Infant Parent Program-Early Childhood Intervention
(Child & Family Services Division)

Families - General Information

Babies and toddlers grow and learn so much during their first three years. Be sure to watch carefully as your child grows and learns. You don't want to miss anything! The changes they go through are made up of different skills like sitting and learning to say words. These skills, or developmental milestones, usually happen by certain ages. Although each child is special and develops at his or her own pace, watching to see when your child reaches these milestones can help you know how your child is developing. If you have concerns about how your child is growing and learning, contact us for help.

Help Starts Here. Refer a child for developmental evaluation. No diagnosis is necessary.

Developmental Milestones
Child development refers to how a child is developing new skills. Children are unique, and they all learn at their own pace. When we talk about achieving developmental milestones we look at several areas of development:

• Cognitive, or thinking skills includes how a child thinks, solves problems, understands cause and effect, and reasons
• Communication includes both receptive language—what a child understands, and expressive communication—vocalizing, talking and using gestures to get his point across
• Gross motor skills are things such as rolling, crawling, walking and climbing
• Fine motor skills involve how a child uses her hands to feed himself, dress, and play with toys
• Social-emotional development includes how a child relates to other children and adults, attachment, and sense of self

Help Starts Here. To review milestones information, click the appropriate age below.
3 months / 6 months / 9 months / 12 months / 15 months / 18 months / 21 months / 24 months / 3 years

I'm 3 months old! I...

• turn toward bright colors and lights
• follow moving toys or faces with my eyes
• recognize or know the bottle or breast
• respond to loud or new sounds
• reach for and grasp toys or hair
• wiggle and kick with legs and arms
• lift head and shoulders up while on stomach
• smile back at parents or other family members
• make sounds, like gurgling, cooing or babbling

I'm 6 months old! I...

• turn toward voices
• reach for toys and pick them up
• roll over front-to-back and back-to-front
• play with toes
• help hold bottle during feedings, if bottle fed
• know faces of family
• babble, squeal, and repeat vowel sounds, like ooh, -ae, -e
• sit by leaning on hand

I'm 9 months old! I...

• copy sounds or gestures
• reach for crumbs or other small things with my thumb and fingers
• move toys from one hand to the other hand
• when I'm on my stomach I straighten my arms to support myself
• understand the word "No"

I'm 12 months old! I...

• respond to my name
• may be scared of strangers
• look for an object if you hide it from me, even if I can't see it
• crawl on my hands and knees
• pull myself to a standing position
• walk by holding onto furniture
• can drink from a cup with your help
• enjoy playing games, like peek-a-boo or patty cake
• say 1 to 2 words

I'm 15 months old! I...

• use gestures
• like to look at pictures in a book
• can hold a crayon in a fist
• hand toys to you when you ask me
• can point to pictures you name, if the things in the picture are familiar to me
• walk alone without help
  

I'm 18 months old! I...

• like to pull and push things
• follow simple directions
• pull off shoes and socks
• feed myself sometimes
• step off low objects and keep balance
• turn 2 to 3 pages of a book at a time
• can point to one body part
• can name one object
• like to copy your words or actions

I'm 21 months old! I...

• can name 2 objects
• like to pretend-play
• can put together a simple picture puzzle if it has only 2 or 3 large pieces
• like to throw balls
• like to play alone with toys for a short time
• say "No" a lot

I'm 24 months old! I...

• use 2 to 3 words together, like "No, Mommy" or "More cookies"
• say names of toys and people
• feed myself with a spoon
• turn one page at a time
• point to hair, eyes and nose when someone asks me
• show affection to family members and pets
• run short distances without falling

I'm 36 months old! I...

• answer simple questions
• walk up steps, alternating feet
• put my clothes on by myself
• open simple containers
• like to play with other children
• repeat simple rhymes and songs
• use 3 to 5 word sentences
• name at least one color correctly
• jump in place
• express my emotions