As your child is growing, there are developmental milestones you will be watching for them to meet. These child developmental milestones are based on your child’s age and include skills that children typically reach by a certain age. Skills such as first steps, smiling, waving, and so much more are considered developmental milestones. Your child has different milestones at different ages that show their social and emotional skills, language and communication skills, cognitive skills, and their movement and physical development skills. Because every child is different these stages can vary, but it is important to know where your child should be developmentally as they are growing.
Children go through different developmental stages as they progress to being adults. These stages are filled with crucial developmental milestones that will help your child to become independent. Below are the different developmental stages that your child will go through.
Baby: 0-12 months
Toddler: One to three years of age
Preschool: Three to five years of age
School Age: Six to 12 years old
Teenage: 12-18 years old
Young Adult: 18-21 years old
According to the CDC, there are specific developmental milestones a child should reach between 2 months of age up to 5 years of age. We encourage you to visit their website to see the full list of milestones, but we will share a brief list below:
2 Months: Babies should be beginning to smile and look at people, be holding their head up, making gurgling sounds, and turning their head to follow sounds or people.
4 Months: Learning how to express themselves by smiling, frowning, or crying, beginning to reach for things, and can hold their head steady.
6 Months: Starts to recognize themselves in the mirror and knows familiar faces, plays with others, responds to their name, makes babbling vowels and responds to sounds, and passes things from one hand to another.
9 Months: Has a favorite toy, understands the word “no”, uses fingers to point, plays peek-a-boo, starts putting things in their mouth, and can stand by holding on to something.
1 Year: Starts to cry when mom/dad leaves, repeats sounds or actions, says “mama” or “dada”, puts things in/out of a container, and walks holding on to something.
18 Months: Likes to hand things to others, can engage in pretend playing, says “no” and shakes head to say “no”, can point at things for attention, and walks alone.
2 Years: Starts showing defiant behavior, says sentences with 2-4 words, follows simple instructions, starts to sort shapes and colors, builds towers with 4 or more blocks, and stands on tiptoes.
3 Years: Takes turns in games, has a wide range of emotions, separates from parents, can name familiar things, says their name and age, and can run and climb.
4 Years: Cooperates/plays well with other children, can tell what they like/dislike, tells stories, names some colors and numbers, uses scissors, and can cut their own food.
5 Years: Can sing and dance, shows more independence, speaks clearly using full sentences, can count 10 or more things, copies shapes, and can use the toilet on their own.
It’s important to note that these milestones are based on “typical development” and every child develops differently. The CDC has a milestone checklist that is a great way to check your child’s progress at home. Consulting with your child’s pediatrician is another way to find out how they are developing. If you think your child is behind in their development, they will be able to tell you if it is a typical development delay or refer you for therapy services that could help.
At PediaPlex, we offer therapy services for children who need speech therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, or ABA therapy. Based on your child’s needs or your doctor’s referral, we will perform a therapy evaluation and determine the best plan of care for your child. Our team of therapists can work together to develop this plan and then will continue to meet regularly to discuss your child’s progress. Our goal is to make therapy easier on parents by having services in one convenient location.
If your pediatrician has recommended therapy services for your child, visit our website today and fill out an intake form to get started. We will guide you through the process of starting services at PediaPlex by verifying your insurance benefits and setting up an evaluation. Give us a call if you would like to schedule a tour at one of our DFW pediatric therapy locations prior to starting services!
-The PediaPlex Family
