After the First Weeks — Your Baby's Development

While temperamental characteristics or traits tend to remain quite constant over a long period of time, many other kinds of behavior change rapidly—and many of these changes can be predicted by your baby's age. Some of these "developmental" characteristics and behaviors are listed along with the ages at which your baby is first likely to show them.

Moving the Whole Body

Characteristics	Most Babies First Do This Between
Holds head off of bed for a few moments while lying on stomach	Birth and 4 wks
Holds head upright lying on stomach	5 wks and 3 mos
Holds head steady when held in sitting position	6 wks and 4 mos
Rolls over from front to back, or from back to front	2 mos and 5 mos
Sits without support when placed in a sitting position	5 mos and 8 mos
Gets into sitting position in crib or on floor without help	6 mos and 11 mos
Takes part of weight on own legs when held steady	3 mos and 8 mos
Stands holding on	5 mos and 10 mos
Stands for a moment alone	9 mos and 13 mos
Stands alone well	10 mos and 14 mos
Walks holding onto furniture	7 1/2 mos and 13 mos
Walks alone across a room	11 mos and 15 mos

Using Hands and Eyes

Characteristics	Most Babies First Do This Between
Follows an object with eyes for a short distance	Birth and 6 wks
Follows with eyes from one side all the way to the other side of head	2 mos and 4 mos
Brings hands together in front of body	6 wks and 3 1/2 mos
Grasps a rattle placed in fingers	2 1/2 mos and 4 1/2 mos
Passes a toy from one hand to the other	5 mos and 7 1/2 mos
Grasps a small object (like a raisin) off a flat surface	5 mos and 8 mos
Picks up a small object using thumb and finger	7 mos and 10 mos
Brings together two toys held in hands	7 mos and 12 mos
Scribbles with a pencil or crayon	12 mos and 24 mos

Using Ears and Voice

Characteristics	Most Babies First Do This Between
Pays attention to sounds	Birth and 6 wks
Makes vocal sounds other than crying	Birth and 6 wks
Laughs	6 wks and 3 1/2 mos
Squeals	6 wks and 4 1/2 mos
Turns toward your voice	4 mos and 8 mos
Says "Dada" or "Mama"	6 mos and 10 mos
Uses Dada or Mama to mean one specific person	10 mos and 14 mos
Imitates the speech sounds you make	6 mos and 11 mos

Behaving With People

Characteristics	Most Babies First Do This Between
Looks at your face	Birth and 1 mo
Smiles when you smile or play with him or her	Birth and 2 mos
Smiles by self	6 wks and 5 mos
Pulls back when you pull a toy in his or her hand	4 mos and 10 mos
Tries to get a toy that is out of reach	5 mos and 9 mos
Feeds crackers to self	5 mos and 8 mos
Drinks from a cup by self	10 mos and 16 mos
Uses a spoon, spills little	13 mos and 24 mos
Plays peek-a-boo	6 mos and 10 mos
Plays pat-a-cake	7 mos and 13 mos
Plays with a ball on the floor	10 mos and 16 mos

NOTE: A baby who was born before expected—who was "premature"—will normally be later in development. If your baby was early by a month, add one month to the above ages to find out when to expect to see these characteristics. If two months early, add two months, etc.

Don't spend much effort trying to teach your baby something that most babies don't learn until they are older. Your baby will learn it easier and faster later on.

Knowing what your child will be doing next can help you Plan for your child's safety. A child who can crawl must be kept away from stairways and things that can be pulled over. A child who can grasp things will need to have dangerous (or valuable) things kept out of reach. A child who can pick up small objects which can be swallowed and cause choking must be kept away from small items.

A child who sits early will probably stand early, but won't necessarily talk early. The characteristics that are grouped together in the chart usually go together in a child.

If your baby does something later than the expected times shown in the chart, you should think about why this might be. If slow in just one or two items, and average or quick in the others, this may be just your child's style of doing things. But if your baby is slow in all items in any category, it is cause for some concern. Have you been giving your child an opportunity to learn, and have you been praising your child's efforts? Is your child a premature baby or physically ill? If you can't find any reason, and if your child doesn't learn when you try to teach, have your doctor check your child's health and development. If you are told the baby will "grow out of it" and you don't see any improvement, check again—or get another doctor's opinion. If your baby is much slower than the expected times in several areas of development, either there is a health problem or there is something wrong with your child's opportunities to learn and develop. In either case, you will want to know about it.

Source: http://www.healthguidance.org/authors/479/Jeff-Beaumont

Jeff Beaumont

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View all articles by Jeff Beaumont

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