Development Milestones

I have a long question regarding the development of skills in my two month old baby girl. When can we expect certain skills to start such as rolling over, sitting up, laughing, walking, talking, etc.? And how do parents help their child "learn" how to do these skills? Tips and techniques for things like rolling over and sitting up would be the most useful, as they are the hardest to comprehend. We know how to walk, everyone does it the same, but rolling over and sitting up are different from how we do this as adults.

Evaluating an individuals development is both important and difficult. Everyone develops and acquires skills at different rates. As a parent and as a pediatrician you want to pick up problems early, but not over worry about normal delays.

By this age a child should be able to do the following:

2 months
Lift head when prone, follow to midline, regard face, smile

We swaddle our girl for sleep, but I am concerned that I am limiting her chances to learn how to roll over and sit up. She is not swaddled while awake but she still sleeps a lot, so the opportunity is limited. (... more on Does swaddling impair development?)

4 months
Regards own hand, bring hands together, grasp rattle, laugh, squeal, lift head 90 degrees

6 months
rolls over, bears weight on legs, turn to noise or voice, track 180 degrees, brings chest up with arm support

9 months
feeds self, take 2 cubes, rake raisin, jabbers, imitate speech sounds, stand holding on, sit without support

12 months
bang 2 cubes held, thumb-finger grasp, waves bye-bye, indicates wants, says “mama” or “dada”, get into sitting, pulls to stand

15 months
plays ball with parent, scribbles, put block in cup, says 3 words, walks well

18 months
runs, walks backwards, tower of 2 cubes, use spoon or fork, says 6 words,

2 years
feeds doll, remove garment, tower of 4 cubes, kicks ball, speech is half clear

Written June 2010 by
Dr. Gordon, Orlando Pediatrician

my developmental reference is the Denver Developmental Assessment