Becoming a parent is wonderful but sometimes parents are unsure of how their baby is developing over the first 12 months. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect in those months to assist you in gauging your child’s growth. Every child is different so please don’t feel discouraged if these milestones aren’t met in this exact timeline as each child’s development will vary.
Month 1
Milestones:
- Lifts head and chest when on tummy
- Stares at faces
- Startles at loud noises
- Imitates some facial expressions
Month 2
Milestones:
- Holds head up
- Coos and gurgles
- Brings hands to mouth
- Smiles
Month 3
Milestones:
- Tracks moving objects
- Holds head up steadily
- Recognizes your face
- Turns head toward sounds
Month 4
Milestones:
- Laughs, smiles and squeals
- Talks (coos) back when spoken to
- Rolls from front to back
- Can hold and shake a rattle
Month 5
Milestones:
- Plays with his/her hands and feet
- Teething may begin
- Pays attention to small objects
- Rakes objects and picks them up using her palm
Month 6
Milestones:
- Rolls over in both directions
- Babbles ( ‘Bah, Bah, Bah’)
- Lifts his/her hands to a feeding bottle
- Laughs out loud
Month 7
Milestones:
- Sits without support
- Begins to scoot, and then crawl
- Begins to be wary of strangers
- Enjoys playing peekaboo
Month 8
Milestones:
- Passes objects from one hand to the other
- Starts to feed himself
- Babbles enthusiastically
- Responds to his/her name
Month 9
Milestones:
- Stands with support
- Shows resistance to you pulling a toy out of his/her hand
- Begins to look for fallen toys
- Starts to band two toys together
Month 10
Milestones:
- Picks things up with pincer grasp ( between thumb and forefinger)
- Claps with hands
- Will pull himself/herself up to stand
- Starts to recognize himself in mirrors
Month 11
Milestones:
- Says ‘Dada’ and ‘Mama’ to the correct parent
- Understands ‘No’
- Rocks and bounces to music
- Waves ‘bye-bye’
Month 12
Milestones:
- Indicates wants with gestures
- Uses two to three words correctly
- Drinks from a sippy cup
- May walk alone or with adult help
(Courtesy of Parenting Times: Summer 2013)