UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT
Every child develops differently, particularly in the first five years of his or her life. However, there are certain milestones that a typically developing child is expected to reach by certain ages. The following list will help you determine if your child is achieving these milestones.
By 3-4 Months
- Watches faces with interest and follows moving objects
- Recognizes familiar objects and people
- Smiles at the sound of your voice
- Turns head toward sounds
By 7 Months
- Responds to other people’s emotions
- Enjoys face-to-face play
- Can find partially hidden objects
- Explores with hands and mouth
- Struggles for out of reach objects
- Responds to own name
- Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
- Babbles chains of sounds
By 12 Months/1 Year
- Enjoys imitating people and tries to imitate sounds
- Enjoys simple social games, such as “gonna get you!”
- Explores objects and finds hidden objects
- Responds to “no”
- Uses simple gestures, such as pointing to an object
- Babbles with changes in tone
- May use single words (“dada”, “mama”, “uh-oh!”)
- Turns to person speaking when his/her name is called
By 24 Months/2 Years
- Imitates behavior of others
- Becomes excited about company of other children
- Understands several words
- Finds deeply hidden objects
- Points to named pictures and objects
- Begins to sort by shapes and colors
- Begins simple make-believe play
- Recognizes names of familiar people and objects
- Follows simple instructions
- Combines two words to communicate with others, such as “more cookie?”
By 3 Years
- Expresses affection openly and has a wide range of emotion
- Makes mechanical toys work
- Plays make-believe
- Sorts objects by shape and color and matches objects to pictures
- Follows a two- or three-part command
- Uses simple phrases to communicate with others, such as “go outside, swing?”
- Uses pronouns (I, you, me) and some plurals (cars, dogs)
- Shows interest in group play
By 4 Years
- Cooperates with other children
- Is increasingly inventive in fantasy play
- Names some colors
- Understands counting
- Speaks in sentences of five to six words
- Tells stories
- Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
- Follows three-part commands
- Understands “same” and “different"
By 5 Years
- Wants to be like his/her friends
- Likes to sing, dance and act
- Is able to distinguish fantasy from reality
- Shows increased independence
- Can count 10 or more objects and correctly name at least four colors
- Speaks in sentences of more than five words and tells longer stories
When should I be concerned?
One of the most important things you can do as a parent or caregiver is to learn the early signs of a developmental disability and become familiar with these milestones.
"Red Flags"
Here is a list of some “red flags” that may suggest a risk for a developmental delay or possible neurodevelopmental disorder such as autism:
- No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
- No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions by nine months
- No babbling by 12 months
- No back-and-forth gestures such as pointing, showing, reaching or waving by 12 months
- No words by 16 months
- No meaningful two-word phrases (not including imitating or repeating) by 24 months
- Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age
- No response to name by 12 months
If your child is showing any of these or is not meeting any of the milestones by the age listed, don’t panic. Reach out to your pediatrician or family health care provider and let him or her know about your concern. To prepare for talking with your child’s health care provider, note what milestones your child has or has not yet reached compared to other children his or her age. Before or during the visit, ask for a general developmental screening. If you are worried that it could be autism, you can also fill out an autism screener (one is provided at the end of this tool kit) and bring the results to your health care provider visit.
