Prenatal Tests
Vaccination
Developmentalstages
Early Diagnosis
Diagnostic Assessment

Important Milestones
~7 Months ~12 Months ~24 Months ~60 Months

Babies develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when your child will learn a given skill. The developmental milestones listed below will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect, but don’t be alarmed if your own baby’s development takes a slightly deferent course.

Social and Emotional
 Shy or anxious with strangers
 Cries when mother or father leaves
 Enjoys imitating people in his play
 Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys
 Tests parental responses to his actions during feeding
 Tests parental responses to his behavior
 May be fearful in some situations
 Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others
 Repeats sounds or gestures for attention
 Finger-feeds himself
 Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed

Cognitive
 Explores object in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)
 Finds hidden object easily
 Looks at correct picture when the image is named
 Imitates gestures
 Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone, listening to receiver)

Language
 Pays increasing attention to speech
 Responds to simple verbal request
 Responds to “no”
 Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no”
 Babbles with inflection (changes in tone)
 Says “dada” and “mama”
 Uses exclamations, such as “Oh-oh!”
 Tries to imitate words

Movement
 Reaches sitting position without assistance
 Crawls forward on belly
 Assumes hands-and-knees position
 Creeps on hands and knees
 Gets from sitting to crawling or phone (lying on stomach) position
 Pulls self up to stand
 Walks holding on to furniture
 Stands momentarily without support
 May walk two or three steps without support

Hand and Finger Skills
 Uses pincer grasp
 Bangs two objects together
 Puts object into container
 Takes objects out of container
 Lets objects go voluntarily
 Pokes with index finger
 Tries to imitate scribbling

Developmental Health Watch

Alert your child’s doctor or nurse if your child displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range.

 Does not crawl
 Drags one side of body while crawling (for over one month)
 Cannot stand when supported
 Does not search for objects that are hidden while he or she watches
 Says no single words (“dada” or “mama”)
 Does not learn to use gestures, such as waving or shaking head
 Does not point to objects or pictures
 Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he or she once had


From www.cdc.gov/actearly
From CARING FOR YOUR BABY AND YOUNG CHILD: BIRTH TO AGE 5 by Steven Shelov, Robert E. Hannermann, © 1991, 1993, 1998, 2004 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Used by permission of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.