Understanding Developmental Milestones

Child development is a process through which young children go through growth and developmental stages. These growth and development includes not only the physical changes but also emotional, personality, behavioral, speech and language and cognitive. At each stages children develop skills necessary for understanding, manipulating and interacting in the world around them (Lock, 2023), these skills are called developmental milestones. Children develop at their own pace so they may reach these milestones at different times. It is important to observe and monitor how children are developing to ensure that they meet their developmental milestones. Child development can be actively enhanced through best practices, intervention and therapies  (Stanborough, 2019) which all aim to ensure children are supported in meeting their milestones or to at least help them master these developmental skills. Developmental milestone checklists and charts are used as a guide to track and monitor what is considered normal development and to identify if or when a child might be delayed at certain stages. 

                      Birth to 12 Months

The first year of child development is a very crucial and fragile stage. While at this stage children tend to grow quickly, it is important to monitor their development. Children learn in many ways and at different paces understanding this will help identify typical and atypical development. There are important domains of child development, cognitive, social and emotional, physical, and language. At this stage monitoring and catering to effective development is crucial as children's brain begins to develop memory, language, thinking, and reasoning skills needed for cognition. Creating a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment is important for long-term continued development. Safety is very important for infants and healthy babies grow and develop into healthy toddlers.

Developmental Milestones Stages

Developmental Stages	Birth to 12 months
Cognitive	Remember familiar faces and people
Social	Waves bye-bye, smile and make eye contact.
Emotional	Self-soothe or calm down when rocked or comforted.
Physical	Roll over, begin to crawl, sit up, or may stand with assistance.
Language	Imitates sounds, babbles, and begins to say one word.

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       13-24 Months

The second year of a child's life is just as magical as the first as children begin to blossom into their personalities as they begin to experience many firsts. They use their first words, take their first steps independently, and navigate the world around them. At this stage, children are energetic and more aware as they have these new experiences. Most importantly their motor skills are developing at a rapid rate as they are walking and moving about. Creating opportunities for self-discovery and movement at this stage helps prepare them for the more advanced stages of development. These advanced stages provide more opportunities for long-term growth through more attempts at new and existing activities to build confidence in trying new skills while expanding on the ones they already have. 

Developmental Milestones Stages

Developmental Stages	13-24 months
Cognitive	Understands one-step and two-step questions and commands.
Social	May share a favorite toy and initiate play.
Emotional	Express feelings through crying or laughing.
Physical	Walk, run, jump, squat, dance, and push-pull with no support
Language	Uses simple phrases or two-word sentences

 25-36 Months

Toddler years are fun and exciting as children continue to explore the world around them in many ways and become more independent. By this time cognitively, social and emotionally, physically, and lingually their developing skills should be more evident as children become more curious, active, and regulated. Nurturing their developing skills plays an important role in their long-term development as not only does it help to identify delays, but it allows for children to be supported (Fraser-Thill, 2019). At this stage it is important to focus on nurturing those developing skills necessary for a healthy well-developed child. Catering to these developing skills have long term importance as a discrepancy in development can lead to misdiagnosis, and unidentified development challenges and delays.

Developmental Milestones Stages

Developmental Stages	25-36 months
Cognitive	Has more memory function and can follow longer instructions and directions.
Social	Begin to show more interest in playing alongside peers.
Emotional	Can talk about their feelings.
Physical	Build blocks, Play with large-size puzzles, and grip writing instruments appropriately
Language	vocabulary typically ranges between 50-250 words

37-48 Months

At this developmental stage young children tend to be more tolerant and cooperative even though they try to be independent. They are enthusiastic about exercising their self-help skills. Their domains of child development, cognitive, social and emotional, physical and language are more developed than younger children. Providing structure and routine at this stage of development is important as young children are now better able to understand and follow rules and direction. There are no doubt children develop at their own pace so what children are doing at this stage give a general insight or idea into how well they are hitting each developmental milestone. Over time this information help in creating effective planning for future outcome of growth and development.

Developmental Milestones Stages

Developmental Stages	37-48 months
Cognitive	uses more complex sentences and understands words when reading.
Social	Initiate conversation as they are more inquisitive about other people.
Emotional	Can settle themselves down to sleep as they can regulate themselves emotionally.
Physical	Ability to throw, catch, kick, balance, alternate feet on stairs, hop, and skip increases as coordination improves.
Language	Listens, understands, and recall longer stories

Identifying Developmental Delays

One of the importance of monitoring developmental milestones when our children grow is to identify any delays emerging. With this, early assessments can be done which includes screenings, examinations, interviews, growth plotting and other forms of assessment. These are all relevant and necessary for an early diagnosis if it becomes necessary. With this, developing children will be able to receive services early to aid their continued development.

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                                            References

Fraser-Thill, R. (2019). The Major Domains in Human Growth and Change. Verywell Family. https://www.verywellfamily.com/definition-of-domain-3288323

‌Lock, K. (2023). Understanding Childhood Development. Prevent Child Abuse Utah. https://pcautah.org/2023/03/27/child-development/ 

Mosley, A. (2020). The negative effects of screen time for adults and children. Valleywise Health. https://blog.valleywisehealth.org/negative-effect-of-screen-time-adults-children/

Stanborough, R. J. (2019). Understanding the Stages of Child Development. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-health/stages-of-child-development