Early childhood is a time of incredible growth and change, with each stage bringing new skills and abilities. As parents, it can be easy to overanalyze your child’s developmental progress. “Is my child on target? What should I expect? How can I help them grow?” Understanding developmental milestones can help you track your child’s progress and provide the support they need to thrive. 

A Guide to Early Childhood Development

Each child develops at their own pace. However, there are key skills outlined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that most young discoverers (about 75%) generally experience around the same time. These are as follows:

2 Months: Early Signs of Development

At two months old, your baby is beginning to interact with the world around them. Key milestones at this stage include:

• Social and Emotional Development: Your baby may start to smile in response to familiar faces and voices. They may also look at your face and calm when picked up.
• Physical Development: They might start lifting their head briefly while lying on their tummy. Babies will also begin to move both arms and legs, as well as open their hands.
• Cognitive Development: Your baby may show interest in brightly colored objects and follow movements with their eyes.
• Language and Communication: Your child should begin to make sounds other than crying and react to loud noises.

4 Months: Growing and Exploring

By four months, your baby’s development is becoming more noticeable. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: Your baby will begin to smile to get your attention. They make sounds or movements to get or keep it. Babies at this age will also begin to chuckle.
• Physical Development: They can start to push down on their legs when you hold them upright and begin to reach for and grasp objects. Your child may also begin to push up on elbows when lying on their stomach.
• Cognitive Development: Your baby’s vision improves here, allowing them to follow moving things with their eyes from side to side. Your baby will also mouth when hungry.
• Language and Communication: At this age, babies begin cooing (“ooh” and “ahh”) and will make sounds in response to your speech.

6 Months: Becoming More Active

At six months, your baby is growing more active and curious. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: They may recognize familiar faces and like to look at themselves in the mirror.
• Physical Development: Your baby might begin to sit with support and roll over in both directions. They will even begin to support themselves with their hands when sitting.
• Cognitive Development: They’ll explore objects by putting them in their mouth. When eating, your child will start to communicate they are full by closing their lips.
• Language and Communication: Your child will continue to grow their catalog of “playful noises,” adding in raspberries and squealing noises. 

9 Months: Advancing Skills

By nine months, your baby is becoming more mobile and communicative. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: They may prefer certain people and toys. Your child should also be able to show several facial expressions, such as happy, angry, surprised, etc.
• Physical Development: Your baby may start crawling and can sit without support. When eating, they will likely begin to “rake” food toward themselves.
• Cognitive Development: They will begin to understand object permanence, looking for things that have left their line of sight. 
• Language and Communication: Babies in this stage become extremely vocal, making sounds such as “mamamama.”

1 Year: A Year of Growth

At one year old, your child is reaching several key milestones. Key developments include:

• Social and Emotional Development: At this age, your baby will be able to engage in simple games, like “pat-a-cake.”
• Physical Development: Your child may start to walk with support and use fine motor skills to pick things up with thumb and pointer fingers.
• Cognitive Development: Problem-solving skills strengthen, allowing your child to look for objects they see you hide.
• Language and Communication: Your child’s verbal and nonverbal communication skills will continue to grow. They could now say “mama” and “dada” and wave goodbye.

15 Months: Building Independence

By fifteen months, your child is becoming more independent. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: Your baby might clap when excited and show affection (hugs, cuddles, kisses, etc.) to you and stuffed toys. When playing, they may copy what another child does.
• Physical Development: Your child may start taking steps on their own and use their fingers to feed themself.
• Cognitive Development: They will begin understanding simple instructions and stacking objects like blocks.
• Language and Communication: Your child should start looking for familiar objects when called by name and experimenting with short words to address people and things. (i.e., “da” for dog or “ba” for ball.)

18 Months: Growing Capabilities

At eighteen months, your child’s skills are becoming more refined. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: Your young learners may point out things that interest them, look at books with you and help dress themselves.
• Physical Development: Your child can walk upstairs with help and is beginning to build a tower of blocks.
• Cognitive Development: They are likely to copy you doing household chores, like sweeping with a broom, and begin playing with toys.
• Language and Communication: Children this age can start following one-step directions without nonverbal cues.

2 Years: Developing Skills

At two years old, your child is developing a range of new skills. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: They may show more independence and the ability to empathize with others.
• Physical Development: Your child can run more confidently, climb and kick a ball.
• Cognitive Development: They should be able to hold something in one hand while using the other hand independently.
• Language and Communication: Children around this age can often say at least two-word sentences and use more complex nonverbal gestures, like nodding or blowing kisses.

3 Years: Exciting New Skills

At three years old, your child’s abilities are rapidly growing. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: They grow more confident in your absence and play cooperatively with others.
• Physical Development: Your child can dress and undress themselves with help and use utensils.
• Cognitive Development: They start to understand the concept of counting and may begin to recognize some letters.
• Language and Communication: Verbal skills continue to grow here, with young children being able to carry out short conversations, say their first name when asked and be understood by others most of the time.

4 Years: Building Competence

At four years old, your child is building on their existing skills. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: Children at this age can play pretend. They may start to comfort and like to be a “helper” to others. Four-year-olds can change behaviors depending on their social setting.
• Physical Development: Your child can carefully serve themselves food/drink and may be able to catch a bounced ball.
• Cognitive Development: They can understand and follow multi-step directions and are improving their problem-solving skills.
• Language and Communication: Young children can recall and share stories about their day and answer simple questions, such as, “What is a rain jacket for?”

5 Years: Preparing for School

By five years old, your child is getting ready for school and more advanced learning. Key milestones include:

• Social and Emotional Development: They are able to share more easily, follow rules, express their feelings and help with simple tasks.
• Physical Development: Your child can hop on one foot and button their buttons.
• Cognitive Development: They begin to understand the concept of time, count to ten, and recognize letters and numbers.
• Language and Communication Development: Your child’s reading comprehension skills will start developing during this time, with them able to answer questions about a story after you read it together.

To learn more, please ask your local Children’s Discovery Center instructor about programs and success stories from our Toledo-area early childhood education centers. You can also explore the CDC’s full guide here.

Set Your Familly On the Path to Success at CDC

For more than 40 years, Children’s Discovery Center has helped guide and expand the minds of Toledo’s youngest explorers. Our dedicated staff nurtures children into lifelong learners by providing an innovative environment promoting self-led discovery. Contact us today to learn more about our Reggio Emilia approach to learning, register your child and tour our facilities.