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Child Development
Understanding child development can help you to appreciate and guide your
child during his different ages and stages of growth and change. Your parenting
approach will be very different for a kindergartner than for a toddler. As your
child grows, your parenting style should change to reflect his increased
understanding and abilities.
While every child is different, most pass through developmental stages in a
fairly recognizable order.
Stages of Development
The following is an overview of the stages of development your child will go
through. Remember that children grow and develop at their own pace.
Birth to 6 months:
 | Newborns may sleep an average of 14 to 16 hours per day |
| Able to track objects by sight and sound |
| Begins to smile, later laughs out loud |
| Loves bright and contrasting colors |
| Able to lift head, later able to support head by self |
| Rolls over on own |
| Primary source of nutrition is breast milk or formula |
| Reaches and touches things |
| Makes babbling or gurgling sounds |
6 to 9 months:
| May sleep through the night |
| Sits up on own |
| Begins on solid foods |
| Begins to crawl |
| Enjoys interactive games, like Peek- A- Boo |
| Puts things in mouth a lot |
| Teething may begin |
| Loves finger games and |
| Enjoys playing with and mouthing soft toys |
9 to 12 months:
| May get onto a more regular sleep schedule, with one morning and one
afternoon nap |
| Begins to drink from a cup, and is able to feed self |
| Pulls self up from sitting to standing position |
| Begins to "cruise" (walking while holding onto things) |
| Likes to be around other children, beginning to be more social |
| Laughs out loud frequently |
| Claps hands together, responds to music by "dancing" |
| May have a special blanket or toy |
| Realization that he is separate from parent |
| May develop "stranger anxiety", or a fear of new people |
1 year to 2 years 9 months:
| Still napping during the day |
| Begins to acquire more body control, becomes aware of own body and self |
| Stands up on own, and begins to take steps |
| Able to feed self on more regular basis |
| May develop picky eating habits |
| Watches and imitates behavior of others |
| Speech and language development is very important - first in single
words, later in simple sentences |
| May develop "irrational" fears and anxieties |
| Learns to run and jump |
1 year to 2 years 9 months:
| Begins toilet-training |
| Learns self help skills |
| Testing of limits that are set around behavior or safety, says
"no" a lot |
| Wants control over surroundings |
| Loves routines and consistency in the day |
| Relatively short attention span, goes from one activity to another
quickly |
| May show frustration through temper tantrums |
| Engages in "parallel play" with peers (side-by-side play) |
| Transitions in the day can be very hard |
| Begins to learn concept of cause and effect |
| Begins to demonstrate empathy for others (e.g., if another child is
upset) |
| May show aggressive behavior through biting, hitting and pushing |
| Develops gender identity |
2 years 9 months to 5 years:
| May still nap during the day, for shorter period of time |
| Gains much more body control |
| Better able to express himself through words |
| Able to play cooperatively with other children |
| Starting to have more self-control over behavior |
| Develops close attachments or "best friends" |
| Still not able to differentiate between fantasy and reality |
| Acts out a lot of fears and anxieties; nightmares may occur |
| Still needs control, may have set ideas of what to wear or eat |
| Transitions can still be hard |
| May experiment with lying or telling tales |
| Awareness of death develops |
| Loves to engage in dramatic or fantasy play |
5 to 8 years:
| Gives up daytime nap |
| Attends elementary school |
| Learns to read and write |
| Able to take on more tasks and chores |
| Engages in team sports such as soccer and baseball |
| May learn to swim and ride a bike |
| Likes to have a sense of the rules; fair play is important |
| Friends and socializing become very important |
| Learns to distinguish between fantasy and reality |
| Develops a sense of morality and values, what is "right" and
"wrong" |
| May develop fears due to actual news events or natural disasters |
| Tug between wanting independence and parental security |
| May experiment with bad language or use of swear words |
8 to 12 years:
| Able to take on more responsibility for self, can take part in family
chores |
| Group of friends becomes important; peer pressure emerges |
| Tendency to be very self-centered |
| Puberty and hormonal changes may begin |
| May experience mood swings |
| Conflicting feelings of wanting to be independent and still needy of
parents |
| May develop a close or best friend |
| Time of intellectual development |
| Awareness of the outside world in relation to his own family
Questions about drugs, alcohol and sex; first discussion with parents about
sex may occur |
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Denver Association of Family Child Care
