While each baby develops at his or her own pace, most babies will achieve certain milestones at roughly the same age. Following are some key developments you can look forward to in your baby’s first 12 months of life.
Physical development
Birth to 3 months: By 2 months, most babies can lift their heads while resting on their stomachs. By 3 months, most are strong enough to push themselves up with their forearms.
4 to 6 months: By the time they are 3 to 4 months old, most babies have discovered their hands. Once they’ve made this discovery, they begin putting anything and everything into their mouths. Babies this age also begin to roll over from front to back and from back to front and begin to reach for objects.
7 to 9 months: During the second half of the first year of life, most babies become mobile. Some babies start crawling sometime after 6 months of age. Others bypass the crawling stage and start walking sometime around their first birthday. Babies this age also can sit without support and pass objects from one hand to another.
10 to 12 months: By the time they reach their first birthday, most babies are becoming increasingly mobile. While some may not yet be ready to take their first steps, most can stand on their own and practice moving around the room while holding onto furniture.
Social development
Birth to 3 months: Right from birth, babies are fascinated by human voices and faces. Your baby’s first genuine smiles appear sometime after age 2 months.
4 to 6 months: By the time a baby is 6 months old, he or she is ready to play with other people. Your baby will enjoy dropping toys and watching you pick them up and will signal his or her desire to be held by raising his or her arms in the air.
7 to 9 months: During the second half of the first year of life, the bond between a baby and his or her parents intensifies. Your baby is likely to protest loudly if you attempt to leave the room. It’s his or her way of saying how special you are and how much he or she needs you.
10 to 12 months: By the end of the first year, babies master the concept of object permanence. This helps them understand that objects — and people — still exist even when you can’t see them. Once your baby masters this important concept, separation anxiety will be less of a problem for both of you.
Language development
Birth to 3 months: A baby’s primary means of communication during the early weeks is crying, but sometime during the second month of life most babies begin experimenting with other sounds (“ah,” “eh” and “uh”) and start to make cooing noises.
4 to 6 months: By the time babies reach 4 to 6 months of age, they begin vocalizing. They mimic the patterns of conversation (i.e. one person talks while the other person listens) as they practice making sounds like “babababa” and “dadadada.” Babies this age also begin to laugh and squeal.
7 to 9 months: Babies continue to master consonant sounds and to imitate the sounds made by adults. While babies around the world make the same types of sounds during the first six months of life, from this point onward it is possible to determine what language is being spoken in a baby’s home based on the types of sounds he or she makes.
10 to 12 months: Babies this age are likely to recognize and respond to their own name and begin to understand that language is symbolic (that the words “Mama” and “Dada” refer to specific people, for instance).
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Sources: Dr. Frank R. Brown III, professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Belair, Texas; Abbey Griffin, senior associate, Zero to Three, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Russell Reiff, behavioral/developmental pediatrician, Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco; Dr. Mark Widome, pediatrician, Hershey, Pa.
