There are two main areas of development when looking at a child’s first year of life physical and cognitive. A child’s physical development is by far the most visibly obvious a child grows more in the first three years of life than at any other period of time. Also during this time is when proportions of the body change the child becomes less top-heavy’ which, allows for the development of better coordination and motor skills.

There are many important milestones during the first year of life both physical and cognitive. Below is a list of many of these milestones but, please use this as a guide and if you have concerns consult your pediatrician. If your child appears to be ahead or behind developmentally use caution in jumping to the conclusion that they are gifted or that there is something wrong. Often times children level out’ in time and fall into sync with other children. However, if you suspect that there is a problem be sure to bring this to the attention of a professional.

During this time period it is important for the infant to be given affection this will aid in their development of a secure attachment to their caregivers. The secure attachment provides the child with security and a feeling of safety while exploring the world around them.

By the age of three months a child should be able to lift his/her head up while laying on their stomach and turn head from side to side, follow a moving object or person with his/her eyes, grasp an item in their hands, respond to noises, make cooing sounds, smile when they are smiled at, and react to peek-a-boo’ games.

Once your child reaches six months of age he/she should be able to reach and grasp for objects, move objects from one hand to the other (demonstrating hand-eye coordination), sit with little support and roll over. Also at six months a child should be able to imitate actions done by other people, react to cues (such as opening their month when the spoon is coming closer), babble and laugh, and he/she should also be able to recognize and react to familiar faces.

By the time your child reaches one year of age he/she should be able to drink from a cup and feed him/herself items such as cheerios, point, sit without support, take steps while holding onto a person or an object, copy sounds and actions, crawl to an item that he/she wants, look for an item that leaves their sight this is also known as object permanence. Language development at one year of age begins to increase. The child should now be able to make sounds that sound like words and have a conversation’ with nonsense sounds. Also a one year old child should begin to show ability to recognize names (mom and dad), display anxiety when separated from parent, show fear and uncertainty around strangers, and understand simple commands (no, good, hugs, etc.).

Again, this is only a guide. Please talk with your pediatrician if you have any concerns they can provide you with more specific information and testing if necessary.

For more information visit:

http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/ mile1.html

http://www.psy.miami.edu/facul ty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/e mot/thompson2001.overview.pdf