Developmental Milestones

Stage	Skill Development
By 6 months	Cognition	Communication	Daily Living	Motor Skills	Socialization
	Uses hands and mouth to explore objects	Fixes gaze on face	Reacts to sight of bottle or breast	Lifts head and chest when lying on stomach	Social smile
	Turns eyes and head to sound of hidden voice	Responds to name by looking for voice	Comforts self with thumb or pacifier	Turns over when lying on stomach	Distinguishes mother from others
	Localizes sound with eyes	Regularly localizes sound		Holds head in line with body when pulled to sitting	Demands social attention
	Finds a partially hidden object	Cooing, gurgling, chuckling, laughing		Bears almost all weight on legs	Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure
		Say a vowel-consonant combination such as â€œah gooâ€		Looks and reaches for faces or toys	Vocalizes in response to adult talk and smile
				Picks up toy with one hand
By 12 months	Cognition	Communication	Daily Living	Motor Skills	Socialization
	Plays peek-a-boo	Initiates vocalization	Holds own bottle	Crawls around on hands and knees	Reaches for familiar person
	Follows trajectory of fast moving objects	Different vocalizations for different states	Feeds self a cracker	Goes from sitting to prone	Plays social games (peek a boo)
	Looks for family members or pets when named	Recognizes familiar people	Picks up spoon by handle	Lowers to sitting from standing	Plays patty cake
	Retains two of three objects	Reciprocal social games (peek a boo, pat a cake)		Walks around furniture or crib while holding on	Shows anxiety over separation from mother
	Turns head and shoulders to find hidden sound	Imitates familiar sounds and actions		Picks up small objects – precise thumb and finger grasp	Smiles at mirror image
	Imitates familiar and new gesture	Cries when parent leaves			Extends toy to show others
		Reduplicative babbling (baba,mama)			Explores environment
		Attracts attention by vocalizing			Shows like and dislike for certain people, objects, places
		Shakes head â€œnoâ€
		Waves â€œbyeâ€
		Indicates requests clearly
		Coordinates actions betweens adults and objects
By 18 months	Cognition	Communication	Daily Living	Motor Skills	Socialization
	Turns two or three pages at a time	Begins single word production	Indicates discomfort over soiled pants	Stands without support	Gives kisses or hugs
	Identifies self in the mirror	Requesting objects, such as food, with words	Lifts cup to mouth and drinks	Walks without help	Greets people with â€œhiâ€
	Identifies one body part	Uses ritual words – bye, hi, thank you, please	Feeds self with spoon	Runs	Gives toy to familiar adult
	Recognizes and points to four animal pictures	Protest – says no, shakes head	Insists on doing things by self such as feeding	Stacks 2 or more blocks	Displays independent behavior
		Comments – Points to object and vocalizes		Picks up 2 small toys in one hand	Displays frequent tantrum behavior
		Acknowledges – makes eye contact and vocalization			Begins to show sense of humor
					Plays ball cooperatively
					Shows toy preferences
By 24 months	Cognition	Communication	Daily Living	Motor Skills	Socialization
	Points to several clothing items on request	Uses mostly words to communicate	Eats with fork	Kicks a ball forward	Sometimes says â€œnoâ€
	Matches sound to animals	Begins to use two word combinations	Eats with spoon spilling little	Runs well, seldom falls	Shows sympathy to other children and tries to comfort
	Matches object to picture	Uses word combinations with relational meanings (daddy shoe, more juice)	Takes off front opening jacket or shirt	Walks up and down stairs alone, both feet on step	Shows jealousy of attention given to others
	Assembles four nesting blocks	Has at least 50 words	Removes shoes when laces undone	Builds towers of four or more blocks	Shows a wide variety of emotions
	Identifies three body parts	Follows two part instruction	Helps with simple household tasks	Turn pages of picture book one at a time	Engages in parallel play
	Recognizes self in photograph				Defends possessions
	Uses play dough and paints
By 30 months	Cognition	Communication	Daily Living	Motor Skills	Socialization
	Understands concept of one	Understands many action verbs	Understands common dangers – stairs, glass, strange animals	Opens doors by turning the knobs	Plays with other children – dolls, cars, blocks
	Recognizes familiar adult in picture	Names most pictures of familiar objects	Indicates need to use the toilet	Climbs on play equipment	Displays dependent behavior
	Engages in simple make believe activities			Jumps from 8 to 14 inches	Frustration tantrums peak
	Obeys two part commands			Catches large ball	Dramatizes using doll
	Matches shapes and colors			Scribbles with circular motion	Becoming aware of sex differences
				Draws or copies vertical lines	May develop sudden fears, especially of large animals
By 36 months	Cognition	Communication	Daily Living	Motor Skills	Socialization
	Matches similar pictures of objects	Engages in short dialogues	Pulls pants down with assistance	Stands on one foot without support	Role plays in pretend games – mom, dad, teacher
	Sorts shapes	Uses language in imaginative way	Dresses self with help	Walks up and down steps alternating feet	Shows independence
	Completes 3 piece puzzle	Provides descriptive details	Pulls pants up with assistance	Draws or copies vertical lines	Begins to obey and respect simple rules
	Stacks rings in correct order	Links unrelated ideas and story elements	Wipes nose with assistance	Cuts with small scissors
	Points to larger or smaller of two spoons	Begins to include articles and word endings	Pours liquid from small container
	Understands concept of two	Understands four prepositions	Uses toilet with assistance
	Sorts colors and points to several colors when named		Washes and dries hands
	Identifies longer stick		Buttons large buttons
	Understands all common verbs and some adjectives

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