Child Development Milestones

Children make progress in defined time spaces, called developmental milestones. These learnings need to be closely monitored. Child development milestones are references used to keep up with the growth of the little ones and serve to have a basis for what skills our children can acquire at each stage of childhood. However, it is not a rule table, where all children should fit in and those outside are in trouble.

Each child has his time to create new skills. Development milestones are only references used so you can observe and move forward to the next step. Child development milestones should not be used for comparations. If the neighbor’s granddaughter walked 9 months and her son was 12, that’s fine. Each child is unique and has its own pace of growth and development.

However, it is critical to pay attention to identify developmental delays and talk to your pediatrician about the subject. For this reason, the monitoring of child development milestones is so important. It is through it that you can stimulate your little one’s abilities and check for any changes.

Neonatal period (28 days of life):

In relation to the motor part, the newborn has completely fletidos limbs and, if the traction of his body towards his parents is performed, his head tends to go backwards due to the absence of cervical tone at that age.

As for the adaptive part, the only thing the child has the ability to learn is to fix the vision. They are able to fix their gaze on those close to him, beginning to recognize themselves as a human being.

At this age, it is very common to report nystagmus, because the oculomotor nerve and the muscles it innervated are not yet completely formed, so the child cannot perform the fixation of the gaze.

1 month life:

In the first month of life, the baby still sleeps most of the time, his muscles and his central nervous system are still in the process of developing, so his vision is still very limited and the child is not able to see perfectly, only being able to see people or objects that are 30 cm from his face.

In relation to the motor part, the child begins to slightly extend the lower limbs, but still maintains the tonic-cervical posture. When in a prona position, she is able to try to lift her chin in a few moments.

On the other hand, the cervical musculature is not yet very tense and does not have much volume. In adaptive development, it is already able to follow the object following an angle of 90º, until it reaches its body midline.

In the social part, there is the appearance of the smile, but it is not a smile that denotes sociality, but a smile as if it were a reflection. And besides, you tend to prefer the human face.

2 months of life:

At 2 months the child is already able to raise his head when in a prona position. In relation to the adaptive part, it can already follow the object from an angle of 180º. In the social part, she presents the social smile and, in the language, she begins to vocalize completely primitive sounds.

3 months of life:

At this age, the child holds his head in a pendulum manner. The tonic-cervical posture still remains in most moments. She can already lift her chin, head and torso when in a head position, and there is also pendulum support of the head.

She is already beginning to see a little further away with the evolution of her central nervous system and optic nerve. In relation to the adaptive part, she will reach out to catch some object and, in relation to the social part, the child keeps the social smile, laughs more often and is even able to imitate some gestures made by those responsible.

Those primitive sounds she vocalized at 2 months will be enhanced and now they have become breakt sounds (they make grrr), as if you were talking to him.

4 months of life:

At this age, the tonic-cervical posture disappears, with this, the baby’s head tends to go to the center of his body and he is able to sustain it. In addition, the tone of its limbs decreases and axial tone suffers an increase.

She is already able to perform the cubital handle (remember that she makes the movement from the center to the periphery). In relation to the social part, the child begins to laugh loudly to get the attention of his parents or guardians, and may even laugh.

And, as for language, the guturaal sounds are still present, but in an evolved way, due to the greater oral amplitude that the baby acquires over time

5 months:

By the time the baby reaches 5 months of life, he can already recognize the parts of his own body. Therefore, many games involve taking your hands to your mouth and grabbing your feet. Your strength in the limbs begins to increase over time. When in a head position, you can already support your hands and raise your head.

6-7 months of life:

Around 28 weeks, the child is already able to roll on the shoulders, managing to sit with support and perform the hip rotation. In the adaptive part, she manages to make the radial handle closed, passing the object from one hand to the other, since she is able to feel better the objects with which she is playing.

In the social part, she prefers her mother and, in relation to language, she already bends the syllables, pronouncing sounds similar to “mama, baba”, which we call vowel polysyllables or lalation.

8 months:

At this age, the baby is very curious and continues to test and know better his body. When placed in a prona position, he is already able to roll and sits unaided, swinging his body when sitting on his knees.

