Developmental Milestones

From babbling to walking, your child is growing very quickly! The way your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves all show how your child is developing.

About Your Child's Development

No two children develop, grow, and learn at exactly the same pace. But, children do develop in predictable ways, known as developmental milestones. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by the time they reach a certain age. You can follow your child’s development by knowing the milestones and watching how your child plays, learns, speaks, and acts. 

A developmental screening is also an important tool to know if your child is on track. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s development, or want a developmental screening, contact your pediatrician or call Help Me Grow Inland Empire at 1-888-464-4316. Learn how Help Me Grow works here.

 

Developmental Milestones

Below is a timeline of developmental milestones. They can tell you where your child should be and where they are headed next. 

This information on developmental milestones is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Learn the Signs. Act Early.”

To get more information on developmental milestones, as well as tips and activities, follow us on Facebook or Instagram!

2 Months
4 Months
6 Months
9 Months
1 Year
18 Months
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years

2M

2 Months

Social and Emotional

  • Begins to smile at people
  • Can briefly calm herself
  • Tries to look at parent

Communication

  • Coos, makes gurgling sounds
  • Turns head towards sounds

Learning

  • Pays attention to faces
  • Begins to follow things with eyes and recognizes things at a distance
  • Begins to act bored (cries, fussy) if activity doesn’t change

Movement

  • Can hold head up and beings to begins to push up when lying on tummy
  • Makes smoother movements with arms and legs

4M

4 Months

Social and Emotional

  • Smiles spontaneously, especially at people
  • Likes to play with people and might cry when playing stops
  • Copies some movements and facial expressions, like or frowning

Communication

  • Begins to babble
  • Babbles with expression and copies sounds he hears
  • Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired

Learning

  • Lets you know if he 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

Movement

  • Holds head steady, unsupported
  • Pushes down on legs when feet are on a hard surface
  • May be able to roll over from tummy to back
  • Can hold a toy and shake it and swing at dangling toys
  • Brings hands to mouth
  • When lying on stomach, pushes up to elbows

6M

6 Months

Social and Emotional

  • Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger
  • Likes to play with others, especially parents
  • Responds to other people’s emotions and often seems happy
  • Likes to look at self in a mirror

Communication

  • 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 and displeasure
  • Begins to say consonant sounds (jabbering with “m”, “b”)

Learning

  • 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

Movement

  • Rolls over in both directions (front to back and back to front)
  • Begins to sit without support
  • When standing, supports weight on legs and might bounce
  • Rocks back and forth, sometimes crawling backwards before moving forward

9M

9 Months

Social and Emotional

  • May be afraid of strangers
  • May be clingy with familiar adults
  • Has favorite toys

Communication

  • Understands “no”
  • Makes a lot of different sounds like “mamamamama” and “babababababa”
  • Copies sounds and gestures of others
  • Uses fingers to points at things

Learning

  • Watches the path of something as it falls
  • Looks for things she sees you hide
  • Plays peek-a-boo
  • Puts things in his mouth
  • Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
  • Picks up things like cereal o’s between thumb and index finger

Movement

  • Stands, holding on
  • Can get into sitting position
  • Sits without support
  • Pulls to stand
  • Crawls

1Y

1 Year

Social and Emotional

  • Is shy or nervous with strangers
  • Cries when a parent leaves
  • Has favorite things and people
  • Shows fear in some situations
  • Hands you a book when he wants to hear a story
  • Repeats sounds or actions to get attention
  • Puts out an arm or leg to help with dressing
  • Plays games such as “peek-a-boo” and “pat-a-cake”

Communication

  • Responds to simple spoken requests
  • Uses simple gestures, like shaking head “no” or waving “bye-bye”
  • Makes sounds with changes in tone, sounds more like speech
  • Says “mama” and “dada” and exclamations like “uh-oh!”
  • Tries to say words you say

Learning

  • Explores things in different ways, like shaking, banging, and throwing
  • Finds hidden things easily
  • Looks at the right picture or thing when it’s named
  • Copies gestures
  • Starts to use things correctly; for example, drinks from a cup, brushes hair
  • Bangs two things together
  • Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
  • Lets things go without help
  • Pokes with index (pointer) finger
  • Follows simple directions like “pick up the toy”

Movement

  • Gets to a sitting position without help
  • Pulls up to stand, walks holding onto furniture, called “cruising”
  • May take a few steps without holding on
  • May stand alone

18M

18 Months

Social and Emotional

  • Likes to hand things to others as play
  • May have temper tantrums
  • May be afraid of strangers
  • Shows affection to familiar people
  • Plays simple pretend, such as feeding a doll
  • May cling to caregivers in new situations
  • Points to show others something interesting
  • Explores alone but with parent close by

