Watching your child grow is one of those profound joys of parenting. From first words to first steps to first days of school–these milestones help you mark your child’s individual journey. Many parents also wonder about physical development in early childhood: they want to know what milestones they should watch for and when to expect certain developments.
Most parents come to understand that children will develop at their own pace; some will hit common achievements more quickly; other children will take their time. But knowing that your child is developing individually won’t necessarily stop you from worrying about whether your infant or toddler is developing normally. That’s especially true if they fall behind on certain milestones.
Having a general sense of what physical development in early childhood may look like can help you feel more confident–and worry a little less. After all, all those firsts will only happen once, and it’s important to enjoy the moment.
Milestones to Watch for During Early Childhood
As they grow older, children will develop in a wide variety of ways. Early childhood years are especially important for:
Physical growth.
The development of cognitive skills.
The emergence of social and emotional skills.
Fine motor skills.
And more.
Your child’s pediatrician will use different metrics to measure your child’s development in each of these areas. While they may be measured separately, these categories are by no means mutually exclusive. Your child will develop in many or all of them at once. By the same token, cognitive development may be strongly influenced by physical development in early childhood–and vice versa.
Many physical milestones are described by age. Some of the most common include the following:
One Year Milestones
By the age of 1 year, your child should be able to:
Roll themself over and pull themself up to a sitting position
Walk while holding on to furniture or with support.
Sit alone under their own power, without the need for support.
Start getting their first teeth.
1-3 Year Milestones
Between the ages of 1 and 3 years old, your child should be able to:
Have developed some speech skills, such as saying and understanding “mama” or “dada” or understanding the word “no.”
Walk without the need for assistance and generally be pretty mobile walking.
Feed themselves with a minimum of mess (in general). They should also be able to use a utensil, such as a spoon, to feed themselves.
Dress themselves with a minimum of assistance.
Use stairs.
Be able to perform physical tasks that require a moderate amount of coordination, such as pedaling a tricycle.
Age 3-6 Milestones
Between the ages of 3-6, your child should be able to:
Balance well (almost to the point of riding a bicycle).
Exhibit improved balance (They should be able to ride that tricycle well).
Be able to use a pencil to draw things like squares, circles, and other shapes.
Understand the basic concepts of size and shape.
Exhibit improved hand-eye coordination, such as catching a ball.
Find independent activities that they enjoy.
How Are These Milestones Used?
These milestones are generally intended to help guide the way that your child’s pediatrician evaluates the overall health, wellness, and growth of your baby or toddler. Any single one of them, in a vacuum, is not all that telling or alarming. For example, if your child has trouble riding a tricycle but hits all other milestones, it’s likely nothing to worry about.
However, if your child has trouble with fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination, your child’s pediatrician may want to follow up on that. In that way, these milestones provide useful benchmarks that your provider can use to monitor physical development in early childhood.
Growth in Early Childhood
Milestones provide a useful data set for your child’s pediatrician. But there’s another set of data that can be even more fundamental to describing your child’s physical growth: height and weight. Your pediatrician will carefully measure the height and weight of your child to determine whether your child is growing as quickly or as fully as is typical and healthy.
But it’s important to note that not all growth is measured equally. For example, most children are measured on different charts depending on their gender-assigned-at-birth and their age. For example, pediatricians will typically use one chart for babies and another chart for toddlers.
This is largely because these age ranges have different normal growth curves (that is, babies and toddlers tend to grow at different rates). Additionally, where your child places on these growth charts is not the one and only indicator of how healthy your child might be. Your pediatrician may also take into account several individual factors, such as:
The overall health and nutrition of your child.
Any underlying conditions or comorbidities your child may have.
Whether your child was born preterm or not.
Whether your child is currently meeting other developmental milestones or not. (For example, if linguistic milestones are moving in a healthy way, but height and weight are slightly behind).
Once all the data is gathered, you’ll be able to talk to a pediatrician about where your child sits in their development journey–and whether they might need any extra help.
How Do You Know if There’s a Problem with Physical Development in Early Childhood
Children tend to develop at their own pace. Some kids will grow faster. Others might be late bloomers. One of the primary purposes of keeping track of all of these milestones is to help your child’s pediatrician notice any problems as early as possible.
For parents, learning that your child has fallen behind developmentally is often a significant source of stress. However, the reasons why your child could be falling behind vary wildly. In some cases, solutions will be straightforward and simple; in other cases, however, further therapies may be required.
Some of the things your child’s pediatrician might be on the lookout for include the following:
A body mass index that is abnormally low or unusually high. Usually the benchmarks for that include under 5% or over 85%.
Changes in the pattern of your child’s growth. For example, if your child was in the 80th height percentile during the first few years of their life but drops into the 40th percentile at age four. That might be something that your child’s pediatrician would want to look into!
Your child isn’t growing as quickly or steadily as expected. Most kids have a height progression–that is, most children grow at roughly the same rate. When your child doesn’t grow at those expected rates, your child’s pediatrician may take notice.
Your child is not meeting behavioral or developmental benchmarks or milestones, especially if that pace of development is reflected physically.
The progression of achieving milestones suddenly changes. For example, if your child was hitting all 3-year milestones early but has not hit any of those four or five-year milestones, your pediatrician may dig into the issue further.
It’s important to note that your pediatrician will not look into any of this data without also taking into account what they know about your child as a patient. In other words, your child’s BMI by itself is not a terribly revealing piece of information–but in the context of the rest of your child’s health data, it may be an important data point.
The more information your pediatrician has, the better (and it’s one of the reasons those regular check-ups and check-ins are exceptionally important).
What Does Treatment Look Like?
If your child’s pediatrician determines that there is a problem with your child’s development, they will help you develop a treatment plan. This treatment plan is designed to help get your child back on track (as much as possible). What that plan looks like will depend on the underlying cause. However, many treatment plans may include the following:
Referral to a specialist or specialized therapist.
Providing your child with a special diet or specialized food.
Developing a nutrition plan for your child.
Follow up tests to help determine what may be causing the issue.
Prescription of medications.
And more.
Your child’s pediatrician will work with you to develop a customized plan that addresses your child’s needs. There is not usually a one-size-fits-all solution. As a result, you’ll talk to your child’s pediatrician about the best way to proceed to help ensure that your child receives the necessary care.
Every Child Develops at Their Own Pace
Parents have an understandable urge to make sure their children develop at a “normal” pace. But the truth is that every child will have their own normal–and will develop at their own pace. By tracking growth and milestones with your child’s pediatrician, you can help ensure that the pace of growth is one that will be healthy for your child.
After all, parents can’t force physical development in early childhood–all you can do is clear the runway for your child: give them as much opportunity for growth and enrichment as possible.
If you want to talk to your child’s pediatrician about your child’s health and development, schedule an appointment at our Chicago or Northbrook offices today!