What should a child be able to do at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 months and so on, up to 5 years

Updated July 23, 2021
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. Every parent should realize that the birth of a baby is not only joy, but also a great responsibility.

It is constantly necessary to monitor his physical and psychological development so that he grows up healthy and in favorable conditions.

Many people think that in the first months of life a baby only needs to sleep a lot and wake up in between to eat.

But you need to ensure that you develop skills that correspond to a specific period one by one. Therefore, let's figure out what a child should be able to do at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 months and up to the age of 5 years.

What should a 2 month old baby be able to do?

Next month the child sleeps less - up to 18 hours a day. Strong muscle tone decreases, so it can respond to environmental factors with even greater activity and plasticity.

At 2 months, a child should be able to:

accurately follow with the eyes the object being moved in front of him;
meet the gaze and perk up at the one who approaches the crib, and also see him off;
recognize laughter and smile back;
turn your head in the direction where the noise is coming from;
turn your head to the side when lying on your stomach;
pull your fingers into your mouth and suck;
coo clearly and make ringing separate sounds.

Smell and taste

Children under one month of age sense smell and taste, they prefer sweet to bitter. A newborn will suck sweetened water from a bottle, but if you give him something with a sour or bitter taste, he will turn away and cry.

The reaction to unpleasant odors for the child will be similar - he will try to turn away from its source.

Advice There is evidence that if a mother eats garlic, onions or spices, the milk changes the taste and the baby may refuse to breastfeed. This happens when you eat a lot of spices.

What should a 3 month old baby be able to do?

At 3 months, the baby is significantly different from how it was brought from the hospital. The baby needs the company of his parents more and often asks to be held.

During this period, he expresses his emotions more clearly (what is this?), and coordination of movements improves.

So, at 3 months he should already:

attract the attention of relatives;
cry with different intonations to share your “feelings” and laugh loudly;
turn your head;
rise on your elbows when lying on your stomach;
roll over from back to side;
when picked up, press the legs and arms towards the body;
hold the toy tightly and pull it into your mouth.

Physiology of a one-year-old baby

During the first year of life, the child develops very intensively. From a small helpless lump in 12 months he grows into a fairly independent, active baby. For parents who are concerned about the proper development of their children, the following basic physiological indicators can serve as a guide:

Height and weight. If in the first six months of the year children gain weight in kilograms, then by the year, the monthly increase on average is 350 grams. The norm is considered to be a 3-fold increase in weight from birth to 12 months.
Number of teeth. Most often, by the age of one year, a child will have 8 teeth. However, even 12 or just 1-2 teeth are considered normal by pediatricians. In case of their complete absence, parents need to consult with specialists.

It is worth noting that these indicators may deviate depending on the characteristics of each baby’s body, his lifestyle, nutrition, genetic heredity, and gender. Boys are usually born larger than girls, so by the age of one year their height and weight are higher. However, if the baby’s physiological data differs greatly from the average, this is a reason to be wary and share your doubts with your doctor.

What should a 4 month old baby be able to do?

The first quarter of the year has passed, and the baby has adapted to the environment after being inside the mother for a long time. He not only loves to study his fingers, but can also stare at a passing car through the window.

At 4 months the child begins:

smile back and coo;
recognize parents and other people who often approach the baby;
show interest in all objects around, especially in your reflection in the mirror;
not only hold the toy tightly in your hand, but also shake it, knock on the table or crib;
show negative emotions if they give you the wrong item that you like and want;
lying on your stomach, raise your shoulders along with your head;
Read also: 50 ways to cope with children's tantrums
roll over from stomach to back, and vice versa.

Demonstration of independence

At one year of age, almost all children want to be independent and try to eat while holding a spoon or fork in their hand. The child can take the cup without adult help and drink liquid from it. He enjoys nibbling on carrots, cookies or other solid food.

The baby is trying to put on clothes while getting ready for a walk, and if the mother has time, she needs to let the child finish what she started and under no circumstances rush him. By this age, a child already has certain preferences in clothing, food, and toys.

When washing his hands, a one-year-old baby will want to dry them with a towel himself. At this age, children perceive the potty as just another toy and happily sit on it, but do not yet understand what needs to be done. You can already explain to a small child what it is and why this item is needed, but there is no need to demand from your son or daughter that they relieve themselves there.

Some children make a specific sound while walking small or large, so the mother needs to closely monitor her child and teach him to sit on the potty at the exact moment when he gives a signal, but if the baby actively resists, there is no need to force him.

What should a 5 month old baby be able to do?

The period of 5 months is characterized by a slowdown in physical growth, and mental development comes to the fore. The child acquires new skills and improves those he already had.

At 5 months, a child typically:

walk and babble;
purposefully throw a toy on the floor if it is no longer interesting;
distinguish mom and dad from their acquaintances whom you have not seen before, and react to them negatively or warily;
be able to occupy yourself for a few minutