Watching your baby learn new skills is one of the most bittersweet parts of parenthood. It’s so exciting to watch their brains and bodies hit developmental milestones, but with each new skill, they seem to be leaving a little more childhood behind! Many of the new skills your baby learns over time (from how to move to how to communicate) are considered developmental milestones. They usually follow a common trajectory and rest on top of each other. From the newborn stage to age 5 and beyond, monthly milestones continue to develop for your baby.1 Here, we’ll reveal the different types of skills your child needs to learn, how you can help them, how these milestones are tracked, and what to do if they fall behind.
Developmental milestones are skills acquired in infancy and childhood that follow a predictable course and schedule.2 These milestones are divided into five categories based on the type of skills a child is learning:2
Motor development can be divided into gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor development refers to large muscle movements such as rolling, sitting, crawling and walking.2 Older children practice gross motor skills without thinking (just walking and moving throughout their day). But babies and toddlers often need encouragement to practice these new skills. Activities such as tummy time, placing toys so the baby has to crawl over them and encouraging games such as ‘Simon Says’, tagging, tossing a ball and climbing on a playground help develop these of gross motor skills.3
While gross motor skills involve movements of the whole body and large muscle groups, fine motor skills are smaller and more precise.2 They usually involve muscle groups in the fingers, lips and tongue.3 Fine motor skills consist of things like hand movements and activities of daily living such as feeding oneself, writing and pressing a button.2 To practice fine motor skills, allow your child to turn the pages of a book, stack blocks or cups, paint with fingers, color using crayons, and feed using their handle or utensils.3
Language and speech milestones are another important component of child development. In the first three years of life, babies and toddlers learn to interpret communication and express themselves through speech and non-verbal cues.2.4 From recognizing your own voice to crying and cooing as a baby to following directions, forming sentences and learning grammar, language development relies on itself.4
Cognitive milestones refer to thinking, reasoning, memory, logic, and problem solving.2.5 Examples of cognitive milestones include understanding the permanence and causality of objects, developing imagination, having fears and wishes, reading and understanding numbers, or counting.5
Social-emotional milestones develop the skills of attachment, self-regulation, and interpersonal interaction. Landmarks in this category include social smiling, understanding stranger danger, voice and face recognition, showing empathy, engaging in pretend play, and developing friendships. Spending time in the company of others and cultivating close relationships can be helpful for this milestone.2
Developmental milestones build on each other, so mastering one milestone is essential to learning the next.2 Confirming that children meet these developmental checkpoints ensures that they do not fall further behind as peers continue to build their skills. For example, a child must learn how to walk before learning to run. If they don’t get help with walking, they can’t “reach” and meet the next milestone.
Studying trends and establishing milestone patterns can help identify when children are falling behind. Early recognition of developmental delays can encourage parents to seek early interventions, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy. These treatments can bridge the gap and help children catch up with their peers, continue to build their skills, and not fall further behind.2
Your child’s pediatrician should assess their development at their regular pediatric visits. Using standardized and validated tools and detectors, the provider will look for milestone achievements according to your child’s age.2 Some examples of tools your pediatrician may use include the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and the Ages & Stage Questionnaires (ASQ).6,7 If your child attends school or daycare, these institutions may also track milestones. When my first daughter attended daycare as a baby, they used the ASQ twice per school year and shared her results with me.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also publishes a milestone checklist and pamphlet to help parents know when their children should reach each milestone. These resources go over baby milestones by month in depth.1
If your child’s developmental screening shows certain milestone delays, this does not necessarily mean that he will be diagnosed with a condition. Tools like DDST and ASQ are screens designed to identify potential delays early. If a delay is suspected, your child may be referred for further screening, testing and intervention. More specialized experts will be able to assess them for specific issues and help your child move forward.2
Most of the time, you can trust your gut to tell you when something is wrong with your little one. You know your child best! But to keep your baby on track with his developmental milestones, or to help him catch up, there are a few things you can do:
It is always a good idea to have your baby examined by an unbiased and experienced set of eyes. Your pediatrician should have a good general understanding of where a child should be at each age and will evaluate monthly milestones. Keeping track of your baby’s physical exams and appointments will better ensure that no red flags are missed or overlooked.
While your pediatrician should be aware of any significant delays, parents are the ones who spend the most time with their children. You should educate yourself about upcoming milestones and recognize if your child is meeting them. You can also provide some age-appropriate toys to help them meet milestones on time. For example, consider an object permanency toy for a 6-month-old or a push walker for a 12-month-old.5
Never hesitate to reach out to your provider if you notice your child seems to be falling behind on milestones. They should be happy to see you for a follow-up visit and assess whether your concern is worth investigating further. You will either receive additional confirmation or some useful interventions!
If you are working with your child to achieve certain milestones, celebrate and encourage them when they make progress. For example, if your baby is pointing to a book to show he wants it, say, “I see you want the book! Here!” This helps develop communication and motivation in your little one.2
Engage with your baby, who should recognize your face and voice in the first months of your life! Constant time with you will enhance their social-emotional development.2 Play with them, talk to them and involve them in activities you do. Allow plenty of time on the floor to encourage gross motor strengthening. All this interaction and play will enhance motor, language and cognitive development.2
Parents struggling with depression or substance abuse and those with low education and poor community support may struggle to form a secure attachment with their baby. If your own needs are not being met, it will be difficult to prioritize meeting your child’s developmental needs. That’s why it’s important to take care of yourself and use the support services available to you.2
It can be scary to deal with any delays. it’s like recognizing that something might be wrong with your child. It may be easier for them to remain in denial than to admit that they may need extra help. However, studies show that early intervention for delayed milestones improves outcomes for this child. Early intervention also involves the child’s entire family in their developmental progress.2
For example, my daughter had to attend physical therapy because she had trouble sitting unsupported or crawling at 9 months old. Physical therapy was a fun activity to do together and I was learning just as much as my daughter about how to help her continue to progress at home.
While it’s true that every child is on their own schedule, monthly milestones are an important metric to ensure your baby continues to grow, learn and thrive. Milestones aren’t meant to play the comparison game, but they can be intimidating if you feel like your child doesn’t “measure up.” Think of them in a positive light – the goal is to catch potential issues early and prevent them from becoming major concerns. With close attention and early intervention as needed, your child will be on his way to reaching all of his developmental milestones!
