If you’re wondering what cognitive development milestones you can expect as your child grows, check out this guide from Let’s Grow Pediatrics.
What Are Cognitive Development Milestones?
In their first few years, your child will experience a lot of growth and development. It is important to pay attention to the major milestones they reach, so that you can make sure they are progressing optimally. Here, we discuss the key cognitive development milestones for children aged 0 to 3 years, so that you can provide them with the best support.
Cognitive development milestones are a series of benchmarks that symbolize significant advances in a child’s life. These milestones demonstrate how a child’s brain develops and involve thinking, learning, exploring, and problem-solving abilities. When your child accomplishes a milestone in a timely manner, it is an indication that they are growing and developing at a healthy rate.
What Are Cognitive Milestones To Look Forward To In My Child’s Development?
- From birth to three months of age, infants should be able to display anticipatory behaviors such as rooting and sucking when a bottle or nipple is present. They should also be able to detect differences in sound, pitch, and volume, recognize objects within a 13-inch distance, focus on moving objects, and focus on the facial expressions of those around them. Furthermore, newborns should be able to see all the colors of the human visual spectrum and respond to their environment with facial expressions and identify differences in tastes such as sweet, salty, bitter, and sour.
- Between the ages of 3 and 6 months, an infant should be able to mimic facial expressions, react to sounds they are familiar with, identify familiar faces, and respond to the facial expressions of others.
- Between 6 and 9 months of age, an infant should be capable of distinguishing between images with varying numbers of items in them, grasping the contrast between living and nonliving things, and ascertaining how far away something is based on its size compared to other objects.
- At 9-12 months of age, an infant should be able to have fun looking at picture books, imitate basic actions and gestures, manipulate objects (e.g. turning them over or putting one object into another), respond to interactions with sounds and gestures, and understand the concept of object permanence.
- During the 1-2 year period, most children should be able to recognize similar objects, imitate adult behavior and language, learn through exploration, point out familiar people and things, comprehend words and have some sort of reaction to them, and obey simple instructions.
- At two to three years old, many children should be able to recognize themselves in a mirror, imitate the activities of adults that they see around them, such as cleaning, playing house, and doing laundry, as well as identify items from picture books. Additionally, they can sort objects into categories, such as animals, flowers, and food.
How Can My Child Benefit From Early Intervention?
At Let’s Grow Pediatrics, we believe in taking proactive steps to prevent delays and learned compensatory patterns in children with developmental diagnosis. As such, we recommend that a physical therapy referral be obtained prior to the first signs of delay. We offer evaluations for developmental disabilities, torticollis, and plagiocephaly from as early as 1 month of age.
Let’s Grow Pediatrics Is The Best Choice For Your Child
If your child is under 18 years old and has some form of injury or delays in development that is affecting their quality of life, he or she may be a good candidate for intensive physical therapy. To find out more about our treatment options and how your child can benefit from Pediatric Intensive Physical Therapy, reach out to Let’s Grow Pediatrics in Edmond, OK. Call 405-562-3485 to schedule your consultation today.
