Child Development
3 MONTHS
At three months of age, most babies:
- turn their heads toward bright colors and lights
- move both eyes in the same direction together
- recognize bottle or breast
- respond to their mother’s voice
- make cooing sounds
- bring their hands together
- wiggle and kick with arms and legs
- lift head when on stomach
- become quiet in response to sound, especially to speech
- smile
6 MONTHS
At six months of age, most babies:
- follow moving objects with their eyes
- turn toward the source of normal sound
- reach for objects and pick them up
- switch toys from one hand to the other
- play with their toes
- help hold the bottle during feeding
- recognize familiar faces
- imitate speech sounds
- respond to soft sounds, especially talking
- rollover
12 MONTHS
At twelve months of age, most babies:
- get to a sitting position
- pull to a standing position
- stand briefly without support
- crawl
- imitate adults using a cup or telephone
- play peek-a-boo and patty cake
- wave bye-bye
- say at least one word
- make “ma-ma” or “da-da” sounds
18 MONTHS
At eighteen months of age, most children:
- like to push and pull objects
- say at least six words
- follow simple directions (“Bring the ball”)
- pull off shoes, socks and mittens
- can point to a picture that you name in a book
- feed themselves
- make marks on paper with crayons
- walk without help
- walk backwards
- point, make sounds or try to use words to ask for things
- say “no,” shake their head or push away things they don’t want
2 YEARS
At two years of age, most children:
- use two-to-three-word sentences
- say about 50 words
- recognize familiar pictures
- kick a ball forward
- feed themselves with a spoon
- demand a lot of your attention
- turn two or three pages together
- like to imitate their parent
- identify hair, eyes, ears and nose by pointing
- build a tower of four blocks
- show affection
3 YEARS
At three years of age, most children:
- throw a ball overhand
- ride a tricycle
- put on their shoes
- open the door
- turn one page at a time
- play with other children for a few minutes
- repeat common rhymes
- use three-to-five-word sentences
- name at least one color correctly
