How to Check Your Child’s Developmental Milestones

Your child’s milestones are meaningful — from the beginning of their life, to high school graduation, to landing their first job. You’re likely familiar with prevalent milestones like a baby’s first time crawling or even their first steps, but what are the other significant milestones to check when your child is young? And are they important?

We’re a paediatric allied health clinic in Western Sydney, Australia, specialising in helping children live to their fullest potential. Here’s how you can check your child’s developmental milestones at home!

The Most Important Window: Birth to Five Years

While your child’s milestones are undoubtedly significant throughout their entire life, medical professionals are primarily concerned that children meet specific milestones between birth and five years old. These younger years are crucial in laying foundations for cognitive, social, physical, and communicative development.

1. Cognitive Milestones

   Cognitive milestones include the development of your child’s thoughts, learning abilities, and problem-solving skills. You’ll begin to notice cognitive milestones when your child is around two months old. They should start paying attention to faces and recognizing their loved ones. You may notice that your child is curious about the world at around six months old. Curiosity is expected and encouraged!

   Your one-year-old should understand how different objects work, use them correctly, and follow the basic directions you give them. Your child should understand the basic concept of time and the names of everyday items used in the home by the time they turn five.

2. Social Milestones

   Social milestones include your child’s social skills, how they interact with others, and how they show emotion. Most children enjoy engaging with others around three months old — you’ll likely notice that your child begins to smile when playing and cry when playtime is over. They will start to show interest in other infants use of toys around one-year of age.

   Also around the one-year-old marker, your child should begin showing preferences for people and toys, test their parent’s responses, and repeat sounds. Your child should develop an interest in more complex play with other children and cultivating friendships by the time they’re five years old.

3. Physical Milestones

   Physical milestones are perhaps one of the most recognized milestones, including movement and physical development, like your baby’s first steps! While your child likely won’t begin walking until they’re over a year old, they should have strong reflex movements at one-month-old. They should be able to sit up without assistance at six months old.

   Your child should be able to walk by themselves and kick a ball by age two — and run freely by the age of three! You may notice your child having the time of their life using their bodies and playing on the playground at five years old — hopping, swinging, climbing, and skipping all over the place!

4. Communicative Milestones

   Last but certainly not least, communicative milestones involve language and communication skills. While your child won’t communicate with you much when they’re one month old, you should begin noticing that your child hits communicative milestones around three months old. They’ll start being slightly more communicative with their expressions (communicating nonverbally).

   Remember; while your baby isn’t communicating much for their first 3 months, they are listening and learning the foundations for speech!

   While your child likely won’t speak at seven months old, you should begin checking to see if they recognize your voice, respond to their name and you should hear some babbling. Your child should start taking more interest in language around the time they’re one — ‘no’ might even be their favourite word at this stage! Isn’t that fun? You should check to see if they’re beginning to babble, pay attention to your voice, and even try repeating words or sounds.

Feel free to use our resources to check milestones: