Babies grow at an amazing rate. Besides increasing weight and height, they also grow in physical development, such as rolling over and crawling; speech development, such as sucking and swallowing; and play development, such as reaching for nearby toys and stacking blocks. Below are links to major infant milestones ranging from three to fifteen months. Click on the appropriate age of your infant to begin tracking your child’s progression with information endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

TYPICAL PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

While lying on tummy...

• Pushes up on arms
• Lifts and holds head up

SIGNS TO WATCH FOR IN
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Difficulty lifting head
• Stiff legs with little or no movement
• Pushes back with head
• Keeps hands fisted and lacks arm movement

TYPICAL SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

• Sucks and swallows well during feeding
• Quiets or smiles in response to sound or voice
• Coos or vocalizes other than crying
• Turns head toward direction of sound

TYPICAL PLAY DEVELOPMENT

While lying on their back…

• Visually tracks a moving toy from side to side
• Attempts to reach for a rattle held above their chest
• Keeps head in the middle when watching faces

• Uses hands for supporting in sitting
• Rolls from back to tummy
• While standing with support, accepts
entire weight with legs

• Rounded back
• Unable to lift head up
• Poor head control
• Difficulty bringing arms forward to reach out
• Arches back and stiffens legs
• Arms held back
• Stiff Legs

• Begins to use consonant sounds in babbling - e.g. “dada”
• Uses babbling to get attention
• Begins to eat cereals and pureed foods

• Reaches for a nearby toy while on their tummy

While lying on their back...

• Transfers a toy from one hand to the other
• Reaches both hands to play with feet

• Sits and reaches for toys without falling
• Moves from tummy to back into sitting
• Creeps on hands and knees with alternate arm and leg movement

• Uses one hand predominately
• Rounded back
• Poor use of arms in sitting
• Difficulty crawling
• Uses only one side of body to move
• Inability to straighten back
• Cannot take weight on legs

• Increases variety of sounds and syllable
combinations in babbling
• Looks at familiar objects and people
when named
• Begins to eat junior and mashed table foods

• In a high chair, holds and drinks from a bottle
• Explores and examines an object using both hands
• Turns several pages of a chunky (board) book
at once
• In simple play, imitates others

TYPICAL PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Pulls to stand and cruises along furniture
• Stands alone and takes several
independent steps

SIGNS TO WATCH FOR IN
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Difficulty getting to stand because of stiff legs
and pointed toes
• Only uses arms to pull up to standing
• Sits with weight to one side
• Strongly flexed or stiffly extended arms
• Needs to use hand to maintain sitting

TYPICAL SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

• Meaningfully uses “mama” or “dada”
• Responds to simple commands,
e.g. “come here”
• Produces long strings of gibberish (jargoning) in social communication
• Begins using an open cup

TYPICAL PLAY DEVELOPMENT

• Finger feeds self
• Releases objects into a container with a
large opening
• Uses thumb and pointer finger to pick up
tiny objects

TYPICAL PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Walks independently and seldom falls
• Squats to pick up a toy

SIGNS TO WATCH FOR IN
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Unable to take steps independently
• Poor standing balance, falls frequently
• Walks on toes

TYPICAL SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

• Vocabulary consists of 5-10 words
• Imitates new less familiar words
• Understands 50 words
• Increases variety of coarsely chopped
table foods

TYPICAL PLAY DEVELOPMENT

• Stacks two objects or blocks
• Helps with getting undressed
• Holds and drinks from a cup