What are developmental milestones expected for a child up to 1 year?

From birth, your child is continually growing and changing. In their first year, they morph from newborns who sleep an average of 16 to 18 hours a day to babies who sit up, interact with their environment, and soon start walking. Dr. Kolsi will review each of your child’s expected developmental milestones at your well-child examinations throughout your child’s first year. These will range from smiling and cooing at 2 months to waving bye-bye and finding hidden objects by the age of 1 year.

What are some common developmental milestones a child achieves from age 1 to age 3?

By the age of 1, your child should be able to wave goodbye, respond to simple requests, try to say words you say, get to a sitting position without help and possibly be cruising furniture — walking with support — or walking.

At 2 years old, your child should show independence, point to pictures when they are named, know the names of body parts, say sentences with 2-4 words, follow simple instructions, kick a ball, climb stairs, and follow two-step commands.

At 3 years old, your child should take turns in games, understand the idea of “mine”, “his”, or “hers”, talk well enough for strangers to understand most of the time, carry on a conversation that lasts 2-3 sentences, do puzzles with 3-4 pieces, turn pages in a book one at a time, and pedal a tricycle.

What can I expect from my 4-5 year old?

The preschool years are known as the “social butterfly” years. By age 4, children like to play with other children more than they like to play by themselves. They are also beginning to correctly use pronouns such as “he” or “she”, remember parts of a story, draw a person with 2 or more body parts, use scissors, copy capital letters, and talk about what they are interested in.

By age 5, children like to sing, play, act and dance. They also are able to speak clearly, count 10 or more things, use a toilet on their own, do a somersault, and print some letters and numbers.

If your child is showing signs of developmental delay, discuss these areas with Dr. Kolsi as soon as possible.

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