by Cassie Gorman
Child Life Specialist

Developmental milestones are a set of age specific skills or tasks that most children can do at a certain age. Child development refers to how a child becomes able to do more complex things as they get older. I'll start at three months, because that is how old my youngest nephew is. The picture in this post is a great shot of him meeting my most favorite milestone. : )

3 months:

• Raises head and chest when lying on stomach or back
• Opens and shuts hands
• Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
• Brings hand to mouth
• Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance
• Starts using hands and eyes in coordination
• Smiles at the sound of your voice
• Begins to babble
• Begins to develop a social smile

12 months:

• Gets to sitting position without assistance
• Crawls forward on belly by pulling with arms and pushing with legs
• Assumes hands-and-knees position
• Creeps on hands and knees supporting trunk on hands and knees
• Gets from sitting to crawling or prone (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

1-3 years old:

• open cabinets, drawers, boxes
• have a vocabulary of several hundred words
• use 2-5 word sentences
• say names of toys
• Developing language skills
• Learns new skills such as walking and toilet training
• Mobility is means to learning
• Threatened by changes in routine
• Short attention span

Let's pause here and talk about my oldest nephew, also in this picture. He is two and a half and is certainly meeting the use of 2 to 5 word sentences milestone. The other day we were telling him to be nice, and his response was, "Ummmmm, I'll be nice tomorrow." : ) Oh, the funny things kids say!

3-5 years old:

• Interested in new experiences
• Cooperates with other children
• Plays “Mom” or “Dad”
• Increasingly inventive in fantasy play
• Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be “monsters”
• Views self as a whole person involving body, mind, and feelings
• Often cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality
• Increased, yet limited language skills
• Fantasy and magical thinking
• Fear of the dark
• Limited concept of time
• View hospitalization and illness as a punishment
• Learn best by doing
• Does not understand death as final

6-12 years old:

• To win, lead, or to be first is valued
• Heavily involved with peers
• Develops concrete thinking
• Active learners, invent and design things
• Increased participation in self-care
• Well-developed language skills and concept of time
• Concerns about body image

13-18 years old:

• Rapidly changing body image
• Body image relates to self-esteem
• Need for privacy
• Increasing independence and responsibility
• Struggle to develop self-identity
• Use of deductive reasoning and abstract thought