TYPICAL CHILD

RED FLAGS

0-3 months

Looks at your face while you're in direct line of vision;

Smiles and coos;

Moves her arms symmetrically;

Keeps hands open 50% of the time;

Open and close mouth in synchrony with food.

Difficulty with sucking.

Difficulty calming

By 4 months

Follows a moving object with eyes;

Holds head while lying on tummy;

Holds a rattle;

Laughs aloud;

Reaches for and holds objects

Smiles at mirror images;

Rolls over from back to side;

Babbles, makes sounds, turns toward sounds;

Uses tongue to move food around her mouth.

 Position body to be picked up

Does not cry when hungry nor makes soothing sounds;

Sucking is still  difficult to establish; Difficulty with feeding remains important

No variation in cry pitch or volume;

Does not blink;

;

No face to face  communication when feeding;

No vocalize in response to sounds;

Does not laugh.

Does not  initiate body gestures to  be picked up when caregiver enter the room

By 6 months

Likes to be held and adjusts her position  to that of the adult holding her;

Is comfortable when being moved .and enjoys changing position;

Release objects voluntarily;

Clearly demonstrates special liking for songs or games, anticipates the interaction with appropriate body posturing;

Explores by putting toys, body parts in her mouth.

Sleeps all night by six months;

Very irregular and non predictable sleep patterns. Baby is often difficult to calm or get to sleep;

Arches or attempts to pull away when being held;

Expresses discomfort when moved or position is changed;

Avoids mouthing toys, body parts;

Does not babble when playing;

No modulation in cry, or voice.

If by 6 months your infant displays 3 or more of the above described behaviors, it is wise to seek professional advice. 

Beware that RED FLAGS may also emerge later in the development such as:  

From 6 to 12 months

Anxiety linked to care given by strangers emerges

Can multitask. For example, can eat and look at parents or sibling,  look at a book while listening to a story;

After six months accepts solid and textured foods when introduced;

Plays with the two hands in the mid line; Transfers toys hand-to-hand.

By 10 months

Stops when he is called;

Look for toy after the fall

Says Mama, Dada,

Use a pincer grasp

By 12 months

Crawls on hands and knees.

Does not swallow solid or textured foods, "picky" eater;

"Shuts down" when exposed to more than one stimulus;

Does not express preferences ( regarding caretaker, versus stranger);

Does not use double consonant (e.g, ba/ba/);

By 10 months

Does not turn to name;

Does not use inflection in voice;

More interested in objects than in people.

9-12 months

Predominantly uses one side of his body, and only one hand at a time;

Cannot feed herself with 2 fingers;

Does not stop when called;

Does not use words approximation or babbling with inflection.

12 months

 12 18 months  Red flags

Develops imaginative play;

Enjoys exploring sensory stimulus: new textures, plays with food, play-dough, new sounds;

Understands simple directions such as “give me”;

Wave bye bye;

Uses 2 meaningful words approximations;

Sleeps long night (12 hours);

Loves bath time;

Walks holding hands with an adult.

15 months

Separation anxiety is usually at its peak( but can last until 24 to 36 months

Points to request or share interest

Knows 2 body parts;

4 to 6 words approximations

Shakes head no;

Takes 3 hours nap;

Walks independently;

Holds cup handle;

Drinks in open cup 

Stirs with spoon;

.

Does not significantly modify her behavior to changes in caretaker

No eye contact;

Restricted purposeful communication;

Does no expand his play repertoire: persevere in the same banging/throwing toy;

Short attention span for interaction

Avoids new textures;

Is upset by clothes being changed or during bath;

Frightened or intensely preoccupied  by noises or light;

;

Still preferably uses one side of his body.

18 months

Loves to explore her surroundings with repeated “checking “with the parent.

Starts developing special bonding with the “other parent”

Self comforting skills get better defined: i.e. The blanket:

Child alternates period shadowing the preferred parent and darting away from him/her.

Attention seeking behaviors emerge

Understands simple directions;

Adjusts his play style to environment (quieter inside than outside);

Has 8 to 15 words;

Asks: what that?;

50 % of speech is understood by strangers;

Makes sounds of familiar animals;

Uses words such as “more" to make wants known;

Points to his/her toes, eyes and noses;

Brings objects from another room when asked;

Purpose of language is understood as a way to convey wants and needs.

