Developmental milestones by age

Routine checkups aren’t just for monitoring your child’s health. Health care providers also look at whether your child has the skills and abilities that most kids have at that age. These developmental milestones can help you know if your child is on track with physical, cognitive, language, and social skills.

The official list of developmental milestones covers kids from birth through age 5. It comes from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), along with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Professionals have developmental expectations for older kids, too.

Kids develop skills at different rates, so don’t panic if your child isn’t doing everything on the list for that age group. But if your child doesn’t do many of them, talk to your child’s health care provider and teacher about what steps you should take.

Developmental milestones from birth to age 1: Babies typically gain skills quickly during the first year.  They have new milestones every two to three months — by 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months.

Developmental milestones for 1-year-olds: Toddlers are on the go, getting around on their own and exploring their world. The CDC lists specific milestones at 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, and 24 months.

Developmental milestones for 2-year-olds: In this year, toddlers are gaining a lot of social, language, learning, and physical skills. The CDC lists specific milestones at 24 months, 30 months, and 36 months.

Developmental milestones for 3-year-olds: As they move from speaking in short phrases to being ready for preschool, kids rapidly gain new abilities. They’re able to use a fork, join other kids to play, and copy a circle.

Developmental milestones for 4-year-olds: In this year, kids are much more aware of people’s needs, showing empathy and wanting to help out. They grow a lot in many areas, and at their own rates.

Developmental milestones for 5-year-olds: Kids face new expectations as they make the leap into kindergarten. From counting to 10 to sitting still for activities for 10 minutes, they develop and improve a range of skills.

Development expectations for 6-year-olds: The greatest areas of growth this year are in social-emotional and thinking skills. Kids begin interacting with the world around them in new ways.

Developmental expectations for 7- and 8-year-olds: Kids at this stage make big gains in language, social-emotional, and thinking skills. They also start to explore and develop their own interests.

Developmental expectations for 9- and 10-year-olds: These are big years, marked by spurts of development in many areas. Kids start becoming much more independent and social by the time they hit middle school.

Developmental expectations for 11- to 14-year-olds: Kids grow a lot during middle school, both physically and emotionally. And they do it at their own pace, with great variation among them.

Developmental expectations for 14- to 18-year-olds: As in middle school, kids develop at widely varied rates in these years. But the growth in planning and thinking skills are major, as kids look ahead to life after high school.

Missing milestones may be a sign that your child has a developmental challenge that should be addressed. Talk to your child’s health care provider if you think your child is behind. The sooner you find out, the sooner you can get your child services, supports, and treatment that can help.