New Parent’s Guide: Baby’s Developmental Milestones You Should Know

First smile, first roll over, first crawl, first laugh, first tooth, first word, first steps!

Oh, so many amazing and exciting firsts that your baby experiences in his first year!

Did you know that baby developmental milestones are actually more than baby’s little happy achievements that parents notice occasionally? They are actually important markers to normal child development—a checklist to monitor how your baby grows, changes over time, and whether your baby meets the typical developmental milestones in physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and lingual aspects.

Each Baby Is Different

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While most babies follow the same general growth and reach certain development milestones at similar ages, no two babies are exactly alike when it comes to their developmental progress.

Your baby develops at his own timeline and his key developmental milestones may differ by weeks, or even months, among babies of the same age. This being said, do not worry if your baby is not doing exactly what is described in the infant milestones chart, mummies!

Missed milestones, however, could be a sign of problems. If you think that your baby is lagging behind or if you have concerns about his developmental milestones, remember to always discuss with your baby’s pediatrician or healthcare provider.

Guide to Your Baby’s Developmental Milestones

If you are curious whether your baby’s developmental milestones are progressing appropriately, check out these guidelines to learn what to expect during your baby’s first 18 months of life.

0-3 months

• Moves mouth toward stimulus and starts sucking.
• Moves hands and feet actively, especially when excited.
• Reacts to the sound of the bell.
• Is able to control upright position of the head.
• Is able to slightly lift the head slightly when lying on tummy for short bursts of time.
• Is able to open and shut hands.
• Likes to bring hands to mouth.
• Is able to calm down with experiences such as rocking, touching, and gentle sounds.
• Uses vision to follow black and white or brightly colored objects.
• Cries differently for different needs.
• Coos and smiles.

3-6 months

• Is able to lie on the belly (prone lying).
• Turns body from supine to prone position, or rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back.
• Reaches out and touches objects.
• Grips and brings object to the mouth.
• Uses hands to support self while sitting.
• Reacts to sudden noises and toys with sounds.
• Listens and responds when spoken to.
• Begins to use consonant sounds in babbling, e.g. “pa pa, ma, ma”.
• Makes different kinds of sounds to express feelings.
• Shows interest in food.
• Maintains eye contact with familiar people during playful interaction.

6-9 months

• Is able to sit by himself, or sits with support.
• Shows more control while rolling and sitting.
• Picks and brings object close to the body.
• Is able to transfer objects to both hands.
• Sits and reaches for toys without falling.
• Moves from tummy or back into sitting.
• Starts to move with alternate leg and arm movement, such as creeping and crawling.
• Turns head to visually track objects while sitting.
• Picks up small objects with thumbs and fingers.
• Uses more variety of sounds and syllable combinations in babbling.
• Raises hands towards adult to ask to be picked up.

9-12 months

• Starts crawling.
• Pulls to stand and cruises along furniture.
• Stands independently and takes several independent steps.
• Walks with aid.
• Pushes and plays with balls.
• Throws objects.
• Drops and picks up objects.
• Moves about to explore environment and get desired toys.
• Claps hands.
• Responds to simple directions, e.g. come here, kiss, bye-bye, etc.
• Is able to finger-feed self.

12-24 months

• Walks independently and seldom falls.
• Is able to squat.
• Is able to climb up and down the stairs with assistance or holding onto something.
• Is able to kick a ball.
• Starts to run.
• Stacks two objects or blocks.
• Uses more words.
• Combines sounds and gestures.
• Imitates simple words and actions.
• Follows simple directions.
• Turns head in response to name being called.
• Enjoys playing with a variety of toys and textures.

Impacts of Baby’s Physical Development to Learning

Preparing babies and toddlers for early childhood education requires healthy physical development, especially during their early years of life.

When a baby or toddler is happy and healthy with developmental milestones on track, later on he or she is more likely to engage in learning and develop other skill such as language development, social skills, and other areas of learning for school success. Therefore, it is important to equip little children with activities that can boost their physical developments using the right toys or products.

