Milestones by Month!

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bdevelopment/0,,42cn,00.html

A good website that shows milestones by month.

Take everything with a grain of salt...

My son met some milestones on the last day of that month. He did some items slightly earlier (like smiling). He likes to wait until the last minute...

He just laughed one day with me feeding him. (didn't see it on this list, but I think it is a 3 or 4 month milestone). We played peak a boo with him one time and he laughed too. So, you really do have to work at some of these milestones...Laughing is so cool!!!!

We practice waving and clapping, but my pedi said that is a 12month milestone. But you do need to practice things with them...Some of my friends have children that waved at 9months or earlier, so as mentioned some children 'get it' before others. ;)

My son took forever to sit unassisted - think it was around 7months.

My son wanted to pull up on everything, but I really needed to have things for him to pull up on (furniture, stable items, etc). If he didn't have something, he might have taken longer to do this milestone.

Spend time with your child and ensure they are meeting their milestones! If you have concerns, talk to your pediatrician. I know all of them usually have a list when you visit (is your child sitting, is your child pulling up, is your child focusing on you, etc). Talk to your dr if you have concerns, that is what we pay them for!

I know my son was horrible at keeping his head up (45 degrees - he took forever to do that). Of course, when I told my dr, he did it for her no problem. My son is stubborn! :) You should spend time with your baby and do tummy time. I'll find a link to some tummy time ideas on another post.

Milestone information - motor skills

http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/mm_windows_graph.pdf


The above link shows child milestones for motor skills (sitting, standing, crawling, walking).

Also related to milestones (when to count it)
http://www.who.int/childgrowth/mgrs/en/fnb_motor_37_45.pdf


It's good to know what milestone your child should be hitting. There is a big range on some items such as crawling and walking. He couldn't sit unassisted forever, but still fell within the range. You should be careful to compare your child with another child. Each child is different, but it is good to see the milestone information.

A child at my son's daycare (a girl) was crawling perfectly at 5 months and walking well at 8 or 9 months. My son didn't army crawl until 8.5 months and started full-blown crawling at 9.5 months. Each child is different and in talking to moms with taller/chunkier kids it may take longer. Instead of comparing your child, just look at the chart and understand that there is a big range for motor skills. Some children don't crawl, but go straight to walking.