Stages of Child Development from Birth to One Year

This is one post that I thought I would share. It is informative, and gives a little information when it comes to the growing baby/toddler. I added a few links to the bottom if you want to further your reading. I thought this was a good summary, and I chose the links that I liked the best when it came down to finding out more about development.

Happy reading!

Stages of Child Development from Birth to One Year

You might want to know the stages of child development that your child goes through to understand everything that is going on within them. This is because you can keep up on the way you child learns with the world as they continue to get older. Helping them explore their surroundings allows them to experience more, and also helps with their development. Development continues as the child grows, but some of the important stages are from birth to one year that every parent should be aware of to know where your child is at in life.

Birth to 1 month: This point in child development is where you child depends on you for everything. Even to lift their head they will need your help to do so. You have to feed, cloth, and bathe them because they are not capable of doing it themselves. They can make basic distinctions in pain, hearing, sight, smell, and so on. This allows them to identify who everyone is. They are asocial and have generalized tension.

2 months to 3 months: In this stage they can lift their head on their own; they can sense colors, smells, and objects as well as people. They show delight. They can cry, coo, and grunt on their own as well as move their eyes from object to object. They smile, and can be soothed by being rocked. They show distress and nervousness a lot.

4 months to 6 months: This stage of development brings an array of sounds that are mostly vowels, and can control their head, arms, can roll over, and can grasp purposively. They enjoy being cuddled, and recognize their mother. They distinguish between faces now, and can determine who they know and do not know. They expect to be fed, clothed, and bathed now.

7 months to 9 months: At this stage in child development they are learning to do so much on their own. They can crawl around on their own, sit up without support, and hold their head and torso. They have a specific emotional attachment to the mother at this age. They enjoy “peek a boo” and do not like being separated from the mother.

10 months to 12 months: As they get older, and grow to learn more they start walking and talking more allowing for the pronunciation of words. They can control all of their limbs and their body, and touch their thumb to their forefinger. They show anger, affection, fear of strangers, and curiosity. They are responsive to their name, can wave bye, and they know what the word no means. They give and take objects.

While learning child development you should keep in mind that every baby is different which means they might reach different milestones before or after other children. This is just an average for most babies. If you feel your baby is not growing on the pace they should be then you should talk to your healthcare provider about what can be done.

Resources:

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/normaldevelopment.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_development_stages

http://www.lhj.com/relationships/family/raising-kids/ - This one has stages, and I like it because it provides stories and insight from other mothers who are going through parenting.

http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/devmile.htm