Communication

  • Says several single words
  • Says and shakes head “no”
  • Points to show someone what he wants

Learning

  • Knows what ordinary things are for; for example, telephone, brush, spoon
  • Points to get the attention of others
  • Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
  • Points to one body part
  • Scribbles on his own
  • Can follow 1-step verbal commands without any gestures; for example, sits when you say “sit down”

Movement

  • Walks alone
  • May walk up steps and run
  • Pulls toys while talking
  • Can help undress herself
  • Drinks from a cup
  • Eats with a spoon

2Y

2 Years

Social and Emotional

  • Copies others, especially adults and older children
  • Gets excited when with other children
  • Shows more and more independence
  • Shows defiant behavior (doing what he has been told not to)
  • Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children such as in chase games

Communication

  • Points to things or pictures when they are named
  • Knows names of familiar people and body parts
  • Says sentences with 2 to 4 words
  • Follows simple instructions
  • Repeats words overheard in conversation
  • Points to things in a book

Learning

  • Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
  • Begins to sort shapes and colors
  • Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
  • Plays simple make-believe games
  • Builds towers of 4 or more blocks
  • Might use one hand more than the other
  • Follows two-step instructions such as “pick up your shoes and put them in the closet”
  • Names items in a picture book such as a cat, bird, or dog

Movement

  • Stands on tiptoe
  • Kicks a ball
  • Begins to run
  • Climbs onto and down from furniture without help
  • Walks up and down stairs holding on
  • Throw ball overhand
  • Makes or copies straight lines and circles

3Y

3 Years

Social and Emotional

  • Copies adults and friends
  • Shows affection for friends without prompting
  • Takes turns in games
  • Shows concern for crying friend
  • Understands the idea of “mine” and “his” or “hers”
  • Shows a wide range of emotions
  • Separates easily from mom and dad
  • May get upset with major changes in routine
  • Dresses and undresses self

Communication

  • Follows instructions with 2 or 3 steps
  • Can name most familiar things
  • Understands words like “in”, “on”, and “under”
  • Says first name, age, and sex
  • Names a friend
  • Says words like “I”, “me”, “we”, and “you” and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
  • Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time
  • Carries on a conversation using 2 to 3 sentences

Learning

  • Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts
  • Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
  • Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
  • Copies a circle with pencil or crayon
  • Turns book pages one at a time
  • Builds towers of more than 6 blocks
  • Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handle

Movement

  • Climbs well
  • Runs easily
  • Pedals a tricycle
  • Walks up and down stairs, one foot on each step

4Y

4 Years

Social and Emotional

  • Enjoys doing new things
  • Plays “Mom” and “Dad”
  • Is more and more creative with make-believe play
  • Would rather play with other children than by himself
  • Cooperates with other children
  • Often can’t tell what’s real and what’s make–believe
  • Talks about what she likes and what she is interested in

Communication

  • Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using “he” and “she”
  • Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus”
  • Tells stories
  • Can say first and last name

Learning

  • Names some colors and some numbers
  • Understands the idea of counting
  • Starts to understand time
  • Remembers parts of a story
  • Understands the idea of “same” and “different”
  • Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts
  • Uses scissors
  • Starts to copy some capital letters
  • Plays board or card games
  • Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book

Movement

  • Hops and stands on one foot up to 2 seconds
  • Catches a bounced ball most of the time
  • Pours, cuts with supervision, and mashes own food

5Y

5 Years

Social and Emotional

  • Wants to please friends
  • Wants to like friends
  • More likely to agree with rules
  • Likes to sing, dance, and act
  • Is aware of gender
  • Can tell what’s real and what’s make-believe
  • Shows more independence (for example, may visit a next-door neighbor by himself [adult supervision is still needed])
  • Is sometimes demanding and sometimes very cooperative

Communication

  • Speaks very clearly
  • Tells a simple story using full sentences
  • Uses future tense; for example, “Grandma will be here.”
  • Says name and address

Learning

  • Counts 10 or more things
  • Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts
  • Can print some letters or numbers
  • Copies a triangle and other geometric shapes
  • Knows about things used every day, like money and food

Movement

  • Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
  • Hops; may be able to skip
  • Can do a somersault
  • Uses a fork and spoon and sometimes a table knife
  • Can use the toilet on her own
  • Swings and climbs
Download Developmental Milestones Pamphlet

If you are worried about your child’s development, Help Me Grow can help! Call 1-888-HMGIE-16 (1-888-464-4316) for a free developmental screening.

 

Call today: 1-888-HMGIE-16 (1-888-464-4316)

Call today:
1-888-HMGIE-16
(1-888-464-4316)

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