Developmental Milestones

Parents are very excited to see their babies and children first smiles, verbalize words, walk and looks at them. The progress of their babys development has been thoroughly documented by some. Normal progress of development has been difficult for some parents to identify. Before discussing the different developmentalmilestones appropriate for a specific age, let us first differentiate growth from development. Growth vs. Development Growth is an increase in the physical size of a child while development is an increase in his or her ability. The former is quantitatively measured through the measurement of weight and height while the latter is qualitative and the progress is determined through direct observation of the childs gross and fine motor, language, socialization and play development. Determining whether the progress of development in a child is normal is not that easy. Thorough observation and knowledge of developmental milestones appropriate for the age is the key factor in qualitatively assessing development. Infancy Period Infancy is the period of time from 1 month to 1 year of age. The growth and development of an infant is rapid in terms of size and the ability to perform specific tasks. 1 month hands fisted; able to follow object to midline; delights in watching the face of the primary caregiver 2 months social smile noted; cooing sounds is differentiated from cry; enjoys bright-colored mobiles 3 months follows object past the midline, laughs out loud, hand regard noted 4 months grasp, tonic neck, step-in-place reflexes fading, needs space to turn 5 months turns from front to back, can handle rattle well 6 months can turn both ways, may be able to verbalize vowel sounds such as oh-oh, bathtub toys are enjoyed at this time, rubber ring for teething are enjoyed, 7 months sits with support, anticipates to being picked up, beginning to fear strangers, prefers and likes to play with objects that are good size for transferring 8 months sits without support, develops the ability to identify known from unknown people thus, peak of stranger anxiety is at this point, enjoys manipulation of toys with different textures 9 months can creep or crawl, needs space for creeping, and says first word (da-da) 10 months pulls self to stand, uses pincer grasp, patty-cake and peek-a-boo are the games that infants of this age enjoy 11 months walks with support cruises 12 months stand alone, pushes arm into sleeve when dressing up, holds spoon and cup, and says two words plus ma-ma and da-da, nursery rhymes, loves pulling toys while walking

Toddler The toddler period is considered to be from age 1 to 3 years of age and during this time that enormous changes are taking place in a child. 15 months walks alone well, can sit in a chair and can creep upstairs, language: 4-6 words, holds a spoon well but may still turn it upside down on the way to the mouth, exploring the sense of permanence 18 months when using spoon the toddler no longer rotates the spoon to the mouth, able to run and jump in place, can verbalize about 7 to 20 words and the child at this age is able to name one part of a body; parallel play is initiated; loves to imitate household chores such as dusting, sweeping and etc. 24 months the toddler at the period is now able to open doors by turning doorknobs, lids are unscrewed when place near the childs reach, can walk the stairs with both feet on the same step at the same time; evidently by this point the play among these ages is parallel play 30 months using a pencil, a toddler at this point can make simple lines and strokes for crosses, able to jump down from the chair, the development of verbal language is steadily increasing, the toddler at this time already knows his or her full name and can name one color, when asked about age the toddler holds up his or her fingers to show age; imitating actions is noted at this age, play is either rough housing or active games Preschool 4 years builds a tower of 10 blocks, draw a person with 3 parts, use paragraphs with sentences of 4 or 5 words, distinguishing fantasy from reality, giving first and last name, singing a song 5 years dressing self independently; walking, climbing and running with coordination; drawing a person with details such as with head, body, arms and legs, copying a triangle or square, speaking in shirt paragraphs, recognition of almost all alphabet letters, can give own address and phone number, can follow rules of interactive peer games

School Age The term school age refers to children between the ages 6 and 12 years of age. These years represent the period of slow physical growth. However, cognitive growth and development continue to proceed at rapid rates. 6 years skipping is a new skill learned by the child, authority figure is the first grade teacher, difficulty adjusting to all-day school may be noted during this time that may result to nervous manifestations like fingernail biting and etc, at this time the words are defined by the school age based on their use, eruption of first molar occurs

7 years during play difference between sexes become apparent, conservation is learned, able to tell the time can make simple change, eruption of central incisors 8 years definitely improved coordination is noted during this year, development of best friends, eyes become fully developed, can write and print, able to understand concepts of past, present and future, playing with gang becomes important, 9 years gang age: all activities are done with the gang has secret codes, gang is all boy or all girl, the gang can disband and reform quickly 10 years improvement in coordination noted, this is the age where the child collects a lot collecting age, the child at this period is now able to camp away from home, ready for participating in competitive games, prefers to have rules. 11 years at this time the child is active but is awkward and ungainly, insecure with the members of the opposite sex, repeats off-color jokes 12 years coordination improves at this point, sense of humor already present at this age, the child is social and cooperative Adolescent: 13 years old 18 years old 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Self-esteem changes More independent Future plans noted Coordinated body movements noted Sexual maturation