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Infant Development
It is natural for parents worry about their baby’s development. Maybe you feel that your baby is not where it should be and wonder what this means for his or her future. Perhaps your sixth month old has not rolled over yet, and the child development chart shows that some babies start rolling over at five months. Or your neighbor’s eleventh month old is walking but your thirteenth month old has not even attempted to walk. But do not worry about it, comparing your baby’s development to other infants or to norms on developmental charts should be avoided. More importantly instead is to know that babies develop at different rates, and should only be compared to their individual milestones from the previous week or month.
The Infant development is divided into four categories:
- Social: it means how your baby interacts to the human face and voice. Some examples include learning to smile and coo. A social delay may indicate a problem with vision or hearing, or with emotional or intellectual development.
- Language: It is important to know that receptive language development (how well baby actually understands) is a better gauge of progress than expressive language development (how well baby actually speaks). Slow language development can indicate a vision or hearing problem and should be evaluated.
- Large motor development: Some examples are holding their head up, sitting, pulling up, rolling over, and walking. Only very slow starters should be evaluated to be certain there are no physical or health risks for normal development.
- Small motor development: Some examples are Eye-hand coordination, reaching or grasping, and manipulating objects. Early accomplishments may predict a person will be good with their hands, but delays do not necessarily mean they are going to be all “thumbs” later.
Remember that the following milestones are listed under the FIRST month in which they may or may not be achieved. You should know that babies develop at different rates, so if your baby has not compiled with one or more of these milestones, it does not mean that something is wrong with him/her. He or she will probably develop these skills within the next few months. But if you are still worried, always consider discussing this with your baby’s pediatrician, or a specialist. The delay could eventually indicate a problem, but most of the time it will be normal for your baby. Also, it is good to consider that premature babies generally reach milestones later than others of the same birth age; often achieving them closer to the adjusted age and sometimes later.
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