The first years of development are crucial for lifelong learning and development. Developmental milestones are actions that most children can do by a certain age. Milestones follow predictable courses in infants and children, and later, developmental skills build on previous ones achieved. Understanding normal development can help recognize delayed development. Children with global developmental delays have delays in multiple domains of development, while children with specific delays may have a delay in only one area of development, such as language or motor skills (Scharf et al., 2006).
Examples of important developmental milestones
Milestones at 1 month
Movement milestones
Makes jerky, quivering arm thrusts
Brings hands within range of eyes and mouth
Moves the head from side to side while lying on the stomach
Keeps hands in tight fists
Develops strong reflex movements
Visual and hearing milestones
Focuses 8–12 inches (20.3–30.4 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 towards familiar sounds and voices
Communication milestone
Cries to express needs (hunger or discomfort)
Makes small cooing and gurgling sounds
Calms down when swaddled
Milestones at 3 months
Movement milestones
Raises head and chest when lying on the stomach
Supports the upper body with arms when lying on the stomach
Stretches legs out and kicks when lying on the 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 towards 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
Milestones at 7 months
Movement milestones
Rolls both ways (front to back and back to front)
Sits with and then without the support of its hands
Supports its whole weight on its legs
Reaches with one hand
Transfers objects from hand to hand
Uses raking grasp (not pincer)
Visual milestones
Develops full colour vision
Experiences enhanced distance vision
Experiences improvement in the ability to track moving objects
Language milestones
Responds to own name
Begins to respond to ‘no’
Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice
Responds to sounds by making sounds
Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
Babbles chains of consonants
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
Gets interested in mirror images
Responds to other people’s expressions of emotion and appears joyful often
Milestones at 1 year
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 words
Cognitive milestones
Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing and 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, dialling phone and listening to receiver)
Social and emotional milestones
Becomes 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 food?)
Tests parental responses to its behaviour (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
Milestones at 2 years
Movement milestones
Walks alone
Pulls toys behind it while walking
Carries a large toy or several toys while walking
Begins to run
Stands on tiptoe
Kicks a ball
Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
Walks up and down stairs, holding on to support
Achieves milestones in hand and finger skills
Scribbles spontaneously
Turns over container to pour out contents
Builds tower of four blocks or more
Might use one hand more frequently than the other
Language milestones
Points to an object or picture when it is named for him
Recognizes names of familiar people, objects and body parts
Says several single words (by 15–18 months)
Uses simple phrases (by 18–24 months)
Uses two- to four-word sentences
Follows simple instructions
Repeats words overheard in conversation
Cognitive milestones
Finds objects even when hidden under two or three covers
Begins to sort by shapes and colours
Begins make-believe play
Social and emotional milestones
Imitates behaviour of others, especially adults and older children
Increasingly aware of itself as separate from others
Increasingly enthusiastic about company of other children
Demonstrates increasing independence
Begins to show defiant behaviour
Increasing episodes of separation anxiety toward midyear, then they fade
Milestones at 4 years
Movement milestones
Hops and stands on one foot for up to five seconds
Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
Kicks ball forward
Throws ball overhand
Catches bounced ball most of the time
Moves forward and backward with agility
Milestones in hand and finger skills
Copies square shapes
Draws a person with two to four body parts
Uses scissors
Draws circles and squares
Begins to copy some capital letters
Language milestones
Understands the concepts of ‘same’ and ‘different’
Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
Speaks in sentences of five to six words
Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
Tells stories
Cognitive milestones
Correctly names some colours
Understands the concept of counting and may know a few numbers
Approaches problems from a single point of view
Begins to have a clearer sense of time
Follows three-part commands
Recalls parts of a story
Understands the concept of same/different
Engages in fantasy play
Social and emotional milestones
Interested in new experiences
Cooperates with other children
Plays ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’
Becomes increasingly inventive in fantasy play
Dresses and undresses
Negotiates solutions to conflicts
Becomes more independent
Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be ‘monsters’
Views self as a whole person involving body, mind and feelings
Often cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality
Milestones at 5 years
Movement milestones
Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
Hops and somersaults
Swings and climbs
May be able to skip
Milestones in hand and finger skills
Copies triangle and other geometric patterns
Draws person with body
Prints some letters
Dresses and undresses without assistance
Uses fork, spoon and (sometimes) a table knife
Usually cares for own toilet needs
Language milestones
Recalls part of a story
Speaks sentences of more than five words
Uses future tense
Tells longer stories
Says name and address
Cognitive milestones
Can count 10 or more objects
Correctly names at least four colours
Better understands the concept of time
Knows about things used every day in the home (money, food and appliances)
Social and emotional milestones
Wants to please friends
Wants to be like her friends
Is more likely to agree to rules
Likes to sing, dance and act
Shows more independence and may even visit a next-door neighbour by herself
Becomes aware of sexuality
Is able to distinguish fantasy from reality
Becomes demanding sometimes and eagerly cooperative at other times
