Originally posted by KenJ:
How old - first word?
How old - turns over?
How old - crawling?
How old - first use of walker?
How old - pulling up to standing position?
How old - first step?
Well, Ken, it all depends on the child. Girls are more social and vocal, usually speaking before boys (at least in my house, but then it's very possible he just couldn't get a word in edgewise).
My daughter started walking (i.e. first step) 10.5 months, while my son really wasn't interested in it until about 13-14 months of age. What is a walker?
The only ones I know are used by people in their late double digits in years (i.e. 60-90+ years).
Okay, according to my baby books <<cough, cough>>go ahead and call me a packrat<<cough>> during 4-7 months baby milestones for movement are:
- Rolls both ways (front to back, back to front)
- Sit with, and then without, support of his hands
- supports his whole weight
- reaches with one hand
- transfers object from hand to hand
Language milestones for 4-7 months:
- Responds to own name
- Begins to respond to "no"*
- Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice
- responds to sound by making sounds
- uses voice to express joy and displeasure
- babbles chains of consonants (i.e.= b,b,b,b,b)
* I have no idea what they are talking about, no child responds to the word "no" that I've ever noticed, no matter how old! :rolleyes: (well, except to the opposite of what you've told them NOT to do).
Usually around 6 months babies are introduced to soft foods, mashed bananas and baby rice cereals (my son has *never* liked rice cereal and won't eat oatmeal or cream-of-wheat to this day). Before 6 months breast milk or formula is the food of choice.
Teeth start arriving during these months too (this also depends on the child. My daughter would be fussy one day, and two days later I'd notice she'd have a couple new teeth. While my poor son, drooled for months straight, screaming in pain from teething before anything showed up.
)
Ages 8-12 months, movement milestones:
- gets to sitting position without assistance
- crawls forward on belly
- assumes hand-and-knees position
- creeps on hands and knees (my daughter skipped this step)
- gets from sitting to crawling or prone (lying on stomach) position
- pulls selp up to stand
- walks holding on to furniture
- standing momentarily without support
- may walk two or three steps without support
Finger and hand milestone for 8-12 months:
- uses pincer grasp
- bangs two cubes together
- puts objects into container*
- takes objects out of container*
- lets objects go voluntarily
- pokes with index finger
- tries to imitate scribbling
*I once played let's put the socks away game for hours with one of my children (I forget which, perhaps my son). I'd put the socks in the small basket drawer and he'd then take them all out again or vice-versa.
Language milestones for 8-12 months:
- pays increaing attention to speech
- responds to simple verbal requests
- responds to "no" (see above note
)
- uses simples gestures, such as shaking head for "no"
- babbles with inflection
- says 'dada' and 'mama'*
- uses exclamations, such as "oh-oh"
- tries to imitate words
*One of my children's first word was "dada", the other one was "no!" And she wouldn't say it just once, it was always "No! No! No!" (my fault for telling her that when she started ripping up the newspaper, she delighted in repeating it back!)
Social development for 8-12 months of age:
- shy or anxious with strangers
- cries when mom or dad leaves
- enjoys imitating preferences for certain people and toys
- shows specific preferences for cerain people and toys
- tests parental responses to his actions during feedings* (what do you do when he refuses a food?)
- Tests parental responses to his behavior* (What do you do if he cries after you leave the room?)
- may be fearful in some situations
- prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others
- repeats sounds or gestures for attention
- finger-feeds himself
- extends arm or leg to help when being dressed
* They never outgrow this stage, do they?
They learn to drink out of sippy cups at this age. My daughter went from breast, to formula or breastmilk in a bottle, to sippy cup, to regular cup. My son never liked the bottle and went straight from breast to sippy cups! Also, my daughter loved for me to feed her with a spoon, my son HATED it and once he could get the spoon out of my hand, never let me feed him again!
Hope this answers your questions, Ken.
**** Above Quotes from "The American Academy of Pediatrics: Caring for your baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5" compiled by Steven Shelov, MD & Robert Hannemann, MD., 1994.
Some other references you might find helpful:
Baby Milestones by Parenting.com Month to month Milestones chart from birth to Age 3 by BabyCenter.com