How young can babies understand pretend play?

Question

I have a 9 months old baby and earlier, when we were playing just before he goes to sleep, it felt like he already understands our pretend play. Medyo mahaba po yung kwento, sorry na agad 😅He was playing with his toys like usual pero I decided na itabi muna sa top ng headboard ng bed namin yung mga toys na hindi nya pa nilalaro. When he tried to get them from the headboard and nahulog yung isa sa toys nya, he started crying. At first, di ko nagets bakit sya umiyak. But then it happened again, nahulog almost all ng toys nya nung sinubukan nya kumuha ng isa at umiyak ulit sya as if he was hurt by what happened. So naisip ko, ilipat ng pwesto yung toys sa ibabaw na lang ng pillows sa side ng bed. Pero nung sinubukan nya ulit kunin yung toys, may mga nahulog na naman at umiyak ulit sya. So I said, “it’s okay, nobody’s hurt. They’re all good, baby.” Afterwards, I told him that his toys are already sleeping. I even made a snoring sound and pretended to tap them like what I do when I’m putting him to sleep. I noticed after I did that, he really made an effort not to “wake them up”. It’s like he still wants to play with them pero dahil “tulog” na nga sila, hindi nya sila ginulo na. He was trying to even touch one of the toys pa nga pero pinipigilan din nya talaga yung sarili nya. 😅Nagulat lang ako kasi I did not expect for him to understand a pretend play already. Naiintindihan nya na kaya yung ginawa ko with his toys? Is my baby learning empathy early on? 🥹 Or did I just misread his actions? I’ll observe again tomorrow if he’ll still react the same way. I guess I posted to get reassurance whether or not we’re on the right track or if we need to consult a devped or anything.

Maria Reyes Garcia · Answer

Aww, thats so sweet and honestly, youre not misreading it, babies at 9 months do start catching on to pretend play, even if its still very basic! What you described sounds like he really did understand the sleeping toys concept and was genuinely trying to respect that, which is actually a lovely early sign of learning cause-and-effect and following your cues. A few of my mum friends have noticed similar things around this age where their babies start responding to tone and actions, so youre definitely on the right track! I wouldnt worry about needing a devped consult over this, its actually a really normal and sweet part of his development, but keep observing like you said because every babys different. The fact na hes showing this kind of awareness and even restraint (trying not to wake them up!) is genuinely great.