Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and saying goodbye are called developmental milestones. Children reach milestones in the way they play, learn, talk, act, and move. Developmental milestones are physical or behavioral signs of development in infants and children. Turning around, crawling, walking, and talking are considered developmental milestones and provide important information about your child's early development.
All children develop at their own pace. However, most children go through specific changes around the same time they grow up. All children develop at their own pace, but these milestones give you a general idea of what changes are expected as your child grows. Failure to reach milestones or reach them much later than children of the same age may be the first indication that a child may have a developmental delay.
Every child is different, as is the experience of each parent, but experts have a clear idea about the normal developmental range from birth to age 5 and the signs that a child might have a developmental delay. Developmental milestones are behaviors or physical abilities seen in infants and children as they grow and develop. Turning around, crawling, walking and talking are considered milestones. The milestones are different for each age range.
Developmental milestones are behaviors that mark typical growth stages. Understanding your child's changing growth and development milestones is an important part of parenting. One of the reasons why a healthy child sees the health care provider in the early years is to follow your child's development. Watching a checklist or calendar of developmental milestones closely may upset parents if their child is not developing normally.
Resources helps them learn about their child's developmental milestones and support their child's development. If children do not meet expected milestones, a health care provider may evaluate them for developmental delays. Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can perform in a certain age range. It includes how children explore their environment to discover things, whether it's looking at the world around them, putting objects in their mouths, or dropping something to see it fall.
Children at this age like to tell stories and often can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. However, tell your pediatrician if your baby shows any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range: failure to reach certain milestones; failure to respond to loud noises; difficulty with feeding; difficulty with rolling over; difficulty with sitting up; difficulty with standing up; difficulty with walking; difficulty with speaking; difficulty with understanding language; difficulty with social interaction; difficulty with problem solving; difficulty with fine motor skills; difficulty with gross motor skills; difficulty with self-help skills; or any other signs of possible developmental delay. For more information on recent updates to CDC's developmental milestones, see the Pediatrics journal article external icon describing the updates. Although each baby develops in their own individual way and at their own pace, failure to reach certain milestones may indicate medical or developmental problems that require special attention.
Below are some examples of developmental milestones and especially important warning signs of possible developmental delay by 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age.
