Watching your child grow into the person they will be is one of the most remarkable experiences we have in life! From crawling for the first time to their first word, there are so many social, physical, and linguistic milestones we get to watch our little ones reach. If it’s your first time raising a child, you may be wondering when exactly all these milestones are supposed to take place. Though every child is unique, developmental milestones typically happen within a specified age range. There are four important types of milestones to consider:
- Social Milestones – how your baby interacts with you and other babies.
- Communication Milestones – observing how your baby communicates before, during, and after they say their first words.
- Cognitive Milestones – your child beginning to learn, think and problem-solve on their own.
- Sensory Milestones – how your child is learning to use their five senses of touch, taste, hearing, smell, and vision.
Developmental Milestones at 0 – 3 months
Between birth and the first three months of your child’s life, you will observe your baby’s milestones such as:
- Elicits emotion when you speak to them
- Smiles at being picked up or talked to
- Visually tracks you as you move
- Shows reaction to loud sounds
- Makes noises other than crying
- Turns head toward sound or voice
- Able to latch on to nipple or bottle
- Holds head up when lying on stomach
- Opens and closes hands
Developmental Milestones at 4 – 6 months
As your child approaches the half-year mark, they will start to exhibit these everyday behaviors:
- Tries to get your attention by laughing, looking at you, or making sound
- Babbles and makes “ooo” and “ahh” sounds, using this to get attention
- Holds a toy when you put it in their hands
- Pushes onto elbows or forearms when on their tummy
- Enjoys toys with light and sound
- Rolls over from tummy to back and vice versa
- Uses hands to support self while sitting and exploring toys
- Listens and responds when spoken to
- Uses different sounds for different feelings
- Shows interest in food, opening their mouth as a spoon approaches
- Enjoys looking at their reflection in the mirror
Developmental Milestones at 7 – 9 months
Between seven and nine months, you’ll notice your little one is able to start doing more things on their own. Who knew they grew up this fast? Child development at this stage will look like:
- Sit without support
- Move from stomach/back to a sitting position
- Start to crawl
- Show more control when doing activities like rolling and sitting
- Turn pages of a thick children’s book
- Experiment with the amount of force it takes to pick up different objects
- Start to recognize familiar objects and people
- Imitate sounds
- Perform simple gestures such as shaking their head
- Recognize their name
- Shows recognition of commonly used words
- Eat mashed table foods
- Show a variety of facial expressions
- React when you leave, such as crying, looking for you, or reaching
- Speak 1-2 words, most likely “mama” or “dada”
Developmental Milestones at 10 – 12 months
From 10-12 months, you’ll notice your baby reaching even more impressive milestones. They will:
- Take their first steps
- Wave goodbye “bye-bye”
- Understand the word no
- Call their parents “mama” or “dada” or by similar phrases
- Pull up to stand and use furniture to walk
- Clap hands
- Finger feed self
- Be ready to eat soft foods
- Begin to use an open cup
Developmental Milestones at 13 – 18 months
During this time, you’ll notice your child becomes more articulate – even if they are babbling nonsense! Milestones to watch for are:
- Asking questions like “Where’s Mommy?”
- Combining words together
- Gaining vocabulary skills monthly
- Walking independently
- Establishing a regular sleep schedule
- Helping you dress them
- Understanding simple commands
- Pointing to identify and call out needs
- Clapping when excited
- Mimicking other children
- Showing affection
- Stacking objects and toys
- May use 5-10 words, understands 50 words (15 mos)
- Repeating words overheard in conversation (18 mos)
- Responding to questions (18 mos)
- Showing interest in pictures and points to familiar people
Developmental Milestones at 19 – 24 months
This is a special time for child development as you see their personality start to shine! Your child will start to:
- Run
- Stand on tiptoes
- Pull toys behind them while they walk
- Climb on low furniture
- Sort shapes and colors
- Understand pronouns and new words quickly
- Use pronouns like “me” and “you” (24 mos)
- Enjoy listening to stories
Developmental Milestones at 2 – 3 years old
By two and three years old, you have a walking, talking human on your hands. They’ll continue to develop by:
- Trying to use switches, knobs, or buttons on toys
- Playing with more than one toy at a time
- At least 50% of speech is understood by the caregiver
- Following a string of unrelated directions such as “Give me your bottle and pick up your blankie.”
- Kicking a ball
- Eating with a spoon
- Using words for almost all communication
- Understanding spatial concepts (in, out, up, down, etc.)
Developmental Milestones at 3 – 4 years old
Many parents are excited to see the progress their kids make once they hit the 3-4 age mark. During this time, you’ll see your toddler engage in more conversation and start to use their imagination when they:
- Say their name and age
- Hop on one foot
- Walk up and down stairs in an alternating pattern (without mom and dad’s help)
- Jump forward further and from higher surfaces, controlled with feet together
- Tell stories
Developmental Milestones at 4 – 5 years old
As your child continues to blossom, keep an eye out for these milestones:
- Understands the concept of pretend play (i.e. pretending to be a princess or superhero)
- Likes to help
- Develops some level of object permanence
- Can speak sentences of four or more words
- Serves themself food and water with adult supervision
- Holds drawing utensils between finger and thumb, not their fist
- Interactively listens to short stories
- Does simple chores at home
- Recalls and answers questions about bedtime stories
- Able to tell stories
- Uses correct verb tenses
- Begins to understand letters and numbers
- Learns to count to 10
- Recognizes simple rhymes
It’s important to keep in mind that every child is unique. These milestones are reached by 75% of children at this age, and timing may vary from child to child. If you have any questions about child development, please schedule an appointment or give us a call and one of our professionals would be happy to meet with you. We also offer a child development quiz that parents can take here!