Developmental Milestones
By Crissy Mumba
All children develop in their own time and at different stages, the following information provides general information on what to expect from your child in terms of their developmental milestones. Do not worry if your child is not meeting all milestones for their age range, if you are concerned about your child’s development please contact your health visitor/provider.
Developmental Milestone – 2 months
At two months old your baby has reached a developmental milestone if they :
Are physically able to:
- turn their head to the side whilst laying on their tummy
- wave their arms, legs and wiggle their body whilst laying on their back
- follow an object or person with their eyes
Can communicate by:
- making cooing sounds such as “aah” “gah” and “ooh”
- smiling when spoken to
- crying when wet, hungry, tired or wants to be held
- turning to voices
- deliberately maintaining eye to eye contact
Developmental Milestone – 4 Months
At four months old your baby has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- hold their head straight up and look around whilst laying on their tummy
- hold their head steady whilst in the sitting position
- bring their hands over their chest and touch their fingers whilst laying on their back
Can communicate by:
- smiling or cooing at themselves in front of a mirror
- chuckling softly and laughing
- getting excited or smiling when they see you
- making sounds when looking at toys or people
- making a high pitched squeal
Developmental Milestone – 6 Months
At six months your baby has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- roll from their back to their tummy
- sit up without support
- get into a crawling position
- grasp a toy with both hands at once
- play with their feet whilst laying on their back
Can communicate by:
- holding their hands up to be lifted up
- making “da” “gah” and “ka” sounds
Developmental Milestone – 9 Months
At nine months your baby has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- sit without support
- sit up from the laying down position
- take weight on their feet
- attempt to crawl
- roll over both ways
Can communicate by:
- copying simple sounds
- babbling and attempting to make simple sounds such as “mamma”
- recognizing and respond to family members
- being “clingy” to familiar adults
- having a recognizable favorite toy
Developmental Milestone – 12 months (1 year)
At 12 months old your baby has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- pull to stand from sitting and can sit down again
- crawl or bottom shuffle
- attempt to stand up by themselves
- throw a small ball
Can communicate by:
- pointing at objects
- responding to their own name
- holding out their arms or feet to help when dressing
- making more pronounced sounds such as “mamma” “dada”
Developmental Milestone – 18 months (1 year 6 months)
At 18 months your baby/toddler has reached a developmental milestone:
Physically be able to:
- walk well
- walk up the stairs whilst holding an adults hand
- stack building blocks of top of each other
- attempt to turn pages in a book
Can communicate by:
- saying several single words
- recognizing and pointing to different parts of their body
- engaging in nursery rhymes and attempting to join in
- obeying simple commands such as “sit” “stop”
Developmental Milestone – 2 years
At two years old your toddler has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- kick a ball
- run well
- jump up and down using both feet
- hold a pencil
- use small objects
- drink from a regular drinking cup
Can communicate by:
- playing pretend and role play
- naming simple objects accurately
- using basic pronouns correctly, for example “I” “mine” and “you”
- correctly putting 2/3 words together, for instance “i love you”
Developmental Milestone – 3 years
At three years old your child has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- walk on their tip toes
- walk up the stairs with alternate feet
- catch a large ball
- pedal a tricycle
Can communicate by:
- saying their own name, age and gender
- reciting numbers up to 10
- playing with other children and taking turns
- understanding the pronouns “you” “me” “I”
Developmental Milestone – 4 years
At four years old your child has reached a developmental milestone if they:
Are physically able to:
- walk both up and down stairs using alternate feet
- pedal on tricycle confidently
- hop and stand on one foot
- throw, catch and kick well
- draw a person with recognizable body parts such as legs, arms and a head
- use a fork and spoon well
Can communicate by:
- knowing and saying their own first and last name
- singing several nursery rhymes
- listening to and telling stories
- asking a lot of questions (who? What? Where?)
- Showing sympathy when others are hurt or upset
