Every baby has its own speed of development. Despite the big differences, there are still some developmental milestones that every child should master sooner or later.
Today I go over in detail with baby development and show you the most important milestones.
- Children learn differently
- A small development calendar to keep track
2.1. The first month of life
2.2. The milestones of development in the second, third and fourth month
2.3. At 6 months, toddlers can sit
2.4. Seventh to ninth month
2.5. The first year of life – learning to walk and speak - The second year of life in fast forward
- Tips for the whole family
- Children learn differently
At a certain time your baby crawls on the floor, but not every child sticks to a fixed time frame.
With the birth of the first child, your entire life changes. The focus is on the baby and otherwise there is very little time. That’s no a bad thing for most parents, because the first year of a child’s life is one of the most exciting experiences.
While a newborn is already able to turn its head and smile, it takes a little more time for the many further stages to develop.
The focus of your baby pediatrics is primarily on the child’s reflexes and possible physical development problems. Height and weight are always recorded in a table in order to keep an eye on individual development.
- Development calendar
Here you’ll see important milestones in the development of your child in the first year in bullet points. Please keep in mind, this is only intended as a guide.
2.1. The first month of life
Vision is very limited. Babies can only see sharply in a range between 20 inch at first. So get as close to your child as possible. The ideal distance is when you’re breastfeeding. The head movements are still uncontrolled, you’ll get some smiles and babies make themselves known in the first month of their lives by crying. You will also hear an ohh or ahh more often.
2.2. The milestones in the second, third and fourth month
two months
follows movements with the eyes
can raise his head
starts making more sounds
three months
is able to hold and move the head still
reacts to sounds by turning around
tries to support himself in prone position on his forearms
laughs more often and recognizes faces
four months
tries to grab things and is increasingly able to hold on to them
can roll around, or at least tries to
smell and taste gets better
2.3. At 6 months your baby can sit
Babies need a little help to sit up at first.
It will be a while before the baby is sitting up. The motor skills develop faster and faster, so that babies by the age of six months can hold a grip and and even sit for a short time.
One of the major milestones you see are in language development.
General cooing sounds are becoming more and more babbled scraps of words. High pitch sounds can also happen more frequently.
2.4. Seventh to ninth month
Free sitting is now no longer a problem and most babies are able to pull themselves up using objects. Babies are able to stand on their own feet with a little help. Muscle strength is coming.
Crawling is now happening soon too, yay! Many parents hear a mama or dada already. Get excited for that.
2.5. The first year of life – learning to walk and speak
While the first steps are still a bit wobbly, the baby is now entering the toddler stage.
After about twelve months, many children begin to speak their first words besides mom and dad. But don’t worry if that takes a little longer, especially if you raise the child with more than one language.
For almost all parents, the first steps are one of the most important milestones. However, be patient a little longer, since the phase can also extend over 15 or 16 months.
Toddlers are able to hold an object with two fingers, the so-called tweezer grip. How cute!
- The second year of life in fast forward
After Toddlers finally say their first words, the vocabulary gets bigger in the second year. You can expect your baby to say about 10-30 words by the time she turns two.
- Tips for the whole family
Try to encourage your baby and give her every opportunities to develop. Do not listen to outsiders! Every baby develops different and on their own pace.
You can always motivate your child’s development by talking to her a lot and supporting her when she tries to walk and crawl.
