While all infants and toddlers

learn at their own pace, some

may need a little extra help to
develop certain skills. Make
sure to always directly engage
with your child so that they
have maximum exposure to
pro-social behavior and
language usage! Additionally,
remember to take your
newborn in to the doctor for
regular checkups to ensure that
they are healthy and growing as
they should be.

References
Parke, R. and Gauvain, M.
(2008). Child psychology: A
contemporary viewpoint (7th ed.).
McGraw Hill.
Shaw, G. (2014). How your
newborn grows: Infant
development. In WebMD.com.

What to
Expect When
Youre
Expecting

Your Child
The ages listed in this pamphlet
are common developmental
milestones that babies reach
each month during their first
year. Its important to pay
attention to these, as parents
are often the first to know if
their child is not learning or
growing like other babies.
However, dont worry if your
child has not yet reached a
certain milestones. Keep in
mind that there is no precise
time that most of these skills
appear, and that variation
between the developmental
timelines of different children is
perfectly normal. Some babies
might utter their first word at
eight months, while others
dont talk until after the on-year
mark. Watch for progression
instead of worrying about a
deadline.

This brochure outlines

some of the basic
developmental
milestones to expect
from a child during their
first year of his or her
life. Parents its crucial
know whats normal so
that you can make sure
your child is on the right
track!

Lily Moffet
PSYC 322

Gross Motor Skills

Newborn: child exhibits basic

reflexes such as rooting, sucking,
and grasping
3 Months: child can keep own head
stably upright; displays tactiledriven directed reaching behavior;
can track movement with eyes; puts
things in mouth
5-6 Months: child displays more
accurate, vision-oriented guided
reaching
7 Months: child sits upright while
unsupported; can roll over; on both
sides; holds something in each hand
at the same time; explores objects
by banging and shaking
8 Months: child crawls or scoots on
bottom along the floor
12 Months: child can take steps on
their own

Language

1-2 Months: child makes cooing

noises like ooh or aah

4 Months: child makes babbling

sounds like bababa

8 Months: child responds to familiar

words and to own name; laughs

9-14 Months: child restricts

babbling to sounds of native
language

12 Months: child can produce

simple words like mama and
cup; tries to imitate words

Social/Emotional

Perceptual

Fine Motor Skills

1 Month: child looks at objects and

faces, prefers the human face
(particularly mothers) over other
patterns
3 Months: child smiles at familiar
faces, enjoys playing with others,
tracks movement with eyes
6 Months: child shows you when
they are happy or upset; can imitate
back-and-forth nature of
conversation (such as through
sticking tongues out);
7 Months: child can distinguish
emotions by tone of voice
9 Months: child experiences great
distress when separated from a
parent
12 Months: child plays imitative
games such as pretending to use the
phone

3 Months: child seems

surprised when hearing loud or
sudden noises

5-6 Months: child grasps by tapping

the object against the palm
7-9 Months: child uses the thumb
to grasp objects
10-12 Months: child can typically
hold a spoon in hand and feed
themself

7 Months: child can

find partially hidden objects

9 Months: child will

look for a ball after it has rolled
out of sight

12 Months: child easily finds

hidden objects