You know it’s important to monitor your baby’s growth and development. But what exact milestones should you be looking for? Here’s a quick look at the milestones your baby should reach between birth and age one.
By Two Months
Even in just the first two months of your baby’s life, there are important milestones to reach. Some of the ones we look for are:
- They are nursing or feeding well
- Gaining enough weight between checkups
- Smiles when you talk to or smile at them
- Reacts to loud noise (may jump, stare, or cry)
- They watch you when you move
- Keeps their attention on a toy for a few seconds at a time
- Moves both arms and both legs
By Four Months
By four months, your baby will be even more active and curious than ever. At this age, we want to make sure your baby:
- Makes sounds back when you talk to them
- Turns their head towards the sound of your voice
- Looks at their own hands with interest
- If hungry, they open their mouth when they see breast or bottle
- Holds their head steady without support when you are holding them
- Holds a toy when you put it in their hand
- Brings their hands to their mouth
By Six Months
By six months, your baby will be able to do even more physical and social activities. Some of the important milestones for this age are:
- Likes to look at self in a mirror
- Laughs
- Takes turns making sounds with you
- Blows raspberries with their tongue
- Puts things in their mouth to explore them
- Reaches to grab a toy they want
- Closes mouth to show they don’t want more food
- Rolls from their tummy to their back
- Pushes up with their arms when on tummy
- Leans on their hands to support themselves when sitting
By Nine Months
By nine months, your baby will be curious to explore the world around them as much as they can. Some of the milestones we look for to ensure good development are:
- Looks when you call their name
- Smiles or laughs when you play peek-a-boo
- Makes a lot of different repetitive sounds
- Lifts their arms up to be picked up
- They look for objects around them
- Bangs two things together
- Gets to a sitting position by themselves
- Uses fingers to “rake” food towards themselves
- Sits up without support
By One Year
And finally, by one year, your baby will be more social and adventurous than ever. By this age, they should have reached the earlier development milestones plus:
- They play games with you, like pat-a-cake
- Waves “bye-bye”
- Understands “no”
- Pulls self up to stand
- Walks while holding on to furniture
- Drinks from a cup without a lid, as you hold it
How We Treat These Missed Milestones
By about one year old, your baby should be active. They should socialize and move around on their own, and they should be starting to figure out how the things around them work. If they aren’t quite up to these milestones by each age listed, it may indicate a problem that can be helped with pediatric therapy.
- For example, a baby who isn’t very physically active, can’t roll over, or can’t sit up on their own can benefit from physical and occupational therapy to improve their strength and flexibility.
- A baby who isn’t playing games or communicating by age one may need occupational or speech and language therapies to help improve their social and emotional development.
- And a baby who doesn’t nurse well or won’t transition to solid foods can benefit from feeding therapy to help them learn how to get the food into their belly.
These are all things we can do here at our clinic. And it doesn’t matter how young your baby is. Pediatric therapy is used every day to help young babies, toddlers, and children gain the skills they need for successful development.
If your baby or child needs pediatric therapy, we can help get them on the road to success. Call us at (318) 746-1199 today for a free phone screening!
