Child Developement

Every moment you spend watching your precious little bundle of joy fills you with wonder. The tiny toes, the little fingers curling around your finger with surprising tenacity and the happy gurgles during playtime can make a parent wish that this beautiful period doesn’t ever end. But before you know it, your little infant will become an active toddler and you will be amazed to discover how your infant is able to do something new every few months.

What are Infant Developmental Milestones?

Most babies are able to do some activities by a certain age. These are referred to as infant development milestones and are behaviours or physical skills that infants acquire as they grow. Rolling over, crawling, walking, babbling and recognising sounds and family members are all considered important milestones. Though every child may not reach a certain milestone at the same time, there is a range within which most children may lie. These are used as a general checklist to flag any major delays and issues in the baby’s growth, and any notable aberrations would be best addressed by a paediatrician.

These infant development milestones can be classified into four broad groups based on the kind of skill.

1. Physical Milestones for infants – These include both gross and fine motor skills that a baby can do. Fine motor skills require hand-eye coordination and are used for day to day activities. Babies begin by reaching out for toys, grasping the milk bottle and waving their hands. Gross motor skills involve larger muscle groups and activities like rolling, crawling, standing up and jumping or hopping. Children take a little longer to be able to do these as they are slightly more complicated than fine motor skills.

2. Cognitive milestones for infants – Babies keenly observe the environment around them and learn how to react to different stimuli. Cognitive milestones refer to those involving thinking, reacting and problem-solving. These also form the basis for learning skills like memory and attention. Babies may begin by focusing on objects in their range of vision, recognizing familiar faces and sounds and imitating sounds or actions. As they become older, they are able to sort and stack objects. Providing the child an environment rich in varied stimuli is the best way to encourage cognitive development.

3. Social and emotional milestones for infants – Your child interacts with many people right from the start. Social skills focus on how they interact with others, while emotional skills refer to the child’s own feelings. Babies may respond differently to different people, pay attention to their name or respond to a no. As they grow, they begin to play with other children, participate in group activities and will begin to share toys with others. Encouraging interaction with people is a great way to develop social skills among children.

4. Communication milestones for infants – Speech and language development begin in different forms in infants. These milestones reflect not just what is spoken but also non-verbal communication. A baby begins by cooing and babbling and may try to communicate through actions. Their first word is perhaps as memorable an event for parents as the first step! Over time, children begin to use proper words and widen their vocabulary and grammar usage. Hearing is vital for a child to develop speech and an inability to do so can be a red flag to check for the hearing disorder.

Major Infant Developmental Milestones to look out for during baby's first year

During the first year of life, your baby will grow and develop at an amazing speed. Wondering what skills/milestones do babies develop during their first year? Here’s a list of physical, cognitive, linguistic and social/personal developmental milestones for newborns to 12-month olds.

Physical/Motor Milestones for infants

1-3 months

• Stays in a flexed position, with arms and knees tucked into the abdomen
• Reacts to being touched. Opens mouth and turns towards your hand when you touch their cheek (rooting reflex)
• Rests legs with hips open while lying on the back
• When startled, throws arms in the air, with the palms of their hands facing up, back and neck stretched; then quickly retracts arms back to the chest (moro reflex)
• Stretches and spreads toes when the sole of her foot is stroked
• Keeps hands clenched in tight fists
• Begins to suck automatically when something touches palate (sucking reflex)
• When lying face down, the infant can hold their head up, can stretch arms and legs.when lying face up infant can turn head to either side, can raise her legs about 4 inches from the ground and kicks
• Opens and closes hands
• Can fixate eyesight on objects 18 inches away
• Looks back and forth between two objects
• Can hold a small object placed in hands, like a rattle
• Shakes objects

4-6 months

• Lifts head and chest using her elbows and forearms while lying face down
• Opens hand when you hand something to the infant as if expecting contact
• Holds feet with hands when lying face up
• Can support their own weight when held up with her feet on a flat surface
• Attempts to sit up when pulled by the hands while lying face up
• Lifts head when lying face up as if attempting to sit up
• Holds large objects with both hands
• Uses both hands to reach for an object
• Stretches to reach an object and grabs it
• Holds objects with the palm of hands without using the thumb
• Pushes their upper body upwards while lying face down
• Stretches out to reach something while lying face down
• Extends their arms forward while lying face down
• Pulls an object towards herself
• Holds two objects at a time, one in each hand
• Can stay seated with support of their hands placed in front of her body
• Rolls over both ways (face up to face down and face down to face up)
• Rolls to face-up position while lying face down
• Rocks from side to side on the stomach while lying face down
• Uses legs to push themselves forward while lying face down

