Your baby's 9-month vaccines and checkup (2024)

To prepare for your baby's 9-month checkup, learn what will happen at the visit. You may also want to consider the questions the doctor is likely to ask and jot down your own questions beforehand.

Do babies get shots at 9 months?

At the 9-month checkup, many of the routinely scheduled baby immunizations are out of the way. But your baby may get shots, such as vaccines they might have missed. And they may be due for a COVID vaccine and/or a flu vaccine (if it's during flu season).

A nurse or medical assistant will probably give your baby the vaccines. This is usually done at the end of the appointment in case your baby gets upset (which could make the exam part of the visit difficult), and so you can have some privacy to comfort them.

Find out how to make shots less painful for your baby and more about the immunizations your baby needs.

What the doctor will do at the 9-month checkup

Weigh and measure your baby

You'll need to undress your baby completely for weighing. The doctor weighs your baby, measures length and head circumference, and plots the numbers on a growth chart.

The chart enables you to see how your baby compares with other children the same age. If your baby has slowed down a little in their growth rate, that's okay – most babies do at this age as they settle into a long-term growth pattern.

Do a complete physical

• Heart and lungs: Uses a stethoscope to listen for a heart murmur or breathing problems.
• Eyes: Checks for signs of congenital eye conditions and other problems. May also check for blocked tear ducts and discharge.
• Ears: Looks for signs of infection and observes how your baby responds to sound.
• Mouth: Looks for signs of infection and any new teeth.
• Head: Checks the soft spots (fontanels) and the shape of your baby's head.
• Body: Checks your baby's reflexes and muscle tone and examines their skin for rashes and paleness. Pale skin is a sign of iron deficiency anemia, which babies are at high risk for between 9 and 24 months.
• Belly: Presses gently on the abdomen to check for a hernia or any enlarged organs.
• Genitals: Opens your baby's diaper and inspects their genitals. For girls, the doctor is looking for labial adhesions. For boys, they're checking that the penis and testicl*s are normal and that the testicl*s are descended, as well as looking for any penile adhesions.
• Hips and legs: Moves your baby's legs around to look for problems in the hip joints.

Address any other concerns

The doctor will address any health concerns (such as how to tell if your baby has croup or an ear infection), ask you some questions (see below), and help you understand what's normal at this age.

Ask questions

• How's your baby sleeping? If your 9-month-old is having any sleep problems, the doctor may have helpful suggestions, especially if you have detailed information on how much your baby sleeps and when. Most 9-month-olds sleep ten or 11 hours at night and three or four hours during the day.
• How's your baby eating? At this point, your baby is likely eating finger foods, so the doctor will ask how that's going. Tell the doctor if your baby is having trouble with solid foods or drinking from a sippy cup.
• Is your baby crawling? By now your baby will probably be crawling or getting around by some other means such as scooting, slithering, or bottom-shuffling.
• What does your baby say? Your baby can probably join syllables together and make wordlike sounds. They may even be saying "mama" and "dada," although many children still can't at this age. Let the doctor know what your baby understands. By now they should know and respond to their own name and a few other familiar words. If your baby isn't making any sounds or is making fewer than before, tell the doctor.
• Does your baby point at objects? Between the ages of 9 and 12 months, most babies start pointing at things that catch their attention, such as dogs and toys. It's a nonverbal way of trying to communicate with you and an important step in language development.
• What games does your baby like to play? Most 9-month-olds love imitative games like peekaboo and patty-cake, and find great fun in banging and rattling toys. It's all part of finding out how the world works.
• How are your baby's fine motor skills? Your baby is learning to use their thumb and forefinger in a pincer grasp that lets them pick up even the tiniest objects. Your baby probably also likes using their index fingers to poke at and explore things.
• How does your baby react to strangers? Lots of 9-month-olds are in the throes of separation anxiety and stranger anxiety. They stick close to their parents and family members and are wary of people they don't know.
• How are your baby's gross motor skills? Your baby should be able to bear weight on their feet if they pull up to a stand or you hold them up. If they can't yet get up on their hands when you put them on their stomach, or if they seem to use one side of their body more than the other, tell the doctor.
• How's your baby's vision? At every well-baby visit, the doctor should check the structure and alignment of the eyes and your baby's ability to move them correctly.
• How's your baby's hearing? If your baby doesn't turn toward sounds, be sure to tell the doctor. The sooner potential hearing problems are investigated, the sooner they can be treated.
• Have you looked at your home from your baby's point of view? Now that your baby's mobile, there may be new areas you need to babyproof. Now's also a good time to check that all medicines and cleaning products are safely locked away, and to post the poison control hotline phone number – (800) 222-1222 – in an obvious place.

Learn more:

• Your 9-month-old baby's development
• Your 9-month-old's sleep
• What's in store at the 12-month doctor visit