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Common Milestones to Watch For in Baby’s First Year

When a baby starts growing there some things or steps to be attained by the baby especially in the first year. Every baby experiences milestones in their young lives, which show that the baby is growing at a proper level, and in the way a baby should grow. As a baby grows by the day there are many milestones to watch out for in the baby’s first year--from the baby’s first attempts at language communication to the baby's first step. This and many more are milestones to watch for in a baby’s first year.

However, the fear of any parent is that his or her baby won't to do those things by a specific time in their infant life. As this may lead to psychological havoc being wreaked in the mind of the parents, as they may worry inconsolably about their child. This worry may also cause tension that may also be felt by the baby, which could lead to further hindrance of his/her growth. However, most parents don't have this to worry about, and can look forward to the development of their child.

The common milestones are usually very simple and can be outlined as so:

(1) Baby’s growth
(2) Baby’s understanding
(3) Baby’s communication
(4) Baby's mobility

The moment a baby is born there is fast and quick growth of a baby for about 8 months to before the very end of the first year. It might seem the baby is no longer growing as expected and this might lead to undue anxiety on the part of the parent. In fact, a parent might even think his or her child weight is small compared to that of another baby. Nevertheless, it is advised that parents are always patient and wait to see that the baby will eventually grow like all the other children. Of course, parents should also realize that are people are not the same and some children will be smaller than others. However, all baby's experience growth spurts, and parents will find that in the first three months of life the baby grow faster than they ever will. A baby can go from seeming to be able to fit in the palm of your hand to growing out of clothes on a weekly basis. The baby will also grow and become too big for their regular infant seat, which will lead to the need of a bigger toddler seat.

A baby’s ability to understand would be shown in his first year. As he grows his ability to learn and understand things going on around would start to manifest. Babies will also learn their own names and become aware of the voices around them. They may also react to the voice of their mother or father, by turning their heads or smiling at the sound of parent's voice. Another milestone in the baby's understanding is their sense of object permanence. Parents can test the baby's sense of object permanence by taking an object from the baby's the baby's hand and moving it from view. If the baby follows the object and looks for it, then they have developed their since of object permanence.

The baby might not be able to talk during his/her first year but the baby will be able to communicate. Babies begin communication at the beginning of their lives. Although it is common knowledge that a baby communicates by crying, there are also many other ways in which the baby communicates. Infants and newborns begin communication by crying, grabbing fingers, and smiling to express their happiness. Eventually the child will begin to make sounds such as "ma" "da" and "ba". Commonly the first sound the baby makes is "da". Although, it is unknown whether or not the sounds are a child's attempt at communication, it is known that is their first attempts at language. Around the age of ten months, the baby will begin to wave and may even say the words "bye bye." Babies also eventually learn to say their mother and father's name, most commonly saying "da da" and "ma ma." Although the baby will not be able to talk properly, they will learn simple communication.

A child's mobility is the most important aspects of there infant life. The first milestone parents should look for in this category is movement of the head. The baby should be able to move and lift their heads by the age of four months. A baby may not have proper control of the movement of their heads, but they may often lift their heads to look around. By the age of seven months the baby should be able to reach for their bottles, and should be able to hold the bottle by ten months. The next important part of mobility is of course crawling. Babies typically begin to crawl at seven or eight months. The most visible and the most important milestone in any baby's life is learning to walk. Typically, parents are proud to see the baby taking his first steps, and many parents take measures to document the moment by video typing their child walking for the first time.