BABY MILESTONES

How to Learn Your Baby’s Developmental Milestones for the 1^st Year

New parents often wonder what to expect in their baby's development. Also, they wonder how to know if their child's development s on target. Babies take their own pace in development but its good to be aware of all stages of growth. In this article, you will learn all the changes and growth that occur in your baby for the first year.

What is a baby developmental milestone?

Your child's ability to move, see, hear, communicate, and interact with others.

Baby Milestone by age

Its good to understand that your baby is unique and may not follow all the stages explained. For instance, your child may crawl early than expected and delay in other milestones like walking or start teething early and delay in others. It’s advisable to observe your baby’s pace of growth and always inquire from a pediatrician if you're in doubt or have a concern.

Again, learn to encourage your baby, like practicing how to talk, playing with toys, practicing how to stand, massaging, and more. This will help your baby improve each day and be flexible. These exercises are helpful and especially for millennial parents, it's wise to let your baby watch cartoons with moderation as much as it's of help to them but ensure they are active physically.

1-3 Months Milestones

Your baby learns the following:

·         Begin to smile at people

·         Take hands to mouth and sucks them

·         Pay attention to faces

·         Easily gets bored if an activity doesn't  change for example if you hold them for so long, they will cry for a change of position

·         Make gurgling sounds

·         Turn heads towards sounds

·         Make movements with arms and legs

·         Holds heads up and push up when on tummy

4-6 Months Milestones

·         Smiles spontaneously at people

·         Like playing with people

·         Begin to babble, copies words

·         Cries in different ways to show hunger, boredom, pain

·         Reaches for toys with one hand

·         Watch faces closely and can recognize them

·         Gains head control

·         Teething may start for some and you may notice swollen gums

·         May roll on tummy to back

·         When lying on the stomach can push up to elbows

·         Can sit with support

·         While standing supports weight on legs and might bounce

·         Begin to make some sounds like ‘m’ and ‘b’

7-9 Months Growth

·         Sit up without support

·         Start to crawl either by scooting on their bottom or army crawling – dragging the tummy bay arms and legs. Remember not all babies will crawl, others skip and go directly to scooting, holding on objects to walking.

·         Respond to familiar names like mum, dad,

·         Clap and plays games

·         Learns to stand

10-12 Months Milestone

·         Learn how to feed alone

·         Cruise- move around holding on furniture and walls

·         Say some few words

·         Take their first few steps

·         Learn to use objects like pretending to talk on the phone

These milestones are mainly grouped  in the following:

·         Large body movements(gross motor skills)- involve large muscles like walking, running, sitting

·         Small body movements(fine motor skills)- like picking up playing toys

·         Vision- ability to see and understand what you see

·         Hearing- hear, listen and interpret

·         Speech and language-understand and produce sounds that form words

·         Social behavior- learning and interacting with others

To take away

·         As a mom, dad be keen to observe if your baby makes any progress without comparing it with others because each kid follows a unique trend.

·         If you note any delay or no change in milestones for a long time, consult a physician as early as possible for early intervention.

·         Remember proper diet is important for the well being of your child and growth in milestones. For example, calcium is required for teething and bone development, if your baby lack this, they might have weak bones and affect gross motor skills.

 

Have you had any experience with a child's milestones, either delay or success? Leave a comment and let us know about it.