Developmental Milestones - 1 Month to 12 Months
What Should My Child Be Doing?
By One Month of Age....
By the end of the first month, your child should be more alert and responsive. Gradually he/she will begin moving his/her body more smoothly and with much greater coordination—especially in getting their hands into their mouths. Your child will listen when you speak, will watch you as you hold him/her, and occasionally will move his/her own body to respond to you or attract your attention.
Here are some other milestones to look for:
Movement milestones
- Makes jerky, quivering arm thrusts
- Moves head from side to side while lying on stomach
- Head flops backward if unsupported
- Keeps hands in tight fists
- Strong reflex movement
Visual and hearing milestones
- Focuses 8 to 12 inches (20.3 to 30.4 cm) away
- Eyes wander and occasionally cross
- Prefers black-and-white or high-contrast patterns
- Prefers the human face to all other patterns
- Hearing is fully mature
- Recognizes some sounds
- May turn toward familiar sounds and voice
Smell and touch milestones
- Prefers sweet smells
- Avoids bitter or acidic smells
- Recognizes the scent of his own mother's breastmilk
- Prefers soft to coarse sensations
- Dislikes rough or abrupt handling
Developmental health watch
If, during the second, third, or fourth weeks of your baby's life, she shows any of the following signs of developmental delay, notify your pediatrician.
- Sucks poorly and feeds slowly
- Doesn't blink when shown a bright light
- Doesn't focus and follow a nearby object moving side to side
- Rarely moves arms and legs; seems stiff
- Seems excessively loose in the limbs, or floppy
- Lower jaw trembles constantly, even when not crying or excited
- Doesn't respond to loud sound
By Three Months of Age....
By the time your child is three months of age, he/she will have made a dramatic transformation from a totally dependent newborn to an active and responsive infant. He/she will lose many of her newborn reflexes while acquiring more voluntary control of her body. You'll find her spending hours inspecting her hands and watching their movements.
Here are some other milestones to look for:
Movement milestones
- Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
- Supports upper body with arms when lying on stomach
- Stretches legs out and kicks when lying on stomach or back
- Opens and shuts hands
- Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
- Brings hand to mouth
- Takes swipes at dangling objects with hands
- Grasps and shakes hand toys
Visual and hearing milestones
- Watches faces intently
- Follows moving objects
- Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance
- Starts using hands and eyes in coordination
- Smiles at the sound of your voice
- Begins to babble
- Begins to imitate some sounds
- Turns head toward direction of sound
Social and emotional milestones
- Begins to develop a social smile
- Enjoys playing with other people and may cry when playing stops
- Becomes more communicative and expressive with face and body
- Imitates some movements and facial expressions
Developmental health watch
Although each baby develops in her own individual way and at her own rate, failure to reach certain milestones may signal medical or developmental problems requiring special attention. If you notice any of the following warning signs in your infant at this age, discuss them with your pediatrician.
- Doesn't seem to respond to loud sounds
- Doesn't notice her hands by two months
- Doesn't smile at the sound of your voice by two months
- Doesn't follow moving objects with her eyes by two to three months
- Doesn't grasp and hold objects by three months
- Doesn't smile at people by three months
- Cannot support her head well at three months
- Doesn't reach for and grasp toys by three to four months
- Doesn't babble by three to four months
- Doesn't bring objects to her mouth by four months
- Begins babbling, but doesn't try to imitate any of your sounds by four months
- Doesn't push down with her legs when her feet are placed on a firm surface by four months
- Has trouble moving one or both eyes in all directions
- Crosses her eyes most of the time (Occasional crossing of the eyes is normal in these first months.)
- Doesn't pay attention to new faces, or seems very frightened by new faces or surroundings
- Still has the tonic neck reflex at four to five month
By Seven Months of Age.....
From age four to seven months, the most important changes take place within your child. This is the period when he/she will learn to coordinate his emerging perceptive abilities (the use of senses like vision, touch, and hearing) and his increasing motor abilities to develop skills like grasping, rolling over, sitting up, and possibly even crawling.
