Milestones
What Most Babies Do By 2 Months Age:
Social and Emotional
- Begins to smile at people
- Can briefly calm himself such as bringing hands to mouth to suck on hand
- Tries to look at parent
Language/Communication
- Coos and makes gurgling sounds
- Turns head toward sounds
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Pays attention to faces
- Begins to follow things with eyes and recognize people at a distance
- Begins to act bored such as crying if activity does not change
Movement/Physical Development
- Can hold head up and begins to push up when lying on tummy
- Makes smoother movements with arms and legs
Talk to your child’s doctor or call PIC if your child at 2 months of age:
- Does not respond to loud sounds
- Does not watch things as they move
- Does not smile at people
- Does not bring hands to mouth
- Cannot hold head up when pushing up when on tummy
What Most Babies Do By 4 Months Of Age:
Social and Emotional
- Smiles spontaneously especially at people
- Likes to play with people and might cry when playing stops
- Copies some movements and facial expressions such as smiling or frowning
Language/Communication
- Begins to babble
- Babbles with expression and copies sounds he hears
- Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, tiredness
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Lets you know if she is happy or sad
- Responds to affection
- Reaches for toy with one hand
- Uses hands and eyes together such as seeing a toy and reaching for it
- Follows moving things with eyes from side to side
- Watches faces closely
- Recognizes familiar people and things at a distance
Movement/Physical Development
- Holds head steady unsupported
- Pushes down on legs when feet are on a hard surface
- May be able to roll over from tummy to back
- Can hold a toy and shake it and swing at dangling toys
- Brings hands to mouth
- When lying on stomach pushes up to elbows
Talk to your child’s doctor or call PIC if your child at 4 months of age:
- Does not watch things as they move
- Does not smile at people
- Cannot hold head steady
- Does not coo or make sounds
- Does not bring things to mouth
- Does not push down with legs when feet are placed on a hard surface
- Has trouble moving one or both eyes in all directions
What Most Babies Do By 6 Months Of Age:
Social and Emotional
- Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger
- Likes to play with others especially parents
- Responds to other people’s emotions and often seems happy
- Likes to look at self in a mirror
Language/Communication
- Responds to sounds by making sounds
- Strings vowels together when babbling such as “ah,” “eh,” “oh”
- Likes taking turns with parent while making sounds
- Responds to own name
- Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure
- Begins to say consonant sounds such as jabbering with “m” and “b”
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Looks around at things nearby
- Brings things to mouth
- Shows curiosity and tries to get things that are out of reach
- Begins to pass things from one hand to the other
Movement/Physical Development
- Rolls over in both directions from front to back and back to front
- Begins to sit without support
- When standing, supports weight on legs and might bounce
- Rocks back and forth sometimes crawling backward before moving forward
Talk to your child’s doctor or call PIC if your child at 6 months of age:
- Does not try to get things that are in reach
- Shows no affection for caregivers
- Does not respond to sounds around him
- Has difficulty getting things to mouth
- Does not make vowel sounds such as “ah”, “eh”, “oh”
- Does not roll over in either direction
- Does not laugh or make squealing sounds
- Seems very stiff with tight muscles
- Seems very floppy like a rag doll
What Most Babies Do By 9 Months Of Age:
Social and Emotional
- May be afraid of strangers
- May be clingy with familiar adults
- Has favorite toys
Language/Communication
- Understands “no”
- Makes a lot of different sounds such as “mama”, “dada”
- Copies sounds and gestures of others
- Uses fingers to point at things
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Watches the path of something as it falls
- Looks for things he sees you hide
- Plays peek-a-boo
- Puts things in her mouth
- Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
- Picks up things like cereal o’s between thumb and index finger
Movement/Physical Development
- Stands holding onto something
- Can get into sitting position
- Sits without support
- Pulls to stand
- Crawls
Talk to your child’s doctor or call PIC if your child at 9 months of age:
- Does not bear weight on legs with support
- Does not sit with help
- Does not babble such as “mama”, “dada”
- Does not play any games involving back-and-forth play
- Does not respond to own name
- Does not seem to recognize familiar people
- Does not look where you point
- Does not transfer toys from one hand to the other
What Most Toddlers Do By 12 Months Of Age:
Social and Emotional
- Is shy or nervous with strangers
- Cries when mom or dad leaves
- Has favorite things and people
- Shows fear in some situations
- Hands you a book when he wants to hear a story
- Repeats sounds or actions to get attention
- Puts out arm or leg to help with dressing
- Plays games such as “peek-a-boo” and “pat-a-cake”
Language/Communication
- Responds to simple spoken requests
- Uses simple gestures, like shaking head “no” or waving “bye-bye”
- Makes sounds with changes in tone
- Says “mama” and “dada” and exclamations like “uh-oh!”
- Tries to say words you say
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Explores things in different ways such as shaking, banging, throwing
- Finds hidden things
- Looks at the right picture or thing when it is named
- Copies gestures
- Starts to use things correctly such as drinks from a cup, brushes hair
- Bangs two things together
- Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
- Can put and pick up object such as rattle, blanket
- Pokes with index (pointer) finger
- Follows simple directions such as “pick up the toy”
Movement/Physical Development
- Gets into a sitting position without help
- Pulls up to stand, walks holding on to furniture (“cruising”)
- May take a few steps without holding on
- May stand alone
Talk to your child’s doctor or call PIC if your child at 12 months of age:
- Does not crawl
- Cannot stand when supported
- Does not search for things that she sees you hide
- Does not say single words like “mama” or “dada”
- Does not learn gestures like waving or shaking head
- Does not point to things
- Loses skills he once had
What Most Toddlers Do By 18 Months Of Age:
Social and Emotional
- Likes to hand things to others as play
- May have temper tantrums
- May be afraid of strangers
- Shows affection to familiar people
- Plays simple pretend such as feeding a doll
- May cling to caregivers in new situations
- Points to show others something interesting
- Explores alone but with parent close by
Language/Communication
- Says several single words
- Says and shakes head “no”
- Points to show someone what he wants
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Knows what ordinary things are for such as telephone, brush, spoon
- Points to get the attention of others
- Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
- Points to one body part
- Scribbles on his own
- Can follow one-step verbal commands without any gestures such as sits when you say “sit down”
Movement/Physical Development
- Walks alone
- May walk up steps and run
- Pulls toys while walking
- Can help undress herself
- Drinks from a cup
- Eats with a spoon
Talk to your child’s doctor or call PIC if your child at 18 months of age:
- Does not point to show things to others
- Cannot walk
- Does not know what familiar things are for
- Does not copy others
- Does not gain new words
- Does not have at least six words
- Does not notice or mind when a caregiver leaves or returns
- Loses skills he once had