The Stages Of Child Development In The First Year Of Life
In its first year of life, the baby goes through many stages of its development. It goes from being a newborn who barely stays awake, to acquiring important psychomotor advances.
During the first year of life, the baby will learn to establish relationships with the surrounding environment. He will begin to get to know his body, to master its movements, to communicate through stammering and to pronounce his first words. Do you want to know the stages of the child’s development in his first year of life?
The stages of the child’s development in his first year of life
Let’s see what happens to babies in their first year of life. We remind you that you don’t have to worry if there is something your child doesn’t do. Each child is different and has their own pace of growth.
Sooner or later they will reach that certain stage, so if they don’t do it in a specific month, they will do it in the following months.
First stage of the child’s development in his first year of life
First month
- The baby communicates by crying when he is hungry, wet, or needs a hug from mom or dad.
- During this month, the baby moves his eyes in search of light and reacts to loud noises by stretching his legs and arms (Moro reflex).
- It makes involuntary movements (reflexes), sucks everything that comes close to the mouth, closes the foot if they touch the sole and opens the fingers of the hand.
Second month
- He starts smiling at external stimuli (for example, when he sees familiar faces).
- He can start sucking his thumb.
- It makes the first sounds to attract attention.
Stages of baby development: third month
- He is very interested in visual stimuli, especially bright colors.
- The first stammering begins.
- Show interest in everything that happens around him and start turning his head in the direction the sounds are coming from.
Fourth month
- Start supporting your head and using your hands. For example, if he has a rattle or any other object in his hand, he shakes it.
- He starts laughing regularly and is attracted to people’s faces (especially smiling faces).
- The child does not like to be alone.
Stages of child development: second stage
Fifth month
- The babble increases and the child likes to hear the sounds he makes. Start playing with sounds.
- Some children start to grow their first teeth.
- He manages to turn around and grab his feet.
- Start distinguishing colors.
Sixth month
- If he’s on his stomach and gets a little help, he can sit up and turn around.
- He is able to take the bottle with his hands, to pass an object from one hand to the other and to ask with his arms to be taken.
- Start showing interest in her feet by putting them in your mouth.
Stages of child development: third stage
Seventh month
- The child is able to sit alone without help.
- He has greater agility in the use of his hands and touches and manipulates anything.
- Start pronouncing the individual syllables.
- At this stage he learns much faster.
Eighth month
- He begins to be afraid of strangers (he may even cry their presence).
- If he is lying on the ground, he can roll around on his own. Also, he really enjoys playing on the floor.
Stages of child development: fourth stage
Nine months
- The child likes to take toys and throw them (to experiment).
- He can remain seated for fifteen minutes without being tied to the seat.
- In this month, some babies start crawling.
Tenth month
- The child is able to stand up leaning on some objects.
- He begins to say his first words: “Ma-Ma”, “Pa-Pa”.
- He likes to make noise by hitting anything.
- Start waving.
Fifth stage
Eleventh month
- The child begins to use words giving them meaning. For example, he has already understood the meaning of words like “give me”, “more”, “no”.
- He can start walking on his own by leaning against furniture or holding an adult’s arm. If he doesn’t walk alone, don’t force him to.
At the end of one year
- If he hasn’t learned to crawl yet, he’ll start doing it. If he already knows how to crawl, he will start taking the first steps.
- The child begins to stand up and sit down if he feels tired.
- He already uses his thumb and forefinger to grab small objects.
- He is very receptive to displays of affection and starts giving them.
- The child collects everything he finds in his path. This is the time to clear out of his sight objects that are dangerous or that we don’t want to break.
Conclusions
These are the stages of the baby’s development in its first year of life. As we told you earlier, this does not mean that all babies reach them in the same month. Each child has his own rhythm and some things he will be able to do a month before and others a month later. This is completely normal.
