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Your baby’s first words, smile, step and so much more is an important milestone in every parent’s life. Child development experts have created lots of different charts and checklists that can help you keep track of child development across several key domains. From cognitive development to physical and language development to socio-emotional milestones, it’s vital to recognise the milestones and work towards them. But should you depend on a single checklist?And to address this and many other similar concerns and questions about a child’s developmental milestones, TC46 connected with Paediatrician & Neonatologist Dr Santosh Kumar of Motherhood Hospitals, Bangalore. Here he talks about the cognitive skills of a child, the need for early intervention evaluation and crucial tips for parents and caregivers.
Most children by age 1: 1. They are curious about everyday activities and how they run. Your child will try to turn the knobs, click buttons, and open the drawers and cupboards. 2. Start to remember things that happened a couple of hours or even a day ago. Your child will illustrate this new ability by doing simple things, such as stacking blocks or getting excited when you talk about going to the store. 3. Can recognise an item they’re watching you hide. For example, if your kid is watching you cover a teddy bear with a blanket, he or she can “find” the teddy bear by removing the blanket, like playing peekaboo.
Within 2 months: – Start pressing up on the tummy while lying face down – Starting deliberate motions with the arms and legs Within 4 months: – Keeping the head straight – Bearing weight on the legs when the feet are flat on the floor – Pushing up from the belly to the elbows Within 6 months: – Sitting without help – Rocking on knees and hands
Infants & Babies By 2 months: – Crying to get needs met – Start to smile and look at you directly, – Self-soothing sometimes by sucking on hands and fingers By 4 months: – Cry in various ways to demonstrate hunger, pain, or fatigue – Smile In response to the smile of the caregiver – Playing with toys by making them shake By 6 months: – They are more aware of familiar individuals and strangers. – The child can respond to the feelings of other people by crying, smiling, or laughing – Enjoy watching oneself in the mirror
New Born Physical milestone: – Makes reflex motions like ingestion and surprising – Has uncontrolled, jerky arm and leg movements Cognitional milestones: – Learning things by feeling, sound, vision, and scent – Begins to repeat motions to help brain development and memory Social and psychological milestones: – Starting to be told to be comfortable by caregivers – Starting to be connected to caregivers
1. Early intervention is intended for infants and toddlers with a delay or impairment in growth. Eligibility is assessed by testing the infant (with the consent of the parents) to see if the little one really has a developmental delay or an impairment. Eligible children can receive services for early intervention from birth to their third birthday (and sometimes beyond). 2. For certain children, from birth. From the moment a child is born, it is often understood that early intervention programs are necessary to help the child grow and develop.
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