Developmental Milestones: A Checklist for Babies & Toddlers

Seeing your little one taking his/her first step is a watershed moment for every new parent, but you must make sure that your baby is doing so by the age of 12-15 months, as any further delay can be a sign of an underlying health condition. 

Developmental monitoring entails observing children’s growth to make sure that they meet the typical developmental milestones in playing, learning, speaking, behaving, and moving. For instance, at six- months, a baby should be able to roll back and forth and sit up without support. 

Major Developmental Milestones 

There are four key areas of development in babies and toddlers, including physical development, cognitive development, language development and social-emotional development. Read on to know about the common milestones your child will hit during various periods:

By six months

• Can roll both ways
• Can sit without support
• Can respond to own name
• Explores toys with hands and mouth
• Imitates sounds that you make
• Transfers objects from one hand to the other
• Can make happy and sad noises

By 12 months

• Starts to scoot or crawl
• Walks with or without support
• Starts babbling and say words including “Mama” and “Dada”
• Responds to simple requests
• Pokes and points with index finger
• Uses thumb and index finger to pick up small items
• Has strong preference for primary nurses
• Imitates gestures like a wave 

By 18 months

• Can climb up and down 
• Points to pictures in a book
• Stacks items such as blocks
• Awareness about body parts
• Uses several words including “no” 
• Plays with toys by their function
• Tries to activate a toy
• Does things for attention and looks for a reaction

By 24 months

• Can kick a ball and walk on tiptoes
• Begins to run
• Uses simple sentences
• Follows simple directions
• Sorts items by colour, shape or size
• Is learning to share and take turns
• Scribbles and may begin to copy vertical lines and circles
• Recites repeated phrases and well-known books   

Act Early

A missed milestone could be a sign of a problem, so the child should be referred to a doctor or a specialist for developmental screening. Preterm babies or children with an existing long-lasting health problem are at a higher risk of developmental problems that might require additional screening.

Our nurses at Maika strive hard to make sure that your kid achieves all child developmental milestones by engaging them in various fun activities. They also keep a close eye on the children to detect any developmental delays at an early stage.