. They’ll make noise in response to their name, use multiple vocal sounds, and begin to understand a few familiar words. Every one of these milestones is one step closer to those first words.

Work Cited:

1. “The Development and Shaping of the Brain.” Discovering the Brain,

2. “Understanding why your child’s brain is so amazing!” Parenting. Give it Time, Llywodraeth Cymru Welsh Government,

3. Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A., & Kuhl, P. The Scientist in the Crib

4. CDC, Developmental Milestones

   
   

How many of this month's milestones has your baby mastered?

Tracking your baby’s 10-month milestones helps you stay in sync with their development and recognize which areas are growing and which ones might need more support. Whether they're experimenting with words, or climbing stairs and furniture, each new milestone brings your baby one step closer to walking and talking. With a Basic Membership for just $2 per month, you can track all 812 milestones your child is expected to reach by age 4. Stay on top of your baby’s progress and celebrate every exciting new skill along the way!

Create a free account with Fledglings' Flight and get access to 4820 screen-free, play-based exercises. That is 100-200 exercises each month that you can start doing with your baby from the day that they are born to help them to develop into the best version of themselves. In addition, your free account gives you access to 1200+ articles on child development to keep you informed while you help to navigate your child's developmental journey.