Pediatric Developmental Milestones - Resources From The Centers For Disease Control

In addition to this post, you might want to review my post, Pediatric Growth Milestones (Coming Soon).

“Is my child developing normally?” This is a question every parent asks as he or she watches the child grow.

The purpose of the well baby and well child checkups is to answer that question.

Here is the Centers For Disease Control web page Developmental Milestones. On this page you can click on your baby’s age to see the developmental milestones for that age. For each age you can download a PDF checklist for your infant or child at that age. For an example, here is the PDF checklist for Your Baby At 4 Months.

Here is the web page If You Are Concerned. And here are some quotes from this page [but be sure to go to the page and review everything on it, if you have a concern]:

Talk to Your Child’s Doctor

As a parent, you know your child best. If your child is not meeting the milestones for his or her age, or if you think there could be a problem with the way your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves talk to your child’s doctor and share your concerns. Don’t wait.

Fact Sheets:

How to Help Your Child (English and Spanish)

How to Talk with the Doctor (English and Spanish)

Milestones Checklist

Use the milestones checklist to track your child’s development. Print it out and share it with your child’s doctor or nurse at the next visit.

These checklists are not a substitute for standardized, validated developmental screening tools [This is a link to Birth To 5: Watch Me Thrive! A Compendium of Screening Measures For Young Children, 2014 pdf (115 pages) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This document discusses validated pediatric developmental screening tools.)]

Ask About Developmental Screening

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be screened for general development using standardized, validated tools at 9, 18, and 24 or 30 months and for autism at 18 and 24 months or whenever a parent or provider has a concern [emphasis added].

If you are still concerned about a developmental delay even if your doctor or nurse practitioner thinks the infant, toddler, or child is normal, go ahead and ask for a referral right now because you know your own child best.

Some practioners will suggest waiting and rechecking the patient in a couple of months. But if you get a referral right away you will spend less time worrying if there isn’t a problem. And if there is a problem your child will get started on treatment that much sooner.

Continuing from If You Are Concerned:

Ask For a Referral

If you or the doctor thinks there might be a delay, ask the doctor for a referral to a specialist who can do a more in-depth evaluation of your child.

Doctors your child might be referred to include:

Developmental pediatricians. These doctors have special training in child development and children with special needs.

Child neurologists. These doctors work on the brain, spine, and nerves.

Child psychologists or psychiatrists. These doctors know about the human mind.

Easter Seals, through support from the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, provides parents with FREE access to the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition, one of many general developmental screening tools. Click here to learn more and take the questionnaire. Be sure to share the completed questionnaire and results with your child’s doctor.

Here is a great CDC YouTube Video to watch: