Child development milestones are behavioral traits and physical skills that a child achieves at different stages of their growth. They are the things a child does or is expected to be naturally doing at different ages. For example, walking, talking, sitting, feeding themselves, sharing toys, recognizing their names, and so on.
Child development milestones can be put in different categories which will help you come up with a checklist. These domains are physical development, thinking or cognitive development, social-emotional development, and language development. This article will help you monitor your child’s growth closely and know when to seek help for your child’s development.
Physical Development
Physical development involves the growth of the body, which is the development of muscles, features, and senses. It also involves learning and mastering motor skills. Physical development milestones occur at different but almost similar times for all children. The timing also depends on different factors.
From birth to one year, some of the skills include;
holding head with support
making movements with arms and legs,
Standing
walking with support
From one to three years the child should be able to;
walk alone
run
drink from a cup
kick
throw a ball overhand
Cognitive Development
This category of child development milestones involves the development of the brain. Cognitive development in toddlers is shown by how they figure their environment out. It includes problem-solving skills, curiosity, and inquisitiveness, and thinking. Fostering cognitive development lays a foundation for success in learning.
Cognitive skills from birth to one year include;
recognizing familiar faces
getting bored with prolonged activities
bringing things to mouth
responding to familiar sounds
passing objects from one hand to another
From one year to three years the child should be able to;
understand and respond to words
imitate actions and language
compare objects
Social-Emotional Development
Social-emotional development is an aspect of child development milestones that includes the management of emotions, expressing feelings, and proper relations with others. This kind of development helps children form good relations with other people they interact with. However, every child will have different behavioral traits.
Proper social-emotional development is determined by the values a parent will instill in a child. Naturally, children will have temper tantrums and mood swings. How they will deal with such emotions will depend on how their parents teach them to. However, by the age of three toddlers should be able to interact comfortably with other kids.
Language Development
Language development has two major areas, receptive language, and expressive language. Receptive language development involves responding to and recognizing voices and sounds. Expressive language is basically using their own voices and gestures to communicate. Some examples of language development milestone include:
Birth to one year;
cooing
crying differently for various needs
smiling
babbling
imitating sounds
One to three years;
using meaningful words
imitating sounds
using different gesture
Conclusion
Understanding child development milestones will help you monitor the growth and development of your child. Also understanding the different stages at which children achieve these milestones is also important. This will help you identify problems in your child’s growth early enough and seek professional help.
Getting early help if your child has delayed in achieving these child development milestones might lead to better results.
