Milestones
As parents, we love our children no matter what and we have high expectations that we want them to meet. We follow by the "Milestone" charts and what a typical 12 month or 24 month old should be doing, BUT all children are different. Not all milestones are met at the "right" time.
When my daughter was 6 months old, she was not sitting unsupported, crawling, or pulling herself up to stand. She had no interest in It at all. All of the babies that I knew that were her age had been crawling at 4-5 months old. And I heard sooo many comments about “Oh she isn’t doing that yet?” Or “She’s not doing that yet, my son Johnny was doing that MONTHS ago.” After crying because I felt like a failure and that I was letting my daughter down. I set out on a mission. We practiced and practiced and practiced until we were blue in the face with all of the skills, but she just wasn’t getting It. I was tired of working on these skills.
Then a wise friend told me, “Your child will meet these milestones when they are ready. Some will be ‘on time’ and others will be ‘on their time’.” That is when I realized that I needed to go with her plan and the way she wanted/needed to do things. AND you know what a week later, she was doing all of those skills and more.
Not to mention, my girl was born in a pandemic. Those typical exposures to other kids/peers were not there. She didn’t have age related models, other kids to encourage her, etc. She had boring old mom and dad that haven’t crawled in YEARS.
A key point to keep in mind: As this happens for physical development, It happens for speech and language development as well. Kids need exposure and opportunities to communicate, with family/friends/peers.
Communication skills are developed as early as the newborn stage, as your child begins to open their eyes they are constantly searching for their bottles/breasts, mom/dad, etc. AND they have different cries for what is wrong with them. They are communicating before they even know!
The skills necessary for communicating begin small and grow with our child. All of the communication opportunities allow for our child to learn the same skills in different communication environments. Just as we don’t talk to our friends like we do to our boss, or pastor. Our children use the same skills in different manners.
These milestones are set as a guide, however, they have an age range because none of them are met at the same time by every child. Yes, you should keep them in mind as your child develops, however, you should not live by them.
Encourage your child for these milestones through structured and non-structured play. Structured play is targeting certain items and looking for specific skills. Or non-structured play that is looking at the skills that your child demonstrates independently. When your child is young, play is all they know!