At every age, there are important early childhood milestones to help monitor your child’s development. Healthy growth and development is more than just physical. How he or she plays, learns, speaks, and acts are important clues about your child’s development. The information below comes from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.*
Talk with your pediatrician if your child doesn’t:
At two months old:
Respond to loud sounds
Watch things as they move
Smile at people
Bring hands to mouth
Hold head up when pushing up when on tummy
At four months old:
Watch things as they move
Smile at people
Hold head steady
Coo or make sounds
Bring things to mouth
Push down with legs when feet are placed on a hard surface
Move one or both eyes in all directions
At six month old:
Try to get things that are in reach
Show affection for caregivers
Respond to sounds around him
Get things to mouth easily
Make vowel sounds (“ah”, “eh”, “oh”)
Roll over in either direction
Laugh or make squealing sound
At nine months old:
Bear weight on legs with support
Sit with help
Babble (“mama”, “baba”, “dada”)
Play any games involving back-and-forth play
Respond to own name
Seem to recognize familiar people
Look where you point
At 1 year old:
Crawl
Stand when supported
Search for things that she sees you hide.
Say single words like “mama” or “dada”
Learn gestures like waving or shaking head
Point to things
Retain skills he once had
At 18 months old:
Point to show things to others
Walk
Know what familiar things are for
Copy others
Gain new words
Have at least a 6 word vocabulary
Notice or mind when a caregiver leaves or returns
Retain skills he once had
At 2 years old:
Use 2-word phrases (for example, “drink milk”)
Know what to do with common things, like a brush, phone, fork, spoon
Copy actions and words
Follow simple instructions
Walk steadily
Retain skills she once had
At 3 years old:
Climb stairs (and falls down a lot)
Speak clearly (and/or drools)
Work simple toys (such as peg boards, simple puzzles, turning handle)
Speak in sentences
Understand simple instruction
Play pretend or make-believe
Want to play with other children or with toys
Make eye contact
Retain skills he once had
Research shows that early intervention treatment services can greatly improve a child’s development. Early intervention services help children from birth through 3 years of age (36 months) learn important skills. Services include therapy to help the child talk, walk, and interact with others.
Are you concerned your child may have a learning disability? For older children, preschoolers and up, this Help Guide gives a lot of information and what can be done. As always, the earlier needed services can be started the better the chances for a child in reaching their full potential.
*For the complete list of developmental milestones visit here.
All parents–and grandparents–want the best for their children! After insuring your child’s on track with meeting their milestones, PLAY becomes central to fulfilling their development needs.
Sign up to make sure you’re receiving all our posts on ways to implement PLAY-based learning activities as wells as reading our toy and book reviews. Bottom line: #PlayMattersInChildhood!
Yours in Play!
Teacher Karen
Leave a Reply