The milestones in the first years of life are the same for all babies, the pace is often slightly different. That is not a problem at all. Your child will develop at his or her own level.
You can expect these milestones:
– Rolling over. This is a lot of practice for a small baby. Your baby is often already squirming and pushing its tummy up and then suddenly it does it! Rolling over! Babies usually start doing this between 3 and 6 months. It takes a lot of practice to master it. At Alles Kidz Childcare, we encourage babies by letting them play on their tummies a lot. This way they train muscles they will soon need when rolling over.
– Crawling & tipping. Once your baby is used to rolling over, they start crawling. There is no fixed order of development. Some children can suddenly stand up without having crawled first. They all do this in their own way and at their own pace. On average, babies can tiger, crawl or buttock slide between 7 and 10 months.
– Being able to sit up by themselves. A nice milestone is when your baby can sit up by himself! This usually happens between 6 and 12 months. Learning to sit properly is important so your child can learn to walk properly afterwards. To be able to sit, it is important that your child’s neck and back muscles are strong. We often stimulate this by using a babygym, stretching and reaching for toys trains these muscles.
– First words. Your baby’s babbling slowly turns into understandable words, a super fun milestone! Around the first birthday, the first words are often spoken, around the second birthday this changes to short sentences.
– Standing. Suddenly it’s time and your child is standing at the bench. Children often practise this a lot by pulling themselves up. If you notice that your child wants to try standing up but doesn’t succeed yet, help him with some support.
– Walking. Perhaps the biggest milestone. It suddenly turns your baby into a real toddler. On average, children can take their first steps between 12 and 14 months. But even here the difference in development is huge. Some babies are more concerned with talking and only then with walking. Every child follows a different pace. Is your child starting to take its first steps? Then it will have lots of fun with a baby walker!
