Babies are unaware of day and night they sleep for most of the time.
They can move the head from one side to the other, hands are fisted near the face. They suck well, opens mouth at the sight of breast or bottle. Newborns can only be awake for 1-2 hours, nappy has to be changed regularly through the night.
They can only discriminate mothers voice. They will stop crying when we pick them up. They are making throaty noises.
From the 3 months, babies are getting much more alert and responsive. They can roll to sides, hands unfisted 50%, reaching for the face. Brings hand to mouth. They are more aware of the toys, and can visually follow the person around the room.
They can recognise family voices, they vocalise when talked to. Most babies wake up between 3-4 hours at night for a feed.
At around 4- 6 months sleep patterns are starting to change, less REM sleep. Babies are learning how to roll from front to back. Starts to look longer at new faces than familiar. Stops crying at parent voice. They move the head towards a voice. They can shake the rattle. Hands open, and reaches for objects.
From 5 months babies can transfer an object from hand-mouth-hand. Can recognize caregivers visually, as well as begins to respond to name. At this age, babies are forming an attachment relationship with caregivers.
At this time some parents start introducing first pureed food.
6 months baby can sit with some support, can reach with one hand. Some babies can start roll from back to front. At this stage babies are more vocal, babbling, we can see some sharp teeth.
We can notice first anxiety behaviour toward strangers.
Babies are eating more food and experimenting with textures (Wilks et al., 2010). It’s a very busy time for babies, they can start waking up more frequently during the night. Babies at this age naps 3 times a day morning, lunchtime and afternoon.
Around 9 months babies are starting to crawl, shuffle or even walking. They are getting stronger, can pull themselves, can bang two cubes together. They like to pull them self-up in their crib. Using sounds to get attention, response to name, septation anxiety can be noticed at this stage, they want to check for parents at night. Recognise more people visually.
12 months old are more able to move they can walk independently or with some help. They are very busy learning new things. They can communicate with parents, and understands simple instructions. They can feed themselves, and they have the same diet as everyone else in the family. They point to an object they want to get, they will vocalise what they want. They have more teeth coming which can be painful and uncomfortable. They will nap twice a day, and still eat in the night.
15 months is time to walk independently, can walk on the stairs, and climb on the furniture.
Babies at this stage can build the towers, use spoons with some spilling, turns pages in the book. They are also showing empathy, like to hugs. They can point to the body parts and bring objects from different rooms. They can use 3-5 words, they are much more vocal. They like to drop the morning nap, which makes them tired and fussy.
18 months babies are very busy, with walking, jumping, running and climbing. Children can remove clothes, and are getting aware of dirty nappy. They are using more words but still can’t verbalise all needs. They imitate animal sounds. Some children are getting anxious again.
2 years child is more independent, can run, kick the ball, throws overhead. The can climb out their crib. Understand me/you, can make a two-word sentence ( noun+ verb), use 50+ words. The language is developing rapidly, this can lead to night wake-ups. They demand constant attention, can follow parents around the house. They are missing their parent during the day, so bedtime can become more challenging. Can change eating behaviour and became fussy. Some children showing potty reediness. Children are starting nursery around this time.