Parent Extremis

Prior to each well-child check-up I have to do an online survey question thingy about my son that gets sent to the doctor prior to our appointment. It asks questions about his development, motor skills, language skills, and all kinds of confusing questions about whether or not he reached for the poopy-diaper that I left too close to him with three fingers or all five.

I don’t believe in viewing the milestones as expectations that should happen at one particular time, but rather, as long as you see varied improvement and increasing developmental skills in a variety of areas, then you are on a good developmental track.

According to Your Baby Today by the time your baby reaches the six month mark, he or she should be on their way to doing the following, if not doing them already. These guidelines apply to full-term babies only. If your baby was born prematurely, you should expect to see these milestones reached based upon your baby’s adjusted age. A preemie’s development is calculated based on their due date, not their actual birth date, which is the adjusted age.

The average six month old should be able to sit up on their own; rock and pivot on their stomach, roll from back to stomach and stomach to back (NOTE: Noah first rolled from stomach to back then he forgot how and would get stuck on his stomach and cry out for me until last week when he remembered that he can roll onto his back by pushing up and leaning over. Silly boy.) Doctors will often ask about their dexterity, specifically, how many fingers they use and if they are scratching and digging their fingers and toes into the floor to reach for toys. Some charts include the skill of eating a cracker but many doctors advise against introducing foods until the six month mark, so if you are still just trying out rice cereal and baby food peas and bananas, don’t stress on this one.

By six months of age your baby should have doubled their body weight, if not more, ahem! tripled! … and then some!

By this time a baby will start saying vowel-consonant combinations which frequently come out as VERY high pitched screams, often, dangerously close to your ear. They start expressing fussiness when you take a toy away and they will reach for it if it is too far from their reach.

For a more inclusive and in-depth list of milestones, click here to read what BabyCenter says, or ask your pediatrician.