Is Your Child’s Growth on Track? 5 Signs to Watch For

Tracking your child’s growth isn’t as simple as marking inches on a door frame. Some kids are tall and some are short, so growth is a personal metric that reflects each child’s unique development, and there’s no “right” measurement of where a child should be. 

Your child’s growth is a complex interaction of developmental milestones. Every aspect can be unique to your child and still inside the parameters of normal growth. That’s why consistent care with our team of providers at Abdow Friendship Pediatrics in Rockville, Maryland, is so important. 

Building a relationship between a child and their doctor allows for a level of detailed developmental tracking based on familiarity. Simply put, your child’s medical care benefits from pediatric practitioners who have a strong relationship with them. 

While there are many developmental milestones divided into four categories (cognitive, communicative, emotional, and motor), there are some key markers at the end of your child’s first five years. Today, we take a look at these significant milestones in your child’s growth. 

Age 1

By the end of their first year, the most important signs of growth are the emergence of language combined with the beginnings of independent mobility. 

By 12 months, your child should say simple words like “mama” and “dada,” respond to their own name, and use simple gestures like pointing and waving. 

Mobility skills include pulling themselves to stand and taking a few supported steps. They can pick up small objects with their forefinger and thumb. 

Age 2

Social and emotional awareness may be the most important milestone displayed by 24 months. It’s time for the “terrible twos,” and your child’s ability to say “no” may come to the forefront, indicating the first signs of their desire for independence and self-sufficiency. 

At this age, there’s an awareness of moods and the reactions of others, and the start of social interaction, usually in the form of playing independently but close to another child, a phenomenon called parallel play. 

Age 3 

Communicative and social skills show refinement by age three. Your child should form short sentences of a few words that are easy to understand. Who, what, where, when, and why questions emerge, and they can follow simple, multi-step instructions.

Socially, playing together typically starts by this age, interspersed with parallel play. They display empathy through an emotional awareness of others and displays of affection. 

Age 4

By 48 months, language and social-emotional growth are still important, but development stretches across all four milestone categories, a sign of your child’s developing personality. Watch for communicative skills such as storytelling and the ability to carry on conversations. 

Socially, friends take on an increasing importance, as does more interactivity. Your child recognizes themselves as a complete person, aware of their own emotions and bodies. 

Age 5

Children typically begin to develop reasoning skills around the age of five. They’re becoming wonderfully complex, projecting a stronger sense of personality and self. Their understanding of the world around them expands, and cognitive breakthroughs, including basic counting and reading skills, develop. 

Socially, games start to have rules, and they have better control over their own feelings while recognizing and responding to the feelings of others. They learn how to make friends. 

If your child seems ahead or behind these or any developmental milestones, keep in mind that they come from the womb as unique beings. There are no precise boxes into which everyone fits. 

Talk to us at Abdow Friendship Pediatrics about your child’s developmental growth. We can comprehensively evaluate them and, in the rare cases where help is needed, advise you on the next steps. Call or click to book an appointment for your child today.