About development

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• Development is a gradual process with surges and slow spots.
• Babies pass through developmental stages in a similar order, but there is tremendous variety as to when they do.

Most healthy babies who have plenty of love and attention develop new skills in a completely natural and continually surprising way. So much development takes place in the first 12 months that this is an amazing process for parents to watch.

Babies grow and develop at tremendously different rates – and with blissful disregard for what parenting textbooks say they should be doing.

Your instincts, plus knowing that your baby eats and sleeps well, and is not grizzly whenever awake, tell you more than a growth or development chart can.

Enjoy the variations. Your baby is letting you in on an important secret. These variations are what make development so exciting and memorable – both for you and your baby.

Developmental achievements are called ‘milestones’. Growth and development milestones are a useful guide, but they aren't something to agonise over.Developmental milestones are grouped under headings according to the parts of the body they refer to:

• Large body movements involve the coordination and control of large muscles and skills like walking, sitting and running.
• Small body movements(or manipulation) involve the coordination and control of small muscles and skills like holding a rattle, picking up crumbs and scribbling with a pencil.
• Vision is the ability to see near and far and to interpret what is seen.
• Hearing and speech: hearing is the ability to hear, listen to and interpret sounds; speech is the ability to understand and learn language.
• Social behaviour and understanding: your child's ability to learn and interact with others, including skills for play and connecting and communicating.

Developmental progress can be affected by delays. These delays may be temporary or, less often, permanent. Premature birth and illness are two things that might cause temporary delays. Some disabilities can cause permanent delay. A baby’s development can also suffer because of his environment.

Development: what you need to know

Milestones are only a guide. Unless you are seeing delays in a few different areas over several months, it is unlikely there is anything wrong if your baby seems slow to do some things compared to other babies.

Babies do things at their own pace, particularly when it comes to walking and crawling.

But if you are ever concerned, do ask a professional. You know your baby better than anyone and you will have a good feel for what’s happening.

As a general guide, seek help if you notice any of the following:

• Your baby doesn’t consistently respond to sounds.
• Your baby doesn’t seem to see things, or has white or cloudy pupils, or if there is anything about his eyes that bothers you.
• He isn’t interested in what’s going on around him.
• Your baby can’t hold his head up by the time he's reached 3-4 months.
• Your baby is persistently crying for more than about three hours every day (babies cry on average for about two hours a day, peaking between 6-8 weeks), especially after three or four months.
• Your baby doesn’t move or use both arms and/or legs.
• Your baby is not sitting well by 10 months.
• Your baby doesn’t want to bear his own weight by 12 months.

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