7-10 months

• Reacts differently to different textures
• Reacts differently to hot and cold stimuli
• Remains sitting without support
• Holds an object with the palm of their hands using all her fingers including the thumb
• Rolls or shuffles in order to get around
• Voluntarily lets go of objects she is grabbing
• Shows a preference for certain foods
• Prefers soft to coarse textures
• Takes object out of a container
• Rocks back and forth while on their ands and knees (four point position)
• Drags themselves to reach something
• Positions themselves on hands and knees (crawling position)
• Reacts to smells
• Goes from lying down to sitting by themselves
• Picks up small objects using their index finger and thumb
• Supports the weight of their upper body with one arm when lying face down
• Uses both hands simultaneously to handle objects, like opening a box
• Wrinkles paper using both hands
• Tears paper using both hands
• Pulls themselves up to standing, holding on to furniture
• Can go from sitting to kneeling
• Grasps objects using only their fingertips
• Flips through pages of a book (even if not one by one)
• Picks up very small objects between their thumb and forefinger
• Places objects in a container
• Crawls
• Changes directions easily when crawling
• Climbs or goes around obstacles when crawling
• Stands momentarily with help
• Remains standing while holding on to something
• Walks by "cruising" or leaning on furniture
• Walks while holding on to someone with both hands

11-12 months

• Explores how high or far she can crawl or climb furniture
• Moves toys that have wheels (cars, trains, etc)
• Starts and stops a toy's movement (for example a toy car)
• Uses the handle to open and close a door or drawer
• Knocks down block towers
• Goes from standing to sitting without help
• Moves small objects from one container to another using their index finger and thumb (pincer grasp)
• Crawls upstairs
• Goes from standing up to squatting
• Stays balanced while standing up and playing with an object
• Stops a rolling ball with their hands or body

Cognitive milestones for infants

1-3 months

• Prefers contrast (black and white)
• Prefers high pitched volume
• Brings hand to their mouth
• Voluntarily directs their attention towards a person or situation
• Pays attention to an object or person for at least one minute
• Directs their attention to their surroundings
• Pays attention to faces
• Begins to follow things with eyes and recognise people at a distance
• Begins to act bored (cries, fussy) id activity does not change
• Prefers usual caregiver
• Attends to moderate novelty
• Follows the movement of an object by turning their head
• Brings objects to their mouth
• Looks at their hands
• Explores one hand with the other
• Shows an interest in new things she has not seen
• Can see clearly within 13 inches from the face
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4-6 months

• Makes deliberate movements to grab objects which are within their reach
• Looks around when she is somewhere unfamiliar to their
• 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
• Can anticipate routine
• Gets anxious in the presence of strangers
• Bangs one object with another
• Closely observes how you do things
• Pays attention to conversations
• Explores their own body with their hands
• Looks around at things nearby
• Brings things to mouth
• Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach
• Begins to pass things from one hand to another

7-10 months

• Experiments with cause and effect (drops an object and waits for you to pick it up)
• Can push or pull aside an object in order to reach another
• Looks for an object on the ground when she drops it
• Imitates a simple one-step action (shaking a rattle)
• Can listen closely when she is spoken to
• Pays attention to the location of the objects she has seen hidden
• Associates objects with their corresponding sounds (looks for the phone when it starts to ring)
• Finds objects hidden under a blanket or other cover
• Imitates another person's facial expressions (smiling when you smile)
• Responds to music by trying to move to the beat
• Watches the path of something as it falls
• Plays peek-a-boo
• Moves things smoothly from one hand to another
• Enjoys looking at other babies
• Enjoys pop-up toys that surprise their
• Searches for hidden toys
• Imitates simple gestures (clapping when you clap)

11-12 month

• Dances to a song's beat
• Explores things in different ways like shaking, banging, throwing
• Looks at the right picture or thing when it's named
• Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
• Pokes with the index finger

Linguistic/Communication milestones for infants

1-3 months

• Gets alerted by sounds
• Startles to loud sounds
• Variable cries
• Coos, makes gurgling sounds
• Turns head towards sounds
• Turns to voices
• Starts cooing
• Responds to sounds around him which are not in direct sight by following the movement of the object
• Starts to vocalise sounds by making sounds other than crying, such as small thraoty sounds
• Makes eye contact
• Cries differently for different needs
• Makes guttural sound such as "ga", "gu" or "gr"
• Makes vowel sounds such as "eh" or "ah"
• Shows interest in faces
• Begins to babble
• Babbles with expression and copies sounds she hears
• Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired
• Laughs, makes sounds when happy

