START MISSION

Baby month 10 for dads: pulling up and cruising

Month 10 is often when babies start pulling up to stand and moving along the furniture. Your safety sweep has to go up a level. It is also the month to plan any leave you still have, because most first-year leave windows close at the first birthday.

How to read this

Month 10 means the baby is between 9 and 10 months old. Everything below is a typical range, not a test: babies get there at different times. If your baby was born early, ask your health visitor or pediatrician how to count. Anything that worries you goes to your GP, health visitor or pediatrician, or NHS 111 / 911 when it is urgent.

▸What is typical for the baby this month

Development: heading for the 1 year checklist

By 1 year, most babies pull up to stand, walk while holding on to furniture, and pick things up between thumb and pointer finger. Month 10 is often when these start. [CDC]

Most 1 year olds also wave bye-bye, understand no, and look for things they saw you hide. [CDC]

Feeding

Keep moving towards the same foods as the rest of the family, in smaller portions and without added salt or sugar. Breast milk or formula stays the main drink until 1. [NHS]

Sleep

Growth spurts, teething and illness can all change how a baby sleeps, so expect routines to need adjusting. A health visitor can help if sleep is a real problem. [NHS]

▸Your jobs this month

  1. Do the safety sweep at standing height: anything on a table edge, unsecured furniture, cords and hot drinks.
  2. Count the leave you have left and book it before the first birthday.
  3. Let the baby cruise along the sofa while you sit at the end of it, and make it a game.
  4. Point and name things all day: dog, door, cup. You are building the words that come next.

▸Her recovery, your head, and the two of you

Plan something for the two of you, with a sitter you trust. If it has not happened yet, it will not happen by accident.

Postnatal depression signs the NHS lists include low mood, finding it hard to enjoy anything, feeling hopeless or unable to cope, feeling guilty or like a bad parent, constant worry, irritability, trouble sleeping even when there is a chance to rest, trouble concentrating, difficulty bonding with the baby, and thoughts of suicide or of harming herself or the baby. Symptoms can start any time up to a year after the birth. [NHS]

It is not only her. NHS Best Start in Life says up to 1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men develop a mental health problem such as depression or anxiety in pregnancy or the first year after the birth, and the NHS says fathers and partners can also get depression after a baby. [NHS Best Start in Life · NHS]

Where to get help

UK: talk to your GP, midwife or health visitor. In England, adults can also refer themselves to NHS talking therapies. PANDAS runs support groups, a text line and a callback service, and Samaritans answer on 116 123. In an emergency call 999. [NHS · PANDAS]

US: talk to her OB or your own doctor. The Postpartum Support International HelpLine is 1-800-944-4773 (call or text; it takes a message and a trained volunteer gets back to you), and PSI runs a support group for dads. For a crisis, call or text 988, any time. In an emergency call 911. [PSI · PSI · 988]

▸Money and paperwork around now

UK: Paternity Leave must end within 52 weeks of the birth. Shared Parental Leave must be used in the first year, with at least 8 weeks of written notice per block, so time to book any block before the birthday is running out. [GOV.UK · GOV.UK]

US: FMLA bonding leave must be used within 12 months of the birth. Paid Leave Oregon and Massachusetts PFML also limit bonding leave to the first year. [U.S. Department of Labor · Paid Leave Oregon · Mass.gov]

Get every first-year deadline as a date → · Vaccination schedule (UK and US) →

▸Common questions

When do babies pull up to stand?

CDC lists pulling up to stand and walking while holding on to furniture among the things most babies do by 1 year. Many start in the months before that.

Do I lose my paternity leave if I do not use it in the first year?

UK Paternity Leave must end within 52 weeks of the birth, and Shared Parental Leave must be used in the first year. US FMLA bonding leave must be used within 12 months of the birth. Check your own employer policy too.

▸The whole first year

M1BABY WEEKS 1-4M2BABY WEEKS 5-8M3BABY WEEKS 9-12M4GUIDEM5GUIDEM6GUIDEM7GUIDEM8GUIDEM9GUIDEM10YOU ARE HEREM11GUIDEM12GUIDE
Not medical advice

This is general information for expectant fathers, not clinical guidance. Anything about symptoms, pain, or bleeding goes to your midwife, doctor, or emergency service, not to an app.

← Month 9 Month 11 →

Your first year, dated from the birthday.

In the DAD-OS app, enter the birth date once and get this month's guide, the vaccine visits and every paperwork deadline as real dates, with a calendar export.

OPEN DAD-OS

▸Sources

Checked against these pages. Where guidance differs by country, follow your own GP, health visitor or pediatrician.