Developmental milestones

What it is

Development is followed in four streams at once - gross motor, fine motor, language, and social/cognitive - and the first year is the table to hold in the head:

• 2 months: lifts head/chest in prone position; hands unfisted 50% of the time, tracks past midline; alerts to voice/sound, coos; social smile, recognizes parents.
• 4 months: sits with trunk support, begins rolling; hands mostly open, reaches midline; laughs, turns to voice; enjoys looking around.
• 6 months: sits momentarily propped on hands, and unsupported by 7 months; transfers objects hand to hand, raking grasp; responds to name, babbles; stranger anxiety.
• 9 months: pulls to stand, cruises; 3-finger pincer grasp, holds bottle or cup; says "dada," "mama"; waves "bye," plays "pat-a-cake."
• 12 months: stands well, walks first steps independently, throws ball; 2-finger pincer grasp; says first words other than "dada," "mama"; separation anxiety, comes when called. After the first year the table runs on:
• 18 months: runs and kicks a ball; builds a tower of 2-4 cubes and removes clothing; a 10- to 25-word vocabulary and identifies at least one body part; understands "mine" and begins pretend play.
• 2 years: walks up and down stairs with both feet on each step, and jumps; builds a tower of 6 cubes and copies a line; a vocabulary of 50 words or more and 2-word phrases; follows 2-step commands, parallel play, begins toilet training.
• 3 years: walks up and down stairs with alternating feet and rides a tricycle; copies a circle and uses utensils; 3-word sentences with speech 75% intelligible; knows age and gender, imaginative play.
• 4 years: balances and hops on 1 foot; copies a cross; identifies colors with speech 100% intelligible; cooperative play.
• 5 years: skips and catches a ball with 2 hands; copies a square, ties shoelaces, dresses and bathes independently, prints letters; counts to 10 and uses 5-word sentences; has friends and completes toilet training.

At 15 months the child says about five words, points at what he wants, and carries out a simple instruction to bring an object. A child who rides a bicycle without training wheels and writes her first and last name is put at 6 years; she also skips with alternating feet and ties her shoes, which the table above places at 5 years.