Do you remember the excitement that came with prenatal appointments, at the thought of hearing your sweet baby’s heartbeat, or seeing your little one on the ultrasound scans and just marveling at the fact that you were growing a little person? Just like there were milestones and major changes with your baby’s growth and development every month during the time that you were pregnant, your little one will meet many different milestones during the first year of their life. From your baby’s first latch to that first giggle, and then to the crawling and toddling around, being a parent means signing up for a lifetime of firsts! Here, we will outline the common milestones that babies meet from the time they are born to their first birthday.
- 0-3 months: This is the time that you should expect to see a social smile from your little pumpkin. This usually occurs around the 2-month mark, but could also happen a few weeks before or after. A social smile is when a baby smiles in response to you—to your smile or to seeing you, or to your morning greeting or cuddles. After the many sleepless nights, this is a much-needed reward for the parents, so be sure to enjoy all of those sweet newborn smiles!
- 4-5 months: Baby giggles are the best! This is around the age you should expect those sweet baby giggles. Your baby may laugh in response to you making funny sounds, faces, or tickles. One of our mamas said that her baby laughed for the first time as he saw her flipping her hair over after a workout session!
- 6-8 months: This age is usually a game-changer, because it’s when babies start sitting independently without any support. It opens up a whole new way of playing and exploring for baby. How different and fun everything looks now that you’re not always on your belly or back!
- 9-12 months: Uh-oh, this is when parents have a mover on their hands and its time to baby-proof your home if you haven’t done so already! Did you know that there are many different types of crawling? We didn’t either! Most babies crawl using both hands and feet, while some do the army crawl or variations of it, and some don’t crawl at all and go straight to walking. Other babies move about by sitting on their cute little tush and scoot around to get to where they want to be.
- 11-12 months: This is the age where your sweet little one is looking more like a toddler and less like the tiny newborn your brought home from the hospital. By this time, babies have usually started eating finger foods, can grab toys (and everything else) off the ground or their food tray, and have started starting and cruising along furniture and couches. Once your baby starts walking, he or she is well on their way into toddlerhood!