Kids
Every Baby Grows Differently: How To Deal with Developmental Milestones
These developmental milestones can make parents extra anxious about their kids. When in reality, these milestones can be interchangeable.
Developmental milestones emerged from many developmental psychologists such as Piaget and Gessell who proposed a structure or predictable pattern in human development. While it has served as a reliable guide for years, some parents become anxious even at the slightest delay. Here are ways to interpret a baby’s developmental milestones with the help of Makati Med Pediatrician, Dr. Bernadette Benitez, MD.
Some babies pick up motor skills faster than others.
Walking, gripping, and having macro motor skills may appear earlier in other babies because of their body constitution. Some babies are not as dense “muscle-wise” in comparison to others thus, hitting that milestone of “movement” isn’t really set in stone. However, most tell-tale signs that there’s something wrong are if their hands are shaky or they’re in pain.
Most of these developmental milestones are based on cognitive theories.
“Cognitive” is another way of saying how a person thinks and responds — which a baby first demonstrates via smiling. According to Dr. Bernadette Benitez of Makati Med, babies usually show these signs in the first three months. “The first smile happens sometime between their first and third month. “Initially, it will be just to themselves,” she points out. “But within three months, a baby will smile in response to you.”
A slight delay does not immediately mean something’s wrong.
Parents are not attached to their babies 24/7 even though they try. Some of a baby’s developmental milestones can happen when they’re not looking. To have babies repeat the same behavior can be quite a task so, it’s good to play certain games with them.
Learning speech: some babies may speak more if constantly spoken to.
Depending on what babies are more exposed to, their ability to speak and understand words may come first. Although it’s usually “ooh”, “aah”, “bwa” and many other babbling sounds, some babies experiment earlier on because parents engage them more. “Babies would often try to imitate what the adults are saying,” shares Dr. Bernadette Benitez, MD.
Remember that milestones don’t have a sequence.
Developmental milestones in babies are often seen in a sequence rather than goals, leading to a lot of undue anxiety. “Just because your friend’s child achieved a developmental milestone at the predicted month, and yours did not, does not necessarily mean there is already a problem with your baby,” the pediatrician assures. Developmental milestones do have an acceptable range and the difference in pathway doesn’t mean one is a bad parent.
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