As your baby becomes more independent and mobile, your questions for your child's doctor may have more to do with bumps, bruises, and behavior than with anything else. You can't protect your baby from every knee-bump suffered while learning to walk or finger-pinch received while investigating her room. But you can make sure poisons and medicines are kept where she can't possibly get to them, and you can try to give her a safe environment in which to satisfy her budding curiosity about the world around her.

Your baby is probably hearing "no" a lot these days as she explores boundaries; you'll hear that word from her a lot later on. It's your job to remain consistent but loving while teaching her the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Although you may have depended on your child's doctor primarily for medical advice until this point, he or she is also a wealth of information on the emotional and social aspects of childhood.

When Will We See the Doctor?
Doctors often have their own schedules for well-baby visits, but most will generally see a baby twice during this stage, once at 9 months and again at 12 months. If you have missed any immunizations, or if a problem has been detected that needs special attention, additional visits may be scheduled during this time.

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