Developmental Milestones

 
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BIRTH TO 3 MONTHS

  • Startles and reacts to loud sounds

  • Turns head toward sounds

  • Calms down or smiles when spoken to

  • Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying

  • Can briefly calm him or herself (may bring hands to mouth & suck on hand)

  • Begins to coo and make pleasure sounds

  • Cries differently for different needs

  •  Begins to smile at people

  • Pays attention to faces

  • Begins to follow things with eyes

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4-6 MONTHS

  • Watches faces closely

  • Likes to play with people and might cry when playing stops

  • Follows sounds with his or her eyes

  • Responds to changes in the tone of your voice

  • Notices toys that make sounds

  • Pays attention to music

  • Responds to own name

  • Responds to sounds by making sounds

  • Makes speech-like babbling sounds like, pa, ba, & mi

  • Giggles & laughs

  • Makes sounds when happy or upset

  • Coos & babbles when playing alone or with you

  • Recognizes familiar people & things at a distance

  • Likes to look at self in the mirror

  • Uses hands & eyes together such as, seeing a toy & reaching for it

  • Follows moving things with eyes from side to side

  • Brings things to mouth

  • Begins to pass things from one hand to the other

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7 MONTHS - 1 YEAR

  • Enjoys playing peek-a-boo & pat-a-cake

  • Has favorite toys

  • Turns and looks in the direction of sounds

  • May be afraid of strangers

  • Looks when you point

  • Listens to songs & stories for a short time

  • Understands words for common items & people such as, “cup,” “shoe,”, “juice”, & "daddy"

  • Responds to simple requests such as, "come here"

  • Babbles using long strings of sounds (“tata, upup, bibibi”)

  • Uses sounds & gestures to get and keep attention

  • Copies sounds & gestures of others

  • Uses simple gestures such as, shaking head for "no" & waving "bye bye"

  • Points to objects & shows them to others

  • Has one or two words such as, “hi,” “dog,” “dada,” or “mama” by first birthday

  • Looks for things he/she sees you hide

  • Explores things in different ways like, shaking, banging. & throwing

  • Puts things in his/her mouth

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ONE TO TWO YEARS

  • Likes to hand things to others as play

  • Shows affection to familiar people

  • May cling to caregivers in new situations

  • Gets excited when with other children

  • Plays simple pretend with toys such as, feeding a doll

  • Shows more and more independence

  • Follows simple commands such as, “roll the ball” or "kiss the baby"

  • Understands simple questions like, "who's that?" or “where’s your shoe?”

  • Knows a few parts of the body & can point to them when asked

  • Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes for longer periods

  • Points to things or pictures when they are named

  • Points to show others something interesting

  • Acquires new words on a regular basis

  • Uses p, b, m, h, & w sounds in words

  • Uses some one- or two-word questions such as, “where kitty?” or “what's that?”

  • Puts two words together such as, “more cookie” & "mommy book"

  • Scribbles on own

  • Begins to sort shapes & colors

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TWO TO THREE YEARS

  • Takes turns in games

  • Copies adults & friends

  • Understands new words quickly

  • Understands the idea of "mine" & "his" or "hers"

  • Follows 2-part directions like, "get the spoon & put it on the table"

  • Understands opposite words such as, "go-stop", "big-little", & "up-down"

  • Has a word for almost everything

  • Uses two- or three-word phrases to talk about and ask for things

  • Uses words like, "in", "on" & "under"

  • Uses k, g, f, t, d, & n sounds in words

  • Speaks in a way that is understood by family members and friends

  • Asks "why" questions

  • Says first name, age, & sex

  • Completes simple puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces

  • Understands what "two" means

  • Copies a circle with pencil or crayon

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THREE TO FOUR YEARS

  • Is more & more creative with make-believe play

  • Would rather play with other children than by him or herself

  • Hears you when you call from another room

  • Answers simple “who” “what” & “where” questions

  • Understands words for some colors & shapes

  • Understands the concepts of "same" & "different"

  • Can say first & last name

  • Uses pronouns such as, "I", "you", "me", "we", & "they"

  • Uses some plural words such as, "toys", "birds", & "buses"

  • Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time

  • Asks "when" & "how" questions

  • Talks about what he/she likes & what interested in

  • Uses sentences with four or more words

  • Knows some basic rules of grammar such as, correctly using "he" & "she"

  • Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time

  • Starts to copy some capital letters

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four to five years

  • Likes to sing, dance, & act

  • Can tell what is real & what is make-believe

  • Is sometimes demanding & sometimes very cooperative

  • Wants to please friends

  • Understands words for order such as, "first", "next", & "last"

  • Tells you what he/she thinks is going to happen next in a book

  • Understands words for time such as, "yesterday", "today", & "tomorrow"

  • Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school

  • Says name & address

  • Names letters & numbers

  • Uses sentences that give many details

  • Tells a short story

  • Says all speech sounds in words. May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say like, l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh,& th

  • Speaks easily without repeating sounds or words most of the time

  • Uses rhyming words

  • Can print some letters or numbers

  • Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts

  • Counts 10 or more things

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SOURCES:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association & U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

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