Use this infant developmental milestones chart as a general guide to see what skills and behaviors are common for each age level.
Infant Developmental Milestones Chart:
Newborn
- Closes fingers around toy place in hand
- Brings hands to mouth
- Watches adult’s face when feeding
One to Two Months
- Regards a toy in the line of her vision
- Holds hands open for a 5 minute period
- Shows awareness of hands
- Visually follows a toy past midline
- Focuses on toy for 5 seconds
- Recognizes familiar person
- Smiles or gurgles to a familiar person
Three to Four Months
- Manipulates hands at midline
- Reaches out for toy
- Grasps toy crudely
- Holds bottle for one minute
- Laughs out loud when stimulated
- Puts hand in mouth
- Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
Five to Six Months
- Reaches and attains toy
- Bangs in play
- Transfers toy hand-to-hand
- Grasps tiny toy with palm and fingers
Seven to Eight Months
- Shakes rattle in imitation
- Grasps toy with thumb and fingers
- Pokes at tiny toy with index finger
- Picks up food to place in mouth
- Responds to name
- Shows shyness around strangers
- Rolls from back to stomach and stomach to back
Nine to Ten Months
- Grasps pellet with thumb and index finger
- Holds a toy in one hand- reaches with the other
- Points with index finger
- Good release of objects is present
- Responds to image in mirror
- Responds to familiar words
- Smiles selectively
- Sits without support
- Crawls
Eleven to Twelve Months
- Removes lid from box with no assistance
- Places one cube/block in a cup
- Removes cover to attain hidden toy
- Repeats a performance to draw laughs
- Drops a toy deliberately
- Brings spoon from bowl to mouth
- Temporarily responds to “no” or “stop”
- Walks with or without support
Thirteen to Eighteen Months
- Pulls to stand
- Walks with or without support
- Squats down and picks up a toy
- Eats with fingers
- Turns pages of a board book
- Drinks from a cup independently
- Throws a ball underhand
- Stacks 4 blocks
- Removes basic clothing
Nineteen to Twenty-Four Months
- Runs with stiff legs
- Eats with spoon (some spillage)
- Kicks a ball forward with one foot
- Scribbles in circles
- Jumps in place two times
- Points to specifics in a book
- Assists with some dressing
- Stacks 6 blocks
Twenty-Five to Thirty Months
- Begins to run
- Jumps in place
- Strings beads
- Removes lid from jar
- Sorts objects by shapes and color
- Can follow simple instructions
- Uses 2 to 3-word sentences
- Drinks from open cup
Thirty to Thirty-Six Months
- Pedals a tricycle
- Kicks a ball
- Walks backward
- Knows first and last name
- Turns pages of a book one at a time
- Copies a cross and circle
- Puts on loose clothing
- Feeds self with child-size fork and spoon
Thirty-Seven to Forty-Two Months
- Goes upstairs and downstairs without holding on
- Catches bounced ball most of the time
- Draws a person with 2–4 body parts
- Uses scissors and cuts on a line
- Pretends during play
- Names a few colors
- Holds crayon or pencil between fingers and thumb
- Draws a person with three or more body parts
Forty-Three to Forty-Eight Months
- Walks up and down stairs using alternating feet
- Throws and catches a large ball
- Bends over, without falling
- Build a tower of nine to ten small blocks
- Ask questions such as “what’s that”
- Counts from 1 – 5
- Understand categories and puts object in categories
Forty-Nine to Fifty-Four Months
- Stand on one foot for more than 10 seconds
- Solves an 8 – 10 piece puzzle
- Colors within the lines
- Walk up and downstairs easily and swiftly
- Manages toilet needs during the day time
- Draws a circle, triangle, square
- Shares and ask to take turns
Fifty-Four to Sixty Months
- Swings and climbs
- Laces shoes
- Cuts on thick curved line
- Prints some capital letters
- Refers to self in first person
- Can count 10 or more objects
- Aware of gender
- Uses future tense