Introducing Fisher-Price® Smilestones Fundamentals

When you combine the right play at the right time, that’s where the magic happens! Fisher-Price®’s Smilestones Fundamentals offer various toys that cover all your baby’s first moments, from teething to tummy-time adventures!

Fisher-Price® products are powered by PlayLab—an onsite R&D lab—that are dedicated to designing and creating the best and most practical solutions to meet the growing up needs of babies of all stages.

If you are in the quest of the perfect baby toys that aid in achieving your baby’s important early childhood developmental milestones such as first flip, first steps, first words, and more… Just choose Fisher-Price®’s Smilestones Fundamentals product range to get your little one started!

Fisher-Price^® Kick & Play Piano Gym

Step your baby’s play time up a notch with Fisher-Price^® Deluxe Kick & Play Piano Gym that features five light-up piano keys, a repositionable toy arch, and four musical settings that keep your little one rocking out for years!

Bright in colour, this deluxe baby gym is equipped Smart Stages technology that lets you change the learning content to best fit your baby’s age and stage, while real piano notes encourage your little Mozart to create a tune of their own!

Fisher-Price^® Rock-a-Stack

For babies who can sit up independently, the Fisher-Price® Rock-a-Stack® is a classic fun stacking toy with 5 colourful rings to grasp, shake, and stack definitely. Younger babies will love grasping, holding, shaking and exploring the five colourful rings! The littlest ring has a shiny, reflective surface for baby to discover inside with colorful, swirling beads that make fun rattle sounds!

When your baby is ready to sit and play, he can stack the rings on the post, then bat at the wobbly base to make it rock back and forth.

Fisher-Price^® Busy Box

With every turn of this activity toy, there’s something fun & exciting for your little one to see, hear and do. Baby can sort 8 shapes through the top and lift the hippo’s mouth on the side to let the shapes spill out. By pressing the keypad, your little one can learn colors and numbers. What is more, the butterfly book plays alphabet or counting songs when baby flips the page. The light-up piano keys play notes and musical ditties when pressed, and the peek-a-boo lion rewards baby’s touch with fun sounds.

Perfect for your baby’s fine motor, sensory and bilingual academic developments, there’s even more to explore on this activity cube, including a role play phone, leaf clackers, spiral bead bar and bat-at roller ball. The Fisher-Price® Play & Learn Activity Cube provides nonstop fun and learning for tots – especially if you grab the handle and take it with you on the go!

Fisher-Price^® Learn with Me Zebra Walker

From teaching first words to encouraging first steps, the Fisher-Price® Learn with Me Zebra Walker is the kind of first friend you want for your little one! Spin, flip, roll, twist. This zebra is full of busy, hands-on activities for sitting babies. Your baby can turn the book page or press the light-up buttons to hear all about ABC’s and 123’s through sing-along songs and phrases with new animal friends!

When your baby is learning to walk, the easy-grasp handle and sturdy 4-wheel base help steady those wobbly first steps. Loaded with lots of fun phrases, music and songs, perfect to help your little one get even steadier on their feet!

Fisher-Price^® Laugh and Learn Laptop

Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Laptop is an electronic toy “laptop” that will keep your little one preoccupied for a long time. Its Smart Stages technology makes learning content changes as baby grows possible.

This interactive toy has 30+ sing-along songs, tunes and phrases. Moreover, with as many as 3 stages of learning programmed into this laptop, your kid’s learning journey never ends!

Fisher-Price^® Laugh and Learn Tablet

The Fisher-Price® Laugh & Learn® Smart Stages Tablet has 28 “app” buttons for baby to press to activate fun lights, sounds and music and unlock learning about the alphabet, first words, animals and more.

Because every baby develops at their own pace, Smart Stages technology gives you the ability to select the learning level that’s best for your child. There are a variety of developmentally appropriate songs, phrases and sounds within three levels of play.

Interested to find the best developmental baby toys that are both stimulating, entertaining and help build important early childhood skills? Learn more about Fisher-Price® Smilestone’s Fundamentals product range at Fisher-Price® Official Brand Page on Motherhood.com.my now!