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A Quickie Month By Month Guide of Baby's First Year
A new baby brings so many new emotions for parents. You are likely to feel excited, scared, overwhelmed, and
overjoyed - and you’re likely to be filled with questions. The key for any new parent is to not become a victim to
your worries about the unknown. There are tons of resources available to you as a new parent that will help you
navigate your way through your new role as a parent. Of course, there is no time quite so filled with wonder and
questions as your baby’s first year. This quickie guide will clue you in on what to expect from your baby over the
next 12 months, so you can just sit back and fall in love with being a parent.
Before finding out what to expect from the first 12 months of your baby’s life, there is one rule to keep in mind -
expect the unexpected. Every baby is different and experiences growth in a different way. Some babies may develop
way beyond what is “typical” during their first 12 months of life, while other may develop less than the typical
range. Replace the word “normal” in your mind with “average” and remember that there is no judgment to be made
about landing a little below or above the average range of experience. If your child is developing quite slowly,
then you may want to run things by a doctor, but comfort yourself with knowing that the normal experience of
development within the first 12 months encompasses a wide range of experiences.
There are three things you generally expect your child to accomplish during the first 12 months of their life,
according to experts. By the time they are 12 months old, your child will likely to be able to feed themselves
small things to some extent. For some children, this will mean picking up small bites of food and placing them in
their mouth, and for some children this will mean they are able to use utensils to a small degree. Your child will
probably be making stabs at walking. For some kids, this will mean pulling themselves up with the help of some
furniture and moving around while some other kids will be steadier on their feet. The last big event you can expect
within the first 12 months is a cognitive ability to recognize things and associate them to other things. For
instance, you child may be able to see someone with blonde hair and recognize that their sister has that some hair
color.
Everything else that happens during the first year of your baby’s life is leading up to these events. For instance,
by month three, your baby will probably be able to push themselves up on their elbows while they’re lying on their
stomach. By month four, your baby will probably recognize your face and the faces of other people they see every
day. By month five, your baby will be trying to start to crawl and will be able to hold their very own cups. By
month ten, your baby will become cautious about people they don’t know and they will begin to understand the
meaning of the things you are saying by the tone of your voice. By month 11, your child will probably be crawling
around dizzying speed.
Any doctor will tell you, however, that these are guidelines and not rules. Try not to mark your calendar according
to where your baby “should” be. They are where they are, and watching them make new discoveries is exciting no
matter when it occurs on the time table. Your baby’s first year will be as unique as your baby
itself.
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