DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES AND MY BABY

When your baby transitions from newborn to toddler and so forth, as a parent, one is quite eager to meet the next milestone. We are always thinking to ourselves, when can they hold their necks up, can they sit, crawl forwards..live on their own. The last was an over enthusiastic wishful thought, but when you have teenagers, the clock is indeed ticking on your patience. Babies are wondrous creatures, in a constant mode of change, each day is filled with new developments. Saying that all my children took their own time in meeting the milestones of their years, some quicker than others. My oldest was up and toddling by her first birthday, saying a string of sentences and very quick on all the little intricacies that indicated her advancement. My son, my second born, lay in one spot for most of his baby years, he took his own cool time rolling or crawling.

Not sure if because he was overshadowed by a gregarious older sister, but I did not hear a squeak out of him till his toddler days. My third child did not walk but tippy toed her way to her second birthday, but is now an accomplished athlete, and last child hit all the targets in super speed to the point that she is busy reading ‘War and Peace’ at the age of six (I jest..but you get my point), this is possibly influenced by her older siblings.

The fact is that every child has their own timeline in attaining those development goals. As a Parent, though we always fear the worst and worry, even if a child is late by a day alarm bells ring and we fear the worst. As long as children achieve their developmental goals within the reasonable stipulated timeline, everything is ticking along fine.

Cruising

Watching that little bundle of joy take form and shape into a miniature person, is a fascinating experience. One minute they were all, squishy cheeks and chubby fingers and toes, next moment these appendages have grown and taking strength and they are whizzing around your house causing destruction and mayhem. Experts say that babies crawl by 7 to 8 months, walk with support by

9 to 11 months and are toddling on their own by their first birthday. Other large complicated motor skills such as climbing the stairs or jumping does not occur till they are about two. Now this guideline parents is the broad spectrum, some children will be quicker and you might want to look into future Olympic programmes at their excellent physical prowess. Whilst others will cruise and moseying on through these ages, this is also acceptable and not alarming. I mean why walk when you can be carried around, these babies are geniuses! If you would like your baby to be more physical then try out some early swimming classes, or baby gymnastics. Getting them moving and active from an early age is always beneficial.

Say with Words

Some would say exhibiting social skills depends on the child’s personality. This has a cloak of truth, but also children need to show the ability to speak and understand from a certain age. The cheerful baby babble which eventually turns in to phrases and words that say MAMA” or “DADA” is music to any parents ears. In the speaking process a toddler must learn how to coordinate cognitive, hearing, listening and motor abilities. Expressive abilities usually set in by 4 to 6 months, where a baby will make themselves understood in one syllable sounds, “ba” or “da”. By 7 to 12 months, these become a string of syllables, by the first birthday a few words are expressed and by two years, babies are typically speaking whole sentences. Once again this is also determined by the child’s personality, whilst my oldest was sprouting poetry in the form of Old Macdonald, my son at that age concluded that ba-ba-ba was enough for him. These are relative guidelines, if you feel like your child should be speaking more, try a few things like switching off electronic devices, entertain them instead by reading a book, whether it be babble or not engage in a proper conversation, repeat words .The more you talk to children the quicker they will talk back to you.

These are the two broad components that babies have to achieve, their motor skills in movement and the general ability to understand, compute and speak. It is a common trait in all parents to judge one baby against the other and question why yours might be slow. As the saying goes slow and steady does not eventually win the race,and nothing is gained by stressing over it. With older children in the house, take my advice when I say enjoy these baby years whilst you can, for with the swish of baby’s blanket your sweet baby powder days will be over sooner than you like.