Can build 3 blocks tower;

Scribbles;

Pulls toys from behind;

Helps with dressing; takes off clothes;

18 to 30 months your child needs to be evaluated if: she /he

Avoids novel situations;

Has no or poor eye contact;

Seems to enjoy objects more than people;

Does no expand his play repertoire: persevere in the same banging/ throwing a toy;

Presents short attention span for interaction

Presents difficulty regulating his emotions;

Does not stop to his name;

Has a very restricted communication repertoire and or babbles with no inflection;

Cannot communicate his needs by pointing or grunting;

Is unusually clumsy;

Is very active or very withdrawn;

Presents a poor regulation for food intake (picky eater or cannot reach satiety);

Avoids new textures, is upset by clothes being changed or bath;

Is very distracted by sounds or noises or both;

Still preferably uses one side of his body.

4 months

Anytime in between 24 and 36 months,

self and object permanency and consistency emerge and are achieved.

Child develops a mental image of self and others

Refers to self by name;

Associates 2 words;

50% to 75% of speech is  understood by strangers;

Points to object on command;

Runs, walks up down stairs holding ramp;

Imitates vertical and horizontal strokes;

Strings large beads;

Catches large ball;

Control of bladder day time.

Without professional help, the impairments described above will persist. Healthy emotional bonding with caregivers might be impaired and  is instrumental in  developing identity and  communication skills. The above interfering behaviors will further prevent the child to develop an appropriate social repertoire. At this point the child’s development may appear to come to a halt.

30 months

Wants to do things independently

Speaks in two words phrases;

Has vocabulary of 50 words;

Can name a color and a shape;

Uses pronouns

Jumps lifting 2 feet together;

Jumps backward and sideward;

;;

Control of bowels day time.

36 months

By 36 months, self and object consistency are achieved. This allows the child to develop a sense of trust and predictability toward adults and which ease  off the  separation anxiety

The child will, then on, become able to delay gratification, accept rules and further explore dynamic relationships with siblings and peers.

Control of bladder and bowels day and night.

Motor and adaptive skills

 Language. Social behavior

36 to 48 months

Copies a circle, a cross;

Dresses with help;

Dries hands;

Uses a fork;

Rides a tricycle;

Controls of bladder and bowels is achieved day and night;

Stops napping.

By 36 months, self and object consistency are achieved. This allows the child to develop a sense of trust and  predictability toward the adults  and ease  off the  separation anxiety

The child will, then on, become able to delay gratification and accept rules.

Plays with siblings

Strategize to get adult attention;

Can answer "who", "why", and "where" questions;

Asks: ”what’s that", "where’s my?;

Gives first name, holds up fingers to tell age;

Likes to hear the same story repeated;

Understands simple time concepts;

Identifies body parts;

Carries on “conversation” with self and dolls;

Follows some two steps directions;

Has vocabulary of 500 words with diminishing echolalia;

Use of pronouns expands;

Begins to use language to learn concepts and solve problems;

Imitates the adults through pretend play scenarios;

80-90% of words understood by strangers;

Simple board games.

4-5 years old

Participates in easy house chores:

·         Picks up Toys ; folds dishtowels and washcloths; matches socks; puts small items in the garbage; gives food to pets; waters indoor plants.

Dresses, undresses, bathes.

Begin to draw figures of people and animals;

Uses scissors to cut on lines;

Prints some letters;

·          

Can do somersaults;

Jumps 10 times with both feet without falling;

Can jump on one foot;

Hands lateralization.

Knows the name and gender of extended family and of some school peers;

Has a sentence length of 5-8 words;

Can count up to 10 items;

Can tell a story, relate experience;

Has a vocabulary of nearly 1000 words;

Plays with words;

Understands “yesterday,” ‘lunchtime”,” tonight”, “summer”;

Should know his age;

Knows several nursery rhymes;

Recognizes written words;

Can independently participate in adapted music or gym group classes;

Talks on the phone with family members;

Has developed a concept of community helpers;

Identifies with same gender parents.

5-years old

Jumps rope;

Skates;

Cuts shapes;

Colors in the lines;

Dresses according to weather.

Functions well in adapted group of peers;

Sequence activities with seasons and time; 

Learns how to write and read;

Can spontaneously use many descriptive words --both adjectives and adverbs;

Knows common opposite adjective: Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems;

Should have all vowels and the consonants,

Should be able to repeat sentences as long as nine words;

Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair);

Should be able to follow three commands given without interruptions; Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later, after, while, tomorrow, yesterday, today;

Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and some  complex sentences;

Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct.

6 years old

Specific sports activities: swims,  skates, ski,  bikes without support;

May learn musical instruments.

Develops friendship and hobbies;

Elaborated board and computer games;

Independently requests to visit family members.