Developmental Milestones Birth to 1 Year
Developmental milestones can be followed in the areas of gross motor, visual motor, language, adaptive and social skills. Most parenting books will give an extensive breakdown of the exact time skills are expected to emerge. There is a wide variation in
development. Some children develop smoothly throughout most of the categories while others will show spurts in certain areas while others seem to lag only to catch up soon after.
Here are some major skills you can look for in your child:
2 months: when on stomach(prone) able to hold head up and at times chest up; hands are fisted 50% of the time; alerts to voice and sounds; coos; mouth opens at sight of breast or bottle.
4 months: props self up on forearms when prone; sits with support with good head control; no head lag when pulled up to sit position from lying on back; hands are open and not fisted; will look at feet and hands; bats at toys; turns to sound; laughs; will take turns with vocal play; places mouth on everything; quiets to parent soothing or voice of parent.
6 months: rolls over from stomach to back; tripod sits with some anterior support of hands; able to push up when on stomach to hands and knees briefly; transfers objects from one hand to another; takes an object when offered; uses a raking grasp to reach for objects; makes raspberry sounds and then early babble by 6-7 months; recognizes own name; increases back and forth vocalization with caregivers; attempts to feed self with hand to mouth; onset of some stranger anxiety;smile at self in mirror.
9 Months: beginning to pull to stand and crawl; bear walk; bang blocks together; grasp
with thumb and 2 fingers; uses “mama and dada” appropriately; repeats sounds and
some words; mature sounding babble; looks for objects when they are dropped; rings a bell for fun; will look in the direction of an object being pointed at; shows anxiety when separated from parent.
12 Months: cruises and can stand without support; walks with 1 hand held; will take a few steps; uses a pincer grasp; can attain and release objects easily; points and uses gestures; will follow a simple command with a gesture; begins to feed self; says 1 word that is not a proper name.