Developmental observations are discrete descriptions of behaviors or skills that are progressively acquired across development. In this database, each observation has been mapped to one or more milestones derived from four commonly used milestones checklists. While observations themselves are not associated with an age at which they should be met, the ages associated with each milestone are provided.
| Observation | Connected milestones | Expected ages |
|---|
| Copies sounds |
3 |
3 – 9
mos.
|
| Responds to sounds by making sounds |
3 |
3 – 7
mos.
|
| Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure |
4 |
4 – 7
mos.
|
| Nonverbally communicates different emotions - happy, upset, sad |
2 |
4 – 8
mos.
|
| Rolls front to back |
4 |
4 – 7
mos.
|
| Begins to respond to name |
4 |
5 – 7
mos.
|
| Rolls back to front |
3 |
5 – 7
mos.
|
| Sits with arms supporting trunk |
2 |
5 – 7
mos.
|
| Bangs and shakes toys |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Beginning to use oral exploration for learning |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Bounces with legs when held |
3 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Brief behavioral response to "no", such as briefly stopping |
3 |
6 – 9
mos.
|
| Engages in social play with others |
3 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Feeds self crackers |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Gestures for “up” |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Gets from sitting to crawling or prone (lying on stomach) position |
2 |
6 – 12
mos.
|
| In prone position, bears weight on 1 hand |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Looks around at things nearby |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Moves backwards while on stomach |
2 |
6
mos.
|
| Often seems happy |
2 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Pivots in prone |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Places both hands on bottle |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Produces reduplicative babble with consonants (eg. "ma-ma-ma", "wa-wa-wa") |
5 |
6 – 9
mos.
|
| Rakes pellet |
2 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Reaches with one hand |
2 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Removes cloth on face |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Responds to other people’s emotions |
2 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Rocks back and forth while on hands and legs |
2 |
6
mos.
|
| Rotates in sitting position |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Shy or anxious with strangers |
4 |
6 – 12
mos.
|
| Sits momentarily propped on hands |
2 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Sits without support steadily |
5 |
6 – 9
mos.
|
| Smiles or vocalizes to mirror image of self |
3 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Strings vowels together |
2 |
6
mos.
|
| Supports whole weight on legs when held |
3 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Takes second cube and holds on to first |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Touches reflection and vocalizes |
1 |
6
mos.
|
| Transfers objects hand-to-hand |
3 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Tries to get things out of reach |
2 |
6 – 7
mos.
|
| Attends to music |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Can visually follow fast moving objects |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Develops full color vision |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Explores different aspects of toy |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Explores with hands and mouth |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Finds partially hidden object |
2 |
7
mos.
|
| Increasing variety of syllables |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Inspects small object in each hand |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Looks from object to parent and back when wanting help |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Looks toward familiar object when named |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Puts arms out to sides for balance |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Radial-palmar grasp of small object |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Recognizes objects from across the room |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Refuses excess food |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Uses hands to keep from falling side ways while sitting |
1 |
7
mos.
|
| Bangs spoon after demonstration |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Crawls forward on belly by pulling with arms and pushing with legs |
2 |
8 – 12
mos.
|
| Echolalia (repeats words or phrases previously heard) |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Engages in gaze monitoring: adult looks away and child follows adult glance with own eyes |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Finger feeds a few small food items (eg. Cheerio) |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Gets into sitting position |
4 |
8 – 12
mos.
|
| Holds own bottle |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Looks for family members when prompted ("where's mama?") |
2 |
8 – 12
mos.
|
| Pulls out large peg from pegboard |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Pulls to kneeling position |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Pulls to sitting position |
2 |
8 – 9
mos.
|
| Responds to “Come here” |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Says “Dada” (nonspecific) |
2 |
8 – 12
mos.
|
| Scissor grasp of small object |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Seeks object after it falls silently to the floor |
1 |
8
mos.
|
| Takes objects out of container |
3 |
8 – 12
mos.
|
| Uses simple gestures |
6 |
8 – 18
mos.
|
| Bangs two cubes together |
4 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Bear walks (all four limbs straight) |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Begins moving forward or backwards on hands and knees (creeping) |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Bites cracker or similar food |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Chews cracker or similar food |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Copies gestures (like waving bye bye) |
6 |
9 – 15
mos.
|
| Follows a point with visual prompt, “Oh look at ...” |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Imitates vocalizations |
2 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Inspects object, such as a bell or toy |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Learns interactive gesture games, such as “peek-a-boo” and “so big” |
2 |
9
mos.
|
| Looks at pictures in book |
2 |
9 – 11
mos.
|
| Looks for things he/she sees you hide |
2 |
9
mos.
|
| Looks preferentially when name is called |
2 |
9 – 10
mos.
|
| May be more clingy with familar adults |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Moves easily on hands and knees |
4 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Orients to bell |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Picks up things like cereal o's between thumb and end of index finger (fine pincer grasp) |
3 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Picks up things like cereal o's between thumb and middle of index finger (inferior pincer grasp) |
3 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Plays interactive games (eg, “peek-a-boo,” “pat-a-cake”) |
4 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Points to get or request desired object (proto-imperative pointing) |
4 |
9 – 18
mos.
|
| Produces nonreduplicative babble (eg. "ah-goo", "maga" "baboba") |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Pulls string to obtain ring |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Pulls to stand |
4 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Puts non-food items into mouth |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Radial-digital grasp of small object |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Recognizes familiar people visually |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Rings bell |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Says “Mama” (nonspecific) |
2 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Seeks parent for play |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Separation anxiety |
4 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Shows specific preferences for certain toys |
3 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Smoothly moves things between hands |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| “Stands” on feet and hands |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Stands with one hand held |
2 |
9 – 10
mos.
|
| Starts to point out objects |
2 |
9
mos.
|
| Uses sounds to get attention |
3 |
9 – 12
mos.
|
| Watches the path of something as it falls |
1 |
9
mos.
|
| Clumsy release of small object |
1 |
10
mos.
|
| Cruises around furniture using two hands |
3 |
10 – 12
mos.
|
| Drinks from cup held for child |
1 |
10
mos.
|
| Experiences fear beyond stranger anxiety (eg. fear of new toy, animal, picture) |
2 |
10 – 12
mos.
|
| Finds hidden things easily |
6 |
10 – 13
mos.
|
| Isolates index finger and pokes |
3 |
10 – 12
mos.
|
| Pokes at pellet in bottle |
1 |
10
mos.
|
| Says "Mama" or “Dada” (specific) |
3 |
10 – 12
mos.
|
| Tries to put objects in cup but sometime may not let go |
1 |
10
mos.
|
| Walks with two hands held |
1 |
10
mos.
|
| Bounces to music |
1 |
11
mos.
|
| Cooperates with dressing |
3 |
11 – 12
mos.
|
| Cruises around furniture using one hand |
2 |
11 – 12
mos.
|
| Finds toy under cup |
1 |
11
mos.
|
| Gives objects to adult for help |
1 |
11
mos.
|
| Says first word other than "mama" or "dada" |
2 |
11 – 12
mos.
|
| Stands for a few seconds |
3 |
11 – 12
mos.
|
| Stirs with spoon |
1 |
11
mos.
|
| Stops activity when told “no” |
2 |
11 – 12
mos.
|
| Throws objects |
1 |
11
mos.
|
| Vocalizes to songs |
1 |
11
mos.
|
| Walks with one hand held |
1 |
11
mos.
|