DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

i. Gross motor
Age Supine Pull to sit Prone Ventral suspension Held sitting Held standing
1 month ATNR at rest Complete head Pelvis high, knees under Elbow and knees flexed, Back rounded Flops at hip and
lag abdomen hips some extension, head knees, walking
flops down reflex
1 ½ months - - Knees no longer under - Intermittently -
abdomen, flat pelvis holds head up
2 months ATNR Head lag present Head midline, face at 45° Head in line with trunk - -
intermittently from couch
3 months No ATNR Slight head lag Weight on forearms; head, Can lift head above the - Partial weight
present and chest off the couch horizontal plane bearing
4 months Head in Minimum head Face at 90° to couch - - -
midline lag, back is less
rounded
5 months Feet to mouth Complete head - - Back straight, no Bears most
control head wobble weight

6 months Rolls prone to - Weight on hands with - Sits with back Bears full weight
supine extended arms, upper supported and on legs
abdomen is off the couch tripod
7 months Rolls supine to - - - - -
prone
8 months Sitting unsupported, crawl (abdomen at ground)
9 months Can pull to stand, and can stand holding furniture
10-11 months Pivoting, creeping (abdomen off ground), cruising around
furniture
12 months Can do bear-walk, stand independently, walk with handheld
13-15 months Walk independently
15 months Creep upstairs
18 months Runs, gets up and down stairs holding rail, pull a wheeled toy
on floor, explores drawers
2 years Goes up and downstairs alone with 2 feet/step, walk
backward, jumps
3 years Goes upstairs 1 feet/step, ride tricycle
4 years Goes downstairs 1 feet/step, hops on 1 foot
5 years Skips

ii. Fine motor and skills

1 month Hands closed, grasp reflex
3 months Hands open, no primitive grasp reflex, hand regard (even in
blind), hand to mouth, holds rattle transiently
4 months Fixes attention at dangling object and has a bidextrous
approach
5 months Voluntary grasp with accurate reaching, hand regard disappears
(end of 5th month)
6 months Unidextrous approach, transfer objects, mouthing of objects,
crude ulnar grasp
7-8 months Crude radial grasp, compare two cubes
9-10 months Immature pincer grasp (ring, little and lower thumb), search
for dropped cube (object permanence), probes with finger
12 months Mature pincer grasp, mouthing stops, feeds with spilling from
 cup; pulls mitten, cap, socks
15 months Can drink with cup without much spilling, turn 2-3 pages of a
book at a time, imitates scribbling, tower of 2 cubes
18 months Can feed with spoon without spilling, tower of 3 cubes, draw
pencil strokes, unscrew lids, can unzip
2 years Turn doorknobs, vertical and circular strokes, turns 1 page at a
time, tower of 6 cubes, train with cubes, takes on and off shoes
and sock
2½ years Train with chimney – cubes
3 years Tower of 9 cubes, copies circle, dressing upper half and
undressing lower half
4 years Copies cross, bridge with blocks, dressing lower half and
undressing upper half, buttoning
4½ years Copies square
5 years Copies triangle, gate with blocks, tie shoelace and dress
completely
6 years Copies rectangle with rectangle with cross, steps with blocks
7 years Copies rhombus
8 years Copies broad cross
9 years Copies cylinder
11 years Copies cube

iii. Personal, social, and general understanding

Up to 1 month Spontaneous smile
1 month Watches mother when she talks (intent regard to her face)
1½ - 2 month Social smile (anyone talks or smiles at him)
3 months Mother recognition, feed anticipation
6 months Smiles at mirror image, stranger anxiety, imitates coughing
 and tongue protrusion
9 months Waves bye-bye and repeats performance with appreciative
behavior
1 year Comes when called, plays ball games, understands simple
questions
15 months Points to objects
18 months Follows simple commands, domestic mimicry
2 years Points at 5-6 familiar objects, name 2-3 objects and body
parts; ask for food, drink, toilet; pulls people to show toys
3 years Shares toys, knows full name and gender, begins to count,
identifies 1-2 colors, sing simple rhymes
4 years Left and right discrimination, imaginative play, goes to toilet
alone
5 years Follow 3-step command, identify colors, repeat 4 digits,
helps in household tasks

iv. Language
3 months Cooing, squeals of pleasure
4 months Laugh aloud
5 months Razzing, ah-goo sounds
6 months Monosyllable
9 months Bisyllables
1 year 1-2 words with meaning
15-18 months Jargon
18 months 8-10 words
2 years 100 words; 2–3-word simple sentences, uses pronouns – I,
me, you
3 years Knows full name and gender, ask questions
4 years Sing song and poems, tells stories
5 years Ask meaning of words

v. Vision
At birth Fixation and following till 45° (at object held 8-10 inch away)
1 month Following till 90°
1½ months Binocular vision
3 months Following till 180°, grasping with eye
4 months Well established binocular vision
6 months Adjusts his position to follow object
1 year Can follow rapidly moving objects

vi. Hearing (ring a bell from 45 cm out of vision) – Murphy’s sequence

1 month Alert to sound
3 months Turns head towards sound
3-4 months Turns head towards sound and eyes look in same direction
5-6 months Turns head to side and then downwards
6 months Turns head to side and then upwards
6-8 months Turns the head in a curving arc
8-10 months Directly looks at source of sound diagonally