Every new mother or father's biggest joy is holding their newborn boy or girl. There's nothing that brings so much joy.
But when you take that baby home for the first time from the hospital, would you know the signs of abnormal (not normal) growth and development?
Would you know when you should be worried?
Not all boys and girls will develop the same, at the same time. However, it's important for parents, guardians and even care providers such
as daycare and pre-school workers, to understand the important developmental goals (milestones) of children between birth and 2 years and more.
In the next few minutes of this video we will look at some of the signs of positive (the right) development in young children
and also give you advice on when you should be worried about your child's development.
The early years are when a lot of development happens in a young child. There are four main things you need to remember in development.
1) Motor (movement), 2) Language, 3) Social adaptive (learning everday skills to help you function and take care of yourself) and 4) Sensory.
By 3 months old most babies should be;
cooing (talking in a soft voice/baby talk).
At 6 months old, babies should be showing interest in their surroundings:
for example, turning their heads to where they hear a sound;
Following moving things with their eyes; and stretching their arms to touch those things.
They should be moving a lot: for example, moving their legs and playing with them, rolling over, standing, and using things to support themselves while standing;
showing who they like; smiling with them; and babbling (baby talk) at them.
To help your baby develop, you can give them a lot of different things in different shapes or colours to play with.
Play with them, talk to them, sing to them, clap, and playing peek-a-boo (a hiding game) with them.
It's important for you to show the baby that you are responding to what they are saying or doing.
Between 6 and 12 months, most babies should be looking for objects they can't see.
At this age babies want to be loved and they want attention from someone or people around them. They will also show fear towards a stranger.
Infants (small babies) who are developing well will enjoy doing different activities such as sitting without support from someone,
rolling both ways, crawling, walking while holding someone's hand, or standing and walking by themselves.
As infants find control over their bodies they can feed themselves with a feeding cup or bottle.
and even hold an object (something/a thing) with one hand while touching and feeling it with the other hand.
They can shake the object, drop it and even pick it up.
At this stage it is important to continue to help and encourage them by using brightly coloured pillows, mats and shapes on walls to grow their interest.
Give them a big space to play in, or crawl and roll in, a space big enough to move towards an object or someone.
Play with them using pictures, books stories, puppets and toys, and also allow them the time to have quiet time and be able to play alone.
A baby's temperament controls how they act towards their surroundings or people around them.
Between 1 and 2 years old, children are learning to understand things more.
In this phase, children who are developing well will want to do things on their own but also want permission and support from their parents.
Toddlers (young children) are learning to use language, growing and improving from using one word to two words to the word in a sentence.
At this stage children like activities that involve moving around such as walking, running, kicking, throwing a ball.
They should also be able to put toys together, build small buildings, write on things using pens, pencils and paint.
They are also interested in playing with sand, water and clay.
Toddlers can open doors, take off their clothes, and throw and fetch objects.
It's important for parents to help children in their development by making children do these activities every day.
Caregivers can support children's language development by repeating words, finding things to play with, asking questions and reading with them.
When should a parent be worried about their child''s development?
If by 3 months the baby is not smiling, babbling (baby talk), or if the baby cannot sit or support they head by 3 months, you should be worried.
By 6 months, if your baby is not roiling in different directions, does not sit with any help,
or by 1 year, if your child cannot stand and needs help to stand, says no words at all or does not point to objects, then you should be worried.
You should be worried if, at age 2, your baby cannot walk, or has tight legs when walking,
Or if your child does not say at least two-word sentences, or is unable to do simple things you ask them to do.
If any of these signs are seen, you should tell your medical doctor or healthcare professional and get advice.
So we have shown you important milestones that babies should reach in different stages of their development.
However, it is important to remember that not all children will develop in the same way at the same times.
Nevertheless, the information we have provided shows developmental points that can help you.
II you are a caregiver and are worried about a baby's development then it's important to tell the baby's parent/s,
And tell the parents to watch the baby's development and tell the baby's doctor when they see any problems.
if you are a parent and have any worries about your baby, you should tell your child's doctor.