Home / Baby / Baby Growth & Development / Baby Development / 10 Major Developmental Milestones for a Baby

10 Major Developmental Milestones for a Baby

by AlexisH
10 Major Developmental Milestones for a Baby

During the first 20 months of life, babies achieve ten significant developmental milestones. Your baby will learn so much during this time, and it will be amazing to watch. This is going to be your greatest discovery yet, from their first wink to keeping their head high and even their first small walk. In the paragraphs below, we’ll discuss what milestones to expect from your child over the next few months.

Table of contents

Week 5: the world of changing sensations

After having had very little time to get used to the outside world, outside the warm embrace of your body, your baby’s world changes for the second time, and this is the first leap; the baby’s responsiveness to feelings increases drastically. Although everything looks the same to you, everything the baby sees, feels, hears, smells or tastes are different. He likes some of these changes, but not all of them, because he doesn’t yet know how to handle them or ask you for help.

Week 8: the world of patterns

Around eight weeks, your baby recognizes simple patterns in the world around him and his own body. He’s discovering his feet and hands, spending hours controlling his arm or leg positions and hitting objects with his hands or feet. He is fascinated by the light that casts shadows on his bedroom wall. He studies the details of the cans on the supermarket shelves, and he listens to himself making isolated noises. Suddenly he sees, hears, smells, tastes, and feels in a completely different way, and it will take him some time to adjust. Until he starts to feel comfortable in this new world, he will want to cling to his mom for comfort. This time, the fussiness could last from a few days to two weeks.

Week 12: the world of smooth transitions

At about 11 or 12 weeks of age, your baby is ready to make the transition to a real child. He’s becoming able to perceive that things around him are changing subtly. He selects the things that attract him. As always, you’ll need to be careful not to push him too hard but to help him do only what he’s ready to do. He’ll need you to show him his surroundings, to put his toys where he can see and grab them, and to respond to his ever-increasing attempts to communicate.

Week 19: the world of events

Around week 19, you’ll notice your baby trying to learn new skills over and over again. He’s discovering the world of events. Your baby can now learn how to adjust his body movements, especially his arm, hand, and fingers, to reach the precise location of toys, and he can learn to correct his movements as he does so to achieve his goals.

Week 26: the world of relationships

Your baby can now perceive the distance between one thing and another. To us adults, this is obvious, but to a baby, the world suddenly becomes a massive place in which he is just a tiny dot. Sometimes he may want something out of reach of his crib, and he has no way of reaching it. When his mom leaves, even if she goes into the next room, it’s like she’s gone far away from him if he can’t find her because he’s stuck in his crib or hasn’t mastered crawling yet. And even though he crawls very well, he realizes that she is moving much faster than he is and that she can get away from him. This can be a frightening discovery for a baby and lead to a tough few weeks for his parents.

Week 37: the world of categories

Around 36 to 40 weeks, a baby’s explorations often seem very organized. He picks up small objects that have fallen on the floor and holds them between his thumb and forefinger to examine them studiously. He experiences the way a banana or spinach squishes between his fingers. He conducts investigations that will help him categorize his world. He understands that certain objects, sensations, animals, and people belong to groups or categories. For example, bananas look, taste, and feel different from spinach, but both are food. He discovers that he is the same kind of being as his mother, that he can move in the same way as her, but that other things can move in a very different way from human beings or not move at all. This “leap into the world of categories” will affect every sense, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. He learns more about others, about his own emotions; his language skills develop, he understands many more words.

Week 46: the world of sequences

Babies have an innate ability to make a mess, but around 46 weeks, they suddenly start doing things that are the opposite of that behavior. Your baby is now ready to discover the world of sequences. He understands that to achieve his goals, he needs to do things in a specific order to be successful. He tries to figure out how objects go together before he tries to put them inside each other, on top of each other, or together. For example, he focuses on aiming before trying to put one cube on top of another, and he pushes a peg into an awakening tray after comparing the size of the peg to the size of the hole. For the first time, he gives the impression of being able to make connections.

Week 55: the world of programs

The end of first grade means the “beginning of the end” of early childhood for many parents. By now, he’s able to move nimbly and ready to explore the world of programs. During the previous developmental leap, your baby has learned to master the concept of sequence, that events follow one another or that objects go together in a certain way. Now he understands what it means to wash clothes, set the table, eat breakfast, tidy up, get dressed, build a tower, make a phone call, and the millions of other things in everyday life. These actions are all complex programs.

Week 64: the world of principles

Daily scheduled activities such as eating, shopping, walking, playing now seem normal. Around 64 weeks, a little before 15 months, you’ll notice that your baby is starting to try new things. He’s about to land in the world of principles. Your little one will think things through, reflect, consider the consequences of his actions, make plans, and evaluate them. He will strategize and consider if he should ask Grandma or Grandpa for candy? Of course, they have not mastered the development of projects as complex as ours. Now, he is beginning to assimilate that from morning to night, and he will have to make choices. Yes, he notices that it is inevitable; he must choose, choose, and choose again. Perhaps you’ve noticed that your little darling hesitates endlessly about what he should do. Thinking is a full-time job!

Week 75: the world of systems

For the first time in his life, your baby will perceive systems. He perceives that with mom and dad, they are a family. And that his family is not the same as his friend’s, nor his house the same as the neighbours. He applies the principles less rigidly and understands that he can decide what he wants to be, whether honest, helpful, careful, patient, etc. To be or not to be, that is the question. The system he knows best is the one he lives with day and night, which is himself. He is a person in his own right. When the world of systems opens up to him, he begins to develop his notion of identity. This has several consequences. He discovers that he owns and controls his own body. He also discovers that he can orchestrate certain actions, do things on his own, and make decisions, all of which stem from developing his concept of self.

Conclusion

While each child develops at their own speed and intensity, experts can make educated guesses about when specific developmental milestones are likely to take place. If you’re interested to know about your baby’s development, take a look at the 75 marvellous weeks above. And don’t worry if they’re not following the baby milestones chart precisely; each child develops in their own unique and individual way. Always consult your paediatrician with any issues or queries.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More