What To Expect: The Developmental Milestones For Your Child’s First Year
It is a gift to be a parent, and fascinating to watch how your baby develop in the first year. Sometimes you may take for granted that every baby grows up, but it is good to know the developmental milestones so that you can observe if your baby needs help reaching certain milestone.
Well, not every baby develops at the same pace. Sometimes your baby may be focused on perfecting one of the skill and work on another skill at a later month. So don’t fret about “hitting” each month’s milestone but keep in mind the motor, cognitive and social skills your baby should be developing.
From Birth to One Month
Motor Skills
– Have strong finger grip
– Able to bring hands to face
– Have strong reflex movements
– Able move head from side to side
– Hands are usually in tight fists
Cognitive Skills
– Able to focus on near objects, including at own hands
– May turn to familiar sounds
– Blink at bright light
Social Skills
– Like to see human face
– Able to observe movement
From One to Two Month
Motor Skills
– Able to hold head and neck up for short periods of time (when on tummy)
– Able to open and close hands
Cognitive Skills
– Able to play with fingers
– Make noises other than crying, including repeating sounds like “ooh”
Social Skills
– Smile
From Two to Three Month
Motor Skills
– Able to raise head and chest for short periods of time (when on tummy)
– Able to lift head up higher
– Able to kick legs and straighten when on back
– Able to push legs down on a flat surface
– Start to reach for dangling objects, grasp and shake toys
– Develop some hand-eye coordination
Cognitive Skills
– Able to imitate sounds
– Recognize familiar objects and people
– Interest in circular and spiral patterns
Social Skills
– Interact with familiar persons, such as making and imitating sounds
– Develop a social smile
From Three to Four Month
Motor Skills
– Able to rollover from stomach to back
– Able to sit with support
– Able to push up on arms (when on tummy)
– Able to lift head up straighter (when on tummy)
– Able to go after objects
Cognitive Skills
– Able to track moving objects with eyes
– Respond to colors
– Start to explore with mouth
– Respond to toys that make sounds
– Start to laugh
Social Skills
– Amuse self with sounds
– Able to communicate fear and discomfort through crying
– Like to play
From Four to Five Month
Motor Skills
– Able to rollover from stomach to back, and from back to stomach
– Able to transfer object from one hand to next
Cognitive Skills
– Able to blow “raspberries”
Social Skills
– Start to look out for parents and may cry when parents are out of sight
From Five to Six Month
Motor Skills
– Able to keep head level in a sitting position
– Sit with minimal support
– Open mouth for spoon
– Drink from cup with some help
– Able to hold bottle
– Able to manipulate toys
Cognitive Skills
– Able to make some vowel-consonant, and two-syllable sounds
– Babble
Social Skills
– Able to copy facial expressions
From Six to Seven Month
Motor Skills
– Able to turn head away when full
– Able to roll all the way round
– Start to crawl
– Able to use fingers, for instance to self-feed finger foods
Cognitive Skills
– Able to turn in the direction of voice
– Able to imitate many sounds
Social Skills
– Respond to own name
– Show anxiety when parents are away
From Seven to Eight Month
Motor Skills
– Able to clap hands
– Able to sit unsupported
Cognitive Skills
– Start to test gravity and drop objects
Social Skills
– Able to play peekaboo
– Able to respond differently to different persons
From Eight to Nine Month
Motor Skills
– Able to grab spoon to feed
– Able to go from tummy to sitting position
– Able to reach for toys, including picking up tiny objects
Cognitive Skills
– Able to look for objects that have dropped
– Able to recognize self in mirror
Social Skills
– Respond to commonly used simple words like “no” and “mama”
– Display anxiety when with strangers
From Nine to Ten Month
Motor Skills
– Start to stand when being held
– Able to pull into standing position
– Able to stack and sort toys
Cognitive Skills
– Able to understand that objects are still there, even if out of sight
Social Skills
– Get upset when toy is removed
– Able to wave and say bye-bye
– Learn some basic interaction skills, like caregiver will appear when crying; or pushing away undesired objects or foods
From Ten to Eleven Month
Motor Skills
– Able to bang objects together
– Able to fit objects into its shape
– Able to turn pages of book
Cognitive Skills
– Point at desired objects to get attention
Social Skills
– Able to say “mama” and “dada” when wanting to call for parents
– Understand meaning of “no”, and shake head to say “no”
From Eleven to Twelve Month
Motor Skills
– Able to give up objects and let go
– Crawl and stand quite well
– Able to push baby furniture around, or pull objects
Cognitive Skills
– Start to play with doors
– Start to dance to music
– Able to identify shapes in books
– Understand the practical use of certain objects
Social Skills
– Able to understand simple commands
– Start to test parental response to different behavior
– Able to pretend play
There is no need to push your baby to meet these milestones; instead focus on spending time as human interaction is the best activity to develop cognitive and social skills. Also create a safe environment for your baby to explore, including play mats for tummy-time and toys suitable for the age group. If you are concerned with your baby’s development, discuss with your pediatrician.
