Children learn to sit, talk, babble, and crawl at different ages. The timeline for such developmental is identical for most children. Parents always wait for their children to accomplish one developmental milestone after the other. These milestones are important to track because it will help you to understand the developmental process of the child. Any physical development that you see, it will be because of the development and maturity of the brain. For this reason, hence, we ought to know what the early developmental milestones are.
The milestones are divided into different age groups, and for each age group, there are four divisions. The development is checked across all the four parameters, and it is checked to see when the child reaches that stage. This doesn’t mean that if a child is meant to learn to babble at 9 months, then your child should learn to do at exactly 9 months. The timelines are generic, and slight delay or early onslaught is to be expected and normal. But if your child turns 2, and still cannot talk, then you may need to consult the specialist.
Read on, and see the developmental milestone that children achieve at different ages of their early developmental period.
Early developmental milestones across different ages:
1. 0-6 months old
a. Motor skills
The developmental milestones in terms of motor skills for age 0-6 months are moving of the legs and arms in different directions; be able to balance on their tummies on the ground, and also be able to form and open a fist. They will also hold their legs with their hands while they are on their back and juggle a toy in between. The child will also easily be able to sit and roll from tummy to back and back to tummy. You can expect them to stand on their legs with support as well.
b. Sensory advancement
Initially, the early milestones will include the child to successfully track the toys at a distance with their eyes. They can respond to calming voice, touch, words, etc. and can also keep their head in the center and rock their arms gradually, they will be happy in general. They can grasp an object by using both their hands, get calm with soothing rocking and pats, and they can also bring their fingers to their mouth.
c. Communication progress
In early developmental milestones kids, they move their head in response to your voice, they will smile at your voice, they will cry differently for various needs, as well as, be able to maintain eye contact and show an interest in people in the surrounding. As they will reach closer to 6 months, they will respond to the talking, react successfully to different voices of the surrounding and people, they will also babble monosyllabic and express themselves and needs via voice. This is the age wherein toys that make sounds are most popular amongst kids.
d. Feeding milestones
When the child is young, the feeding developmental milestones kids will include moving the tongue forward and backward to suck; can latch onto the mother’s nipple to feed. When they get closer to 6 months, they will start to eat the mashed version of adult food. They will also open their mouth when they see a spoon approaches.
2. 7-12 months old
a. Motor skills
Early milestones kids will entail the child being able to sit without leaning over or using any support. They will begin to crawl, as well as be able to track objects with their eyes while they are sitting. They can control their bodies to roll and while sitting. Later on, they will stand and start walking with minimal support. To get their toys, they will also make the necessary movement with their legs and hands. This is the time, wherein they can pick tiny objects as well.
b. Sensory advancement
The developmental milestones kids for this age will make them squeal with joy when you bounce and rock them. They can turn pages of a heavy book, observe an object with mouth and hands; can focus and investigate into near and far objects. After some months, they will enjoy music and crawl when they will hear another baby in the distance.
c. Communication progress
The child’s babbling becomes much more detailed with different sounds and syllables. They will recognize the sound of their name, as well as be able to pinpoint familiar objects and people. They can nod their head to answers such as “yes” and “no”. When they will near the 12-month mark, they will say words like “mommy” and “daddy”, and their social conversation will include much more gibberish. They can respond to simple commands such as “come here” and raise their hands when they wished to be picked up.
d. Feeding milestones
This is the time when the child will start teething, and as such, they will chew their toys and food by themselves. Their food list will increase and they will stay full for longer times. The nearer to the 12-month mark, they will be able to hold their food and munch it by themselves. They will also start using more utensils to eat.
3. 12-24 months old
a. Motor skills
The early developmental milestones toddler at this age will enable them to walk independently and they will squat to pick up something. They can stack two objects at once.
b. Sensory advancement
In this stage, the sensory developmental milestones toddler is helping while getting dressed, has a regular sleep schedule, and will sleep through the night. They will be able to sense the different smells and taste of the food and eat them.
c. Communication progress
The early milestones toddler at this age for communication is being able to use 5-10 words properly. They can combine the sound with the gesture. They can understand 50 words, directions, as well as show interest in the pictures. As they grow older, they will be able to recognize people and objects from pictures, answer easy questions, and understand the words “in” and “on”.
d. Feeding milestones
Developmental milestones toddlers for feeding are an increase in their food options and they can drink directly from cup or glass.
The early milestones will indicate you to the developmental progress of your child. Some children will progress quickly in some skills, whereas being rather slow in the others. It’s normal and there is nothing for you to worry over. Cherish each of your child’s milestones and record them for future nostalgia. Which milestones did your child achieve today?