Child Growth and Development Stages - Milestones for Your Kid

The following is the list of the milestones of child development. This is by no means a complete description of developmental stages, but still it can give you an idea of levels of child development.

1 year (12-14 months)

By this age a child usually walks or makes 2-3 steps without any support. He confidently sits up and stands up straight, puts the toys into a box, puts the building blocks on top of each other. They respond to simple words without gestures, such as "give me", "take it", etc. Besides the words "mom" and "dad" a kid may pronounce additional one to six simple words. Children at this age babble a lot.

Even in this young age you can start teaching letters and numbers, colors and shapes. Don't think that it's too early. Even if the complete understanding of these concepts comes to your child much later, the information still gets recorded in his brain. Such education definitely must not be intrusive, though. It should be enjoyable by using simple toys and pictures. Only if child enjoys the process, there is going to be a progress in learning.

1.5 years old (16-18 months)

At this age children walk and run very well. They love to climb the stairs, drink from a cup, and do some other simple stuff. Your child may try to eat on his own using a spoon. He understands some simple phrases, can point to nose, mouth and eyes on his doll. He can pick up a fallen toy without losing the balance. He or she expresses emotions such as love, pleasure, excitement by making sounds. They have a favorite toy and prefer to play with it. Children at this age can speak at least 15 words. If your baby is used to pacifier, it is time to get rid of it. By this age a pacifier does no harm, however if it is used up to the age of 3 or even 4 years, it may cause some speech problems.

First chores in their life appear at this age. It is a good idea to start teaching a child to keep his room clean, put away his toys, once he is done playing, and put away his dirty clothes into the laundry basket. In the beginning he will need your help. However, you will be surprised how quickly they learn. As they grow, keep adding more chores, such as watering flowers, wiping off the spills, making their beds.

First visit to dentist must be made about 6 months after the first tooth has appeared. After that visit, it is recommended to visit a dentist once every 6 month, especially if a child has any sort of problems with teeth.

First bicycle can be bought at this age. Children my not be ready to push the pedals, however they will still enjoy, if you will help them to a bicycle while they are sitting on it, even without pushing the pedals.

2 years old

At this age children run and jump very well. They can build a tower using 4-6 building blocks, throw and kick a ball, "feed" their own dolls. A child has the ability to walk upstairs and downstairs safely, knows his name and speaks of himself in third person. He points to his own nose, mouth and eyes, can take off a few items of his clothes. At this age kids speak about 15-50 words (even significant deviations from these numbers are common). Child learns to control his bladder and bowl movements.

At this age the "first artwork" may appear. Hand-vision coordination improves significantly. Therefore, many kids love to draw, paint, build the structures using building blocks, make up pictures using simple puzzles.

It is time to bring a new bed for a child. At this age they try to climb out and jump of their cribs, which can be dangerous. If you want to introduce a pet into your house, it is a good time to bring fish in aquarium. Kids will love to observe life in water. However, it is too early to buy them a puppy or a kitten, since they don't completely understand how to be careful with such pets. It is better to wait until they become 3-4 years old, before adopting a dog or a cat.

3 years old

Children at 3 years typically dress and undress themselves (with different levels of success). They can ride a tricycle, understand and respond to more complex requests (such as "please pick up a scoop of sand and put it into your bucket "). They construct phrases using 4-5 words. They use pronouns like "I", "you", etc.

A child by this age is usually potty trained, however, occasionally he still can wet and soil their underwear, but it's acceptable. This is also is the most important time for speech development. Don't forget to teach him new songs and short poems. Try to read him more books, describing pictures in a book in greater details.

4 years old

Children at this age control their body quite well. They become experts in zipping and unzipping their clothes. They have already learned to use spoon and fork. It is quite ordinary, if a chubby baby turns into а lanky kid. Most kids lose their baby fat by this age, and in a few years it will be replaced by muscles. Height and weight of a child must grow evenly. If weight is growing faster than height then your child may be gaining excess weight. In this case pay close attention to his hips and forearms. If fat is folding there, then you might want to restructure his diet by including healthier food. It is also very helpful to engage him into physically active games. If a for-year old kid did not grow much in 6 month you might want to seek doctor's consultation. There is a small percentage of kids who may lack growth hormone.

source: Ezine Articles

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