WebMD has an excellent article “Is Your Baby on Track?” and chart describing early childhood milestones. Kids ‘N Shape provides safe and supervised fitness play, an integral part of early childhood development. Fitness play open sessions allow your child to experience independent exploration and develop decision making and social skills. Our uniquely unstructured open play is a healthy alternative to video games.
Bailey says it’s a good idea for parents to watch for these early childhood milestones, along with the more obvious “firsts” such as walking and talking. Just be careful about comparing your child with peers or older siblings. “Remember that each child is an individual,” Bailey says. “There’s a wide range for when children achieve a particular milestone. For example, I’ve seen children walk as early as 9 months or as late as 14 months.”
The timeline below is complied with input from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Please note, a child may divert from this timeline and still be normal, discuss any concerns with your pediatrician.
Timeline of Early Childhood Milestones
2 Months- Smiles at the sound of your voice and follows you with their eyes as you move around a room
- Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
- Grasps objects
- Smiles at other people
- Babbles, laughs, and tries to imitate sounds; holds head steady
- Rolls from back to stomach and stomach to back
- Moves objects from hand to hand
- Responds to own name
- Finds partially hidden objects
- Sits without support, crawls, babbles “mama” and “dada”
- Walks with or without support
- Says at least one word
- Enjoys imitating people
- Walks independently, drinks from a cup, says at least 15 words, points to body parts
- Runs and jumps
- Speaks in two-word sentences
- Follows simple instructions
- Begins make-believe play
- Climbs well
- Speaks in multiword sentences
- Sorts objects by shape and color
- Gets along with people outside the family
- Draws circles and squares
- Rides a tricycle
- Tells name and address
- Jumps, hops, and skips
- Gets dressed
- Counts 10 or more objects
How Parents Can Help
Gross Motor Skills- Place infants on their tummies while awake to develop neck and back muscles
- Create a safe home environment and put babies on the floor to explore
- Give older children time outside where they can run and jump
- Provide toys with different textures that encourage babies to explore with their fingers
- Provide age-appropriate puzzles, blocks, paper, and crayons
- Encourage older babies to feed themselves
- Play music for newborns to stimulate hearing
- Talk to your child
- Read to your child
- Name objects as you point to pictures in a book
- Laugh and smile with your baby
- Limit television and play with your child
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