As for the development of his central nervous system, his optic nerve is already better developed, and he can see more clearly the objects in front of him and better distinguish colors.

9-10 months of life:

Regarding the motor area, at 9 months the child can already sit alone and without support. The baby becomes mobile, and most children in this age group are expected to be able to crawl or even crawl.

It is important to remember that not all children will crawl and that this process is the only one that, when it does not appear, can be considered a milestone of normal development.

When standing, she is already able to take a few side steps by anchoring herself in some support, and sits alone. In relation to the adaptive, it has the ability to make the movement of tweezers between the thumb and the index finger.

One detail is that the child does not take the object in the movement of tweezers, but rather picks it up with the cubital region, passes to the radial region and then makes the movement of tweezers. When the object is left in her hand for a few moments, she releases it forcefully, as if she were angry.

It is the age of strangeness, the child has the habit of wanting only the mother’s lap, which makes this age group an important moment, because she begins to be afraid of consultations with the pediatrician, making the care a little more difficult most of the time.

She’s already able to clap, play “where” and say goodbye. As for language, she already speaks polysyllables more accurately.

11 months:

The 11-month-old baby is already responding to calls, recognizing his own name. Besides, he’s expected to be able to clap and say goodbye. An important milestone is that at this stage the baby will be able to feed on its own.

Although movements still not so refined, he is already able to take the spoon to the mouth at mealtime. You may already be able to take a few steps, even with the support of your parents.

12 months of life:

At this point, we hope that the child will get up and walk alone with support. In relation to the adaptive part, it takes the objects already with the movement of tweezers and, if by chance you ask for this object back, it returns you.

She helps when it comes to getting dressed, raising her arms, and in developing the language, she is expected to speak at least one word.

2 years:

At the age of two, your baby’s first dentition (or milk teeth) is already complete. He can already name objects and knows his own name, even starting to form some sentences.

It is at this age that the sphincter control of the baby begins, and the child’s dephraimity begins.

This period the child begins to run, and our attention should be doubled for any falls. By the age of 15 months, she already plays and is able to stack 3 cubes, making a tower.

3 years:

At this age, the child already has little friends, but prefers to play alone, can dress with the help of his parents, for a few moments can lean on the floor with only one foot, and continues in the evolution of sphincter control, learning gradually to use the potty and / or bathroom.

Usually, you can put your shoes on.

4 years:

At 4 years the child already has a wide variety of words, around 1,500, his imagination is with a very high power and he already has an ease in communicating with his guardians. She tells you stories about what happened in her day-to-day life and in high school.

Motor development takes a big leap and is quite evolved, being able to ride a bike, skate and other activities that need some balance.

She is able to jump with one foot and draw a triangle, as well as the human figure, although half disorganized. Most of the time, she can put on as much as take off her clothes.

5 – 6 years:

At the age of five, the whys phase begins. The child begins to ask the parents why everything, wanting to understand the functioning of each thing that will often have no answer.

At 6 years old, the child is already fully integrated into the life activities of his family and should be able to perform some household chores, he already begins to show his opinions and wills of his own, clearly saying what he wants or what he does not want to do.

In relation to language, it already has a better pronunciation of words and is able to organize more complex sentences, even beginning to read alone.

As for motor development, it is already able to use scissors, participates in competitive games, carry a glass without spilling its contents and make a knot.

To assist mothers, fathers and guardians in the surveillance of developmental milestones, the Ministry of Health indicates the Children’s Health Booklet.

The Booklet brings essential care in the first days of the baby’s life, including information about breastfeeding, for example. There are countless tips.

References:

http://www.blog.saude.gov.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53047&catid=579&Itemid=50218

Viviane Brykcy Vicente Pereira 

Pedagogical Director 

Holds a degree in Pedagogy and English Languages -Portuguese. Postgraduate in Educational Law and specialization in Neurosciences at the School. Holds also a Certificate (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and Diploma (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from the University of Cambridge. He has 16 years of experience in education, with emphasis on Modern Foreign Languages. 

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-2mo.html

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