Developmental milestones are used to determine whether a child is developing normally for his or her age in the areas of physical, cognitive, and social and emotional development and language acquisition and use. During the first year of life, babies change and grow at a tremendous rate in all areas of development.
Physical
Babies’ physical development over the first year of life goes from a helpless newborn to a baby who, if not walking at age one, is nearly ready to walk. Normal development encompasses rolling from back to front, front to back, bringing hands and/or toys to the mouth, using a raking gesture and then a pincher grasp to self-feed, crawling, “cruising” (walking while holding onto furniture), standing alone, and finally to walking. While some babies walk at one year, if your child is not yet walking on his or her first birthday, don’t be alarmed.
Cognitive
Cognitive development over the first year is also rapid for normally developing babies. By the end of seven months, babies are exploring objects with their hands and mouths, finding partially hidden items, and struggling to reach objects out of reach. By the end of one year, normally developing babies find hidden objects easily, imitate gestures, and explore objects in several ways: banging, dropping, shaking them, for instance).
Social and Emotional
By three months, normally developing babies should begin to smile socially and become more expressive and communicative with their bodies and faces. Watching faces intently, babies this age are starting to put together what constitutes an expression of joy and one of displeasure. At seven months, babies enjoy social play and respond to others’ expressions of emotion. Around one year, babies may cry when their parent leaves, become shy with strangers, imitate others in play, and start testing parental responses to behavior. Babies at age one may repeat sounds or gestures to get attention and show preferences for specific toys and for certain people.
Language
During their first year, babies go from beginning to babble and imitate sounds around 3 months to using a few words (usually Mama and Dada) around one year. Somewhere in between that time, usually at the end of 7 months, babies will respond to their own names, use their voices to express joy or displeasure, babble chains of sounds, and begin to respond to “no.” By one year, babies try to imitate words, use simple gestures, pay increasing attention to speech, and respond to simple verbal requests. Babies may also use exclamations such as “Uh-oh!”
Because development happens on a continuum and no two babies are alike, there is room for deviation from the milestones (they are, after all, guidelines, not rules). Discuss any concerns you may have about your baby’s development with your pediatrician.