Developmental Milestones

There is no exact age for when a child needs to start demonstrating specific developmental milestones but, there is a range to when they should start to show them.  For example, an infant should be able to hold their head up without support around four months, they should start crawling around nine months, and they should start walking alone at around 18 months.  When a child is developmentally delayed, this means they are taking much longer than normal to show some of these milestones and this may result in that child needing therapy or counseling.  There are also three types of development: Physical, Cognitive, and Social-Emotional.

Physical development has to deal with a child’s fine and gross motor skills which is based on their muscles and physical coordination but, can be affected by a number of outside factors such as nutrients, health, and activity level.  Parents can support their infant or toddler’s physical development by offering them tummy time when they are awake to help them to develop muscles in their neck and back.  They can also hold and dance with their infant or toddler to music to stimulate their gross motor skills.  Finally, to support a child’s fine motor skills (as well as imagination) a parent should encourage them to scribble and draw on paper with different crayons, markers, and paintbrushes.  A traditional doctor’s visit will help parents to understand if their child is developmentally on track but there are checklists all throughout the web that a parent can check if they are interested.

Cognitive development is how children think and figure things out.  This can include problem-solving skills, knowledge, as well as visual and auditory processing.  Some examples of toys that stimulate cognitive development are blocks, stuffed animals, and floating bath toys.  Parents can support their infant or toddler in this area by singing songs with them, asking and answering questions, and identifying potentially unknown noises and sights.  An infant will start to recognize familiar faces and respond to facial expressions around three to six months and a two-year-old child should be able to sort objects by category and respond to simple directions.

Social-Emotional development includes a child’s ability to manage their emotions and how they create relationships with others.  Separation and stranger anxiety is very common for infants and toddlers from about six months until they are three to four years old.  This can be attributed to the milestone where at around six months, infants are able to differentiate strangers and familiar people’s faces.  Some things parents can do to influence their child’s development in this area is to encourage them to try new things, establish a routine, and to set up playdates where the child can interact with other children their age.

Here is a chart that displays the range of skills that are acquired at different ages:

Source: https://www.virtuallabschool.org/fcc/physical-development/lesson-2

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