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READ MEDevelopmental Milestones: The First Year
In the first 12 months your baby is learning and developing important skills every day. Here’s how you can support them to learn and grow.
What are developmental milestones?
Developmental milestones are things most kids can do by a certain age.
They involve physical, social, emotional, cognitive and communication skills such as walking, sharing, expressing emotions, recognising sounds and talking.
What is considered ‘normal’ development can vary greatly.
It’s important to remember that all kids are different and some will do things faster or slower than others.
Milestones from 0 - 3 months
Your baby will be focused on feeding, sleeping, cuddling, communicating with you and developing their alertness. You might notice your baby:
- Reach out to touch things with their hands
- Start to watch and follow your face and other objects
- Start to smile, laugh, coo and make gurgling sounds
- ‘Match’ your emotions
- Show signs of emotion like interest or distress
- Turn head when their cheek is touched
- Be startled by loud noises and look towards sounds
- Shut eyes with bright light
- Lift their head up when on their tummy
- Kick their legs and play with hands and feet
Milestones from 3 - 6 months
Your baby is learning a lot about communication, emotions and building a stronger attachment with you. They will:
Improve control of their head movements
Take turns when 'talking' with parents
Watch people’s faces and respond by mimicking expressions
Roll from tummy to back and start to sit up with support
Reach out, grab things and put them in their mouth or shake them
Respond to their own name and when you talk to them
React to familiar things with laughing, squealing and excitement
Build attachments to familiar adults and show anxiety with strangers
Enjoy watching people and looking at bright objects
Communicate by smiling, making eye contact, movements, making sounds and babbling
Milestones from 6 - 9 months
You baby is moving, communicating with you more and developing an understanding of who they are. You might notice your baby:
- Hold items like food in each hand and swaps hands
- Start to sit up without support
- Use furniture to pull themselves up to stand
- Start trying to crawl
- Start to link words with their meanings
- Feed themselves and start to drink from a cup with help
- Use body language to express emotions like fear
- Look and feel objects before putting them in mouth
- Explore things around them
- Make noise to get attention
- Copy sounds made by others
- Make babbling sounds like ‘dada’ and ‘baba’
- Recognise familiar words like ‘Dad’ or ‘Mum’ or their name
- Upset when separated from main care giver
Milestones from 9 - 12 months
Your baby’s movement and communication skills are developing rapidly. They will:
- Know and respond to their own name
- Turn towards sounds made out of sight
- Pick things up with their finger and thumb
- Become anxious if main caregiver is out of sight
- Respond to simple instructions like ‘come here’, ‘wave bye bye’
- Only like familiar adults to feed, dress and comfort them
- Find something hidden under a cloth
- Shake, bang, throw, drop and poke different objects
- Shake head for ‘no’ and nod head for ‘yes’
- Like to play with and talk to others, especially parents
- Crawl, pull themselves to stand, walk while holding your hands
- Say one or two words like ‘Mama’, ‘Dada’ and know what they mean
How can you support your baby’s development?
Here are some tips that can help:
Respond to crying with comfort
Introduce healthy and nutritious solid food at around 6 months
Reassure your child when they meet new people
Make your home baby safe when they become mobile
Listen and respond to your baby’s sounds and cues
Seek medical assistance to manage health conditions
Develop a routine around feeding, sleeping and playing
Try baby massage to help soothe and build connection
Give your baby opportunities to move, explore and play
Smile, talk, sing, read and play together
Encourage 'tummy time'
Give them a variety of things to look at, touch and play with
As a parent you might be feeling unsure about your baby’s development
It’s important to seek help if you notice some of these signs:
- Your baby is crying a lot and it is worrying you
- Your baby’s muscle tone may be floppy or stiff
- Your baby is not responding to noise
- Your baby is not smiling or communicating by using sounds, babbling
- Your baby is not improving in their motor skills (lifting head, crawling etc.)
Support is available
If you’re worried about your baby’s development reach out for support
Remember that all babies are different and some will meet milestones faster or slower than others.
It's important to let your child develop at their own pace and not to force them to reach these milestones before they're ready.
If you have concerns you can talk it through with your GP, Child Health Nurse or Parentline counsellor.
Parentline is here to listen and support you. Call Parentline on 1300 30 1300 (QLD & NT). Not in QLD or NT? Check out our list of Parentline services in your state or territory.
This content was last reviewed 22/05/2018
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