Ages & stages

Birth to 1 year old

Newborn to 3 months

General for Newborn

smiles
holds head up
cries when there’s a loud noise
enjoys looking at faces

Your Newborn

Your new-born will spend most of their time sleeping, feeding, and cuddling, but they’re learning as they move, watch and listen to the world around them.

They can hear, feel, taste and smell when they’re born, but their vision takes a few months to develop fully. In the first six weeks most babies will:

know your voice and may turn towards it
may startle when they hear loud noises
loves looking at your face
may enjoy seeing toys with faces, patterns, or contrasting colours
may make eye contact with you and move their head to see where you are
grab your finger if you place it in their hand
automatically turn in the direction of a source of food (breast or bottle) because of their rooting reflex.

At 2 months:

calms down when spoken to or picked up;
looks at your face;
smiles when you talk or smile to them;
makes sounds other than crying;
reacts to loud sounds;
watches you as you move;
looks at a toy for several seconds;
holds head up when on tummy;
moves both arms and both legs;
opens hands briefly.

A few things you can do to help baby learn and develop:

read, tell stories, talk or sing to your child. It’s a great way to bond and helps them to get familiar with sounds and words
make eye contact if your wee one is looking at you, look back at them. Eye contact is important for bonding, so spend lots of time gazing at your baby.
When they look away from you, they’re telling you they’re tired and need a rest
play! Your baby will enjoy looking at your smiling face, listening to you sing, make funny faces, and blowing raspberries
give your baby a massage, which helps you connect with you child
give them space to stretch and move their arms and legs
let your baby have tummy time when they’re awake, to help the muscles in their back and neck strengthen – but always stay with your baby during tummy time to keep them safe.

4 months to 6 months

Some physical developments

rolls over
reaches and grasps
chews on hands and toys
turns towards sounds and voices
responds to sound by making noises
reaches out for toys

Most babies this age

Most babies this age are eating and sleeping more regularly and interacting with you and other family members.

By six months most babies can:

sit up
clap hands
can transfer objects from hand-to-hand
play peek-a-boo
copy you
respond to their name
understands “no”
babble and may say mama, dada, bubba
have full-colour vision.

At 4 months:

chuckles (not yet a full laugh) when you try to make them laugh;
looks at you, moves, or makes sounds to get or keep your attention;
makes sounds back when you talk;
turns head towards the sound of your voice;
looks at hands with interest;
holds head steady without support when being held;
brings hands to mouth;
pushes up onto elbows/forearms when on tummy.

At 6 months

knows familiar people;
likes to look at self in mirror;
laughs;
takes turns making sounds with you;
makes squealing noises;
puts things in their mouth to explore them;
reaches to grab a toy they want;
closes lips to show they don’t want more food;
rolls from tummy to back;
pushes up with straight arms when on tummy;
leans on hands to support themselves when sitting.

During these months

During these months, babies are really learning to reach out and manipulate the world around them. They’re mastering the use of those amazing tools, their hands. And they’re discovering their voices.

From 4 to 6 months old, your baby will probably:

Roll over from front to back or back to front. Front-to-back usually comes first.
Babble, making sounds that can sound like real language.
Laugh.
Reach out for and grab objects (watch out for your hair), and manipulate toys and other objects with their hands.
Sit up with support and have great head control.

6 to 12 months

General developments

can pull to sit up
responds to name
plays peek-a-boo
turns towards sounds and voices
may understand “no”
babble and may say mama, dada, bubba
wave bye bye

By 12 months most babies

are curious
crawl, bottom shuffle, or walk
pull up to stand, or stand for a moment without support
wave bye-bye
respond to name
may say words with meaning, mumma, dada, bubba
reach out for toys and pick up small objects
watch people and movement with interest
follow the movement of a dangling ball in all directions
look for hidden or dropped toys
turn towards sounds and voices
may understand ‘no’ and ‘bye-bye’
copies sounds
can say two to three words.

7 to 9 Months

During the second half of this first year, your little one becomes a baby on the go. After learning that they can get somewhere by rolling over, they’ll spend the next few months figuring out how to move forward or backward. During this time period, your baby may:

Start to crawl. This can include scooting (propelling around on their bottom) or “army crawling” (dragging themselves on their tummy by arms and legs), as well as standard crawling on hands and knees. Some babies never crawl, moving directly to from scooting to walking.
Sit without support.
Respond to familiar words like their name.
Clap and play games such as patty-cake and peekaboo.
Learn to pull up to a standing position.

10 to 12 Months

The last development stage in baby’s first year is quite a transition. They aren’t an infant anymore, and they might look and act more like a toddler. But they are still a baby in many ways.

They are learning to:

Begin feeding herself. Babies at this developmental stage master the “pincer grasp“ — meaning they can hold small objects such as O-shaped cereal between their thumb and forefinger.
Cruise, or move around the room on their feet while holding onto the furniture.
Say one or two words, and “Mama” and “Dada” become specific name for parents. The average is about three spoken words by the first birthday, but the range on this is enormous.
Point at objects they want in order to get your attention.
Begin “pretend play” by copying you or using objects correctly, such as pretending to talk on the phone.
Take their first steps. This usually happens right around one year, but it can vary greatly.

At 1 year

waves “bye-bye”;
calls a parent “mama” or “dada” or another special name;
understands “no” (pauses briefly or stops when you say it);
puts something in a container, like a block in a cup;
looks for things they see you hide, like a toy under a blanket;
pulls up to stand;
walks, holding on to furniture;
drinks from a cup without a lid, as you hold it;
picks things up between thumb and pointer finger, like small bits of food.

With babies 1–4 months of age:

Sing

Sing baby simple songs with repeated phrases.

The repetition helps baby learn and listen.

Laying on their back

While baby lays on their back, hold a brightly colored toy above their head in line of vision, and move it slowly back and forth to see if their gaze follows the toy.

Take baby on a walk

On a nice day, take baby outside on a nature walk, talking about the things you see.

Baby will enjoy the sound of your voice and the stimulation of being outdoors and seeing new sights.

Sit baby

Sit baby on your lap and gently shake a rattle on one side and then the other.

See if baby searches for the source of the noise.

With babies 4–8 months of age:

Give baby

Give baby a spoon to grasp, hold, chew, bang on something, or drop.

Place an unbreakable mirror near baby for visual stimulation. Do they understand their reflection? Look in the mirror together and wave.

Place baby

Place baby on tummy with favorite objects close but just far enough away to encourage reach and movement.

With baby facing you

With baby facing you, change facial expressions (big smile, sticking out tongue, raising eyebrows, etc.).

Give baby a turn to make faces and mimic what they do.

With babies 8–12 months of age:

Make

Make a simple puzzle for baby by putting ping pong balls into a muffin pan or egg carton.

Or, cut a round hole in the lid of a coffee can and let baby drop wooden clothespins or ping pong balls inside.

Play

Play ball games.

Roll a beach ball or small ball to baby and have a partner help them roll (or throw) it back to you.

Let baby

Let baby make choices by offering two toys or foods and see which they pick.

Encourage them to point or reach to show preference and express their likes or dislikes.

Say

Say “Hi” or “Bye” and wave when entering or leaving a room, encouraging baby to imitate these early gestures