4-6 months

• Shakes arms when something catches their attention
• Expresses like or dislike through facial expressions
• Begins to babble
• Babbles with expression and copies sounds she hears
• Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired
• Laughs, makes sounds when happy
• Makes consonant sounds (m,n,p,t,d..)
• Listens and responds when spoken to
• Notices toys that make sounds
• Varies the tone of their babbling
• Responds to sounds by making sounds
• Strings vowels together when babbling ("ah", "eh" "oh") and likes taking turns with parent while making sounds
• Responds to own name
• Makes sounds to show joy or displeasure
• Laughs out loud when being tickled
• Uses babbling to get attention

7-10 months

• Makes repeated syllable sounds (consonant and vowel: baba, dada..)
• Babbles as if simulating a conversation (for example, waits for their turn to "speak")
• Asks for help by babbling
• Babbles when someone talks to then
• Turns towards the sound of a rattle which is 20cm behind each ear, and out of sight
• Interacts with other children by babbling
• Makes simple gestures (waves goodbye)
• Copies sounds and gestures of others
• Uses fingers to points at things
• Recognizes sound of their names
• Follows some routine commands when paired with gestures
• Shows recognition of commonly used words
• Pays attention to where you are looking and pointing produces long strings of gibberish (jargoning) in social communication
• Begins using hand movements to communicate wants and needs
• Asks for help by gesturing

11-12 months

• Points to an object she wants
• Says "mama" "papa" or "dada" when referring to parents
• Turns towards familiar objects or people when they are named
• Understands the meaning of "no"
• Tries to imitate words you say
• Imitates a syllable pronounced by someone else (says "pa" after you do)
• Gives you an object if you ask for it
• Understands three-word phrases, such as "look, the dog"
• Responds to simple spoken requests
• Makes sounds with changes in tone (sounds more like speech)
• Plays peek-a-boo
• Uses smiling or crying to indicate how they are feeling

Personal/Social milestones for infants

1-3 months

• Pays special attention to faces
• Calms down when he hears familiar voices
• Smiles at people when she makes eye contact
• Reacts with joy towards signs of affection
• Looks at the person speaking to them
• Reacts to different tones of voices
• Responds positively to touch
• Quiet when picked up
• Can be comforted by cuddling or parent's touch
• Sees clearly within 13 inches from their face
• Be comforted by a familiar adult
• Listen to voices
• Is not upset with everyday sounds
• Does not demonstrate frequent or long bouts of being upset
• Smiles spontaneously, especially at people
• Likes to play with people and might cry when playing stops
• Tries to imitate some facial expressions like smiling and frowning

4-6 months

• Recognises their parents
• Raises hands to be picked up
• Is usually happy when not hungry or tired
• Enjoys varied playful movement experiences (bouncing on knees)
• Turns head towards sounds
• Give warm smiles and laughs
• Cries when upset and seeks comfort
• Shows excitement by waving arms and legs
• Recognises faces
• Notice a difference between people based on the way they look, sound or feel
• Enjoy looking at other babies
• Pay attention to their own name
• Likes to play with adults
• Shows preference for certain people
• Laughs aloud
• Enjoys looking at themselves in the mirror

7-10 months

• Responds to you when you call their name or talk to them or make gestures
• Possibly comfort himself/herself by sucking the thumb or holding a special toy or blanket
• Plays alone
• Express several different clear emotions
• Plays games like peek-a-boo
• Shows displeasure at a loss of a toy
• Start to understand your different emotions (frowns when you speak in an angry tone)
• Has favourite toys
• Repeats sounds or actions that get people's attention
• Shows more comfort around familiar people and anxiety around strangers
• Interacts with other kids during play
• Points to things she wants you to look at
• Responds by turning to look when you call his/her name
• Imitate some of your actions

11-12 months

• Pay attention to simple commands such as "no"
• Knows strangers from his/her family, and cry when their parent goes away
• Give affection and love
• Displays fear with new situations
• Understand the word "no" but will not always obey
• Has established a fairly regular sleeping schedule
• Cries when mom or dad leaves
• Shows happiness to see their parents' face, their toys or a mirror

Most children catch up with their peers within a few months or years. Delays are usually not a cause for concern and most doctors can recommend excellent treatments or therapies to overcome the delays. Enjoy the first year as much as possible and have fun celebrating the milestones as and when they come.