Here are some other milestones to look for:
Movement milestones
- Rolls both ways (front to back, back to front)
- Sits with, and then without, support of her hands
- Supports her whole weight on her legs
- Reaches with one hand
- Transfers object from hand to hand
- Uses raking grasp (not pincer
Visual milestones
- Develops full color vision
- Distance vision matures
- Ability to track moving objects improve
Language milestones
- Responds to own name
- Begins to respond to “no”
- Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice
- Responds to sound by making sounds
- Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
- Babbles chains of consonant
Cognitive milestones
- Finds partially hidden object
- Explores with hands and mouth
- Struggles to get objects that are out of reach
Social and emotional milestones
- Enjoys social play
- Interested in mirror images
- Responds to other people's expressions of emotion and appears joyful often
Developmental health watch
Because each baby develops in his own particular manner, it's impossible to tell exactly when or how your child will perfect a given skill. The developmental milestones listed below will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect, but don't be alarmed if your own baby's development takes a slightly different course. Alert your pediatrician, however, if your baby displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range.
- Seems very stiff, with tight muscles
- Seems very floppy, like a rag doll
- Head still flops back when body is pulled up to a sitting position
- Reaches with one hand only
- Refuses to cuddle
- Shows no affection for the person who cares for him
- Doesn't seem to enjoy being around people
- One or both eyes consistently turn in or out
- Persistent tearing, eye drainage, or sensitivity to light
- Does not respond to sounds around him
- Has difficulty getting objects to his mouth
- Does not turn his head to locate sounds by four months
- Doesn't roll over in either direction (front to back or back to front) by five months
- Seems inconsolable at night after five months
- Doesn't smile spontaneously by five months
- Cannot sit with help by six months
- Does not laugh or make squealing sounds by six months
- Does not actively reach for objects by six to seven months
- Doesn't follow objects with both eyes at near (1 foot) [30 cm] and far (6 feet) [180 cm] ranges by seven months
- Does not bear some weight on legs by seven months
- Does not try to attract attention through actions by seven months
- Does not babble by eight months
- Shows no interest in games of peekaboo by eight months
By 12 Months of Age....
From eight to twelve months of age, your child will become increasingly mobile, a development that will thrill and challenge both of you. Being able to move from place to place will give your child a sense of power and control—her first real experience with physical independence.
Here are some other milestones to look for:
Movement milestones
- Gets to sitting position without assistance
- Crawls forward on belly by pulling with arms and pushing with legs
- Assumes hands-and-knees position
- Creeps on hands and knees supporting trunk on hands and knees
- Gets from sitting to crawling or prone (lying on stomach) position
- Pulls self up to stand
- Walks holding on to furniture
- Stands momentarily without support
- May walk two or three steps without support
Milestones in hand and finger skills
- Uses pincer grasp
- Bangs two cubes together
- Puts objects into container
- Takes objects out of container
- Lets objects go voluntarily
- Pokes with index finger
- Tries to imitate scribbling
Language milestones
- Pays increasing attention to speech
- Responds to simple verbal requests
- Responds to “no”
- Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no”
- Babbles with inflection
- Says “dada” and “mama”
- Uses exclamations, such as “oh-oh!”
- Tries to imitate word
Cognitive milestones
- Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)
- Finds hidden objects easily
- Looks at correct picture when the image is named
- Imitates gestures
- Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone, listening to receiver
Social and emotional milestones
- Shy or anxious with strangers
- Cries when mother or father leaves
- Enjoys imitating people in play
- Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys
- Tests parental responses to his actions during feedings (What do you do when he refuses a food?)
- Tests parental responses to his behavior (What do you do if he cries after you leave the room?)
- May be fearful in some situations
- Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others
- Repeats sounds or gestures for attention
- Finger-feeds himself
- Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed
Developmental health watch
Each baby develops in his own manner, so it's impossible to tell exactly when your child will perfect a given skill. Although the developmental milestones listed below will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect as your child gets older, don't be alarmed if his development takes a slightly different course. Alert your pediatrician if your baby displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay in the eight- to twelve-month age range.
- Does not crawl
- Drags one side of body while crawling (for over one month)
- Cannot stand when supported
- Does not search for objects that are hidden while he watches
- Says no single words (“mama” or “dada”)
- Does not learn to use gestures, such as waving or shaking head
- Does not point to objects or picture