It’s time to change how we view a child’s growth.
We naturally think of a child’s growth as height and weight, but from birth to 5 years, your child should reach milestones in how he plays, learns, speaks and acts. A delay in any of these areas could be a sign of a developmental problem, even autism. The good news is, the earlier it’s recognized the more you can do to help your child reach her full potential.
Developmental Milestones
Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (crawling, walking, etc.). Babies develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when your child will learn a given skill. The developmental milestones listed below will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect, but don’t be alarmed if your own baby’s development takes a slightly different course.
3 months
- Begins to develop a social smile
- Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
- Watches faces intently
- Smiles at the sound of your voice
7 months
- Enjoy social play
- Transfers objects from hand to hand
- Ability to track moving objects improves
- Responds to own name
- Finds partially hidden objects
12 months
- Enjoy imitating people in his play
- Reaches sitting position without assistance
- Bangs two objects together
- Responds to simple verbal requests
24 months
- Walks alone
- Points to object or picture when it’s named for him
- Begins name-believe play
- Demonstrated increasing independence
36 months
- Climbs well
- Turns book pages one at a time
- Uses 4-5 word sentences
- Sorts objects by shape and color
48 months
- Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
- Draws circles and squares
- Tells stories
- Cooperates with other children
60 months
- Swings, climbs, hops, somersaults
- Says name and address
- Can count 10 or more objects
- Likes to sing, dance and act
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