Feeding Your Baby

At meal times, your baby may show you that he wants to do things himself. He may want to hold his cup by himself.

You can avoid spills by putting just a little liquid into his plastic cup for him. Or you can give him an empty cup to hold while you feed him from another cup.


Your baby may not always be interested in eating at meal times. He may be more interested in playing with his spoon or his food. This means that meals may take longer than when he was younger. Let him explore. Learning new skills is important.

Never add corn syrup or honey to your baby’s food or drink. These foods may contain germs that can make your baby sick.

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Breastfeeding Advice, Breastfeeding and Pregnancy

Breastfeeding Advice

At seven months, your baby may begin to eat mashed or pureed vegetables and fruit in addition to infant cereal. These foods are not as important as breast milk. Do not worry if he is more interested in playing with his foods than eating them. Nursing him will meet most of his food needs.


Sometimes, your baby may bite down on your breast with his new teeth while he is breastfeeding. He doesn’t know that it hurts you. Usually, this happens late in the feeding. If it does, slip your finger in between his gums and gently say, “No.” If he does it again, slip your finger in between his gums and gently say, “No” again.

To learn more about breastfeeding, you may want to contact your local health department, WIC clinic, hospital, La Leche League or doctor. You can call La Leche League at 1-800-LALECHE or visit their Web site at www.lalecheleague.org/.

Breastfeeding and Pregnancy

Maybe you’ve heard that you can’t get pregnant when you’re breastfeeding. That’s not always true. It depends on how much you breastfeed. And it depends on when your monthly period returns. Breastfeeding should not be used as the only method of birth control. There are various methods of birth control that work well with breastfeeding. Your doctor can help you choose the one that would work best for you.

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Your Family’s Future

Are you thinking about having another baby?
Would you like your children to be born close together? Or would you like them to be born further apart?

Everyone has a different answer. Some parents wait. They have a second baby after their first child is five or six.

Some parents have their children closer together. Other parents decide to have only one or two children.

Talk to your spouse. Do you both have time and energy for another baby? How much can you give? How will you feed him? How will you give him clothes and medical care? What kind of house or apartment will you need? What do you want for your children?

It makes sense to plan your family. Planning ahead lets you give the best care to your children. Talk to your doctor, or talk to a nurse at a public health clinic. Ask how you can space your pregnancies.

There are many safe ways to delay getting pregnant until you are ready. Most are simple and cost little. Some work better than others. You can choose the one that is best for you.

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Your Baby’s New Independence

Your baby is now playing more with his toys. At seven months, he may try to move around more by crawling on his belly to get a toy. Be sure to inspect your house for possible dangers. Babies find everything. They can see tiny things on the floor and under furniture that you may not see when you are standing. When checking to make sure the floor is a safe place, be sure to get down on the floor yourself, and search carefully with your eyes and hands for any dangers.


Your baby’s memory and attention span are increasing. He may try to imitate noises or simple actions, such as clapping. He likes to play peek-a-boo. He may move his head or body around to look for toys that he suddenly cannot see.

Your baby will begin to drop toys on the floor to see you pick them up. He is learning that his rattle makes noise when he hits it or waves it around. He is learning that he can make a noise by banging a toy on the floor or a table. He can move a toy from one hand to the other. He may hold two toys for a very short time.

Your baby knows you. He knows that you are the same person who greets him every morning. He may be shy around people he has not seen before. He may not like it if someone rushes up to him and picks him up. He may need a little time to get used to someone new before he gets picked up by that person.

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Seven-Month-Old

At seven months, your baby is doing all kinds of things he could not do even a few weeks ago. He may sit up straight for a moment without falling over. Usually, he sits leaning forward on both hands. He can support his weight on his feet when standing. If you hold him in a standing position, he may bounce up and down. He may be moving around the floor on his belly. He may try to feed himself. He likes to clap, pull, bang, poke and grab with his hands. He makes sounds on purpose.

Being able to do these things makes him happy. When he can do something he wants to do, he may smile, laugh, clap or look for your smile of praise. Smile at him or give him extra hugs when he tries new things.

Trying things over and over can be fun for him. But it can also upset him when he can’t do something. He may cry when things don’t work out the way he wants. As he does things, he wants you to be there to help him and hug him.

Your baby needs you to show him how to do things. But he may get upset if you try to do things that he thinks he knows how to do.

He may be afraid of strangers. If you leave the room, he may cry because he is afraid. Be sure to give him lots of hugs and smiles. Clap when he does something he wants to do. Give him extra love and care as he goes through this exciting time. He will love you back!

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