Helping Your Child Reach a Milestone

Babies grow at a rapid pace till they reach their first birthday, being almost twice their birth weight by 5 or 6 months and tripling as they complete a year. An infant’s brain is like a sponge, keen to absorb all the new things happening around them. Neural development happens at an amazing speed as the child learns how to do new things. Spending time with your baby to introduce and reinforce different experiences goes a long way at this crucial stage. It is also important to not give up if the child does not respond in a certain way or takes long. Babies need time to understand the cause and effect of any stimulus, so this process should not be hurried. A well-rested baby will be in a better mood to enjoy any activities. If the child does not seem interested in a particular activity, do not linger on it for too long. Instead, consider moving to something else and revisiting the previous activity a little later or in a few days. Here are a few tips on activities that aid development in different areas.

1. Tummy time – During the first few months, cuddling and holding your baby can do wonders. Tummy time involves activities with the baby placed on his or her belly when awake. Using a rattle, a colourful toy or interesting sounds to call attention, encourage the baby to pick up his or her head or reach out towards it. This builds strength in the neck and other muscles used in gross motor skills like sitting up, rolling, crawling and walking. Tummy time should be closely supervised as it can get tiring for the baby. Begin with short sessions for a few minutes at a time and repeat it a couple of times during the day.

2. Bath Time Fun – Children enjoy bath time, where they to splash around in the water and play with bubbles and foam. Apart from sensory experiences, cognitive abilities like thinking and problem solving can also be taught here. Scooping, pouring, measuring are fun activities that teach about volume and temperature. Do supervise bath time activities and never leave your little one unattended.

3. Sleep and rest – A baby’s brain needs sufficient downtime to process and store all that he or she has learnt during the day. Sufficient sleep helps solidify the many neural connections made in the brain to store for later retrieval. Avoid introducing new activities when the child is sleepy, instead a massage or a lullaby helps the mind to relax and wind down.

4. Repeat after me – Babies absorb a lot during the day, but may not remember everything they have learnt. Revisiting the same activities every few days helps to reinforce a concept. With time, the baby will know what comes next and look forward to it. Rhymes and lullabies have repetitive lyrics that can be the first lessons in memory building. A predictable routine to wake up to and at night also instils a sense of familiarity in the midst of so many new experiences.

5. Let’s talk – Imitating comes naturally to babies. Linguistic skills are best learnt through spoken interaction. Speak to the baby about everything that is happening, point out different body parts at massage and bath time, identify colours and food at mealtime and make up songs while changing a diaper.  These increase vocabulary and listening skills. If a child shows interest in something, encourage questions and talk about it so they think about it and share their thoughts.

6.Books are buddies – Your child is never too young to become friends with books. Introduce your baby to board books with bright pictures and textural books for sensory development. With time, the child will begin to remember names of what he or she sees. Learning new words broadens vocabulary and builds cognitive and communication skills.

7. Socializing and making friends – Primary caregivers (parents, grandparents, nannies, etc.) are the first persons that a baby interacts and forms a strong bond with. Talking to the baby about different things and persons helps understand emotions. Interactions with a sibling can teach sharing. Pretend play is an excellent way for the baby to learn about different roles.  Encouraging the child to play with friends in the park builds social skills. A safe, stable environment and positive reinforcements go a long way in all-round development of the baby into a happy child.

8. Playtime learning – Playtime is as important as sleep and nutrition. Children build social connections, communicate and learn concepts like sharing, taking turns, etc. Sorting, stacking and nesting toys build cognitive skills. Allow children to make a little mess at times and enjoy a rich sensory experience by making a designated area for messy play outdoors or near a sink in the bathroom.

9. Little helpers – Toddlers love to act like grown-ups and help in doing small chores. Stacking toys, sorting like coloured clothes and matching socks are simple tasks that encourage logical thinking and following instructions. The feeling of accomplishment felt by your little helper is priceless.

10. Big lessons are everywhere – You do not need special equipment or classes for helping a child learn new things. Mealtimes can be occasions for social interaction, table manners and learning about food. During travel, strike up a conversation on what the child can observe. Name each body part as you massage the baby. Dressing up is also a great exercise for practicing motor skills. Household objects, simple toys and everyday activities can be used as learning experiences.

Why Infant Developmental Milestones are Important?

Every child is unique and grows at his or her own pace. While some children may reach a certain milestone earlier than others, it is common for babies to lie a little ahead or short of the specified age in mastering a skill. Parents and caregivers can monitor easily discernable milestones in playing, speaking, moving or learning. A missed milestone that a baby hasn’t caught up to after a reasonable time could be a cause for concern and should be mentioned to the paediatrician. If needed, they may ask more questions, conduct a developmental evaluation or refer to a specialist. If diagnosed at the right time, a developmental delay can often be corrected through appropriate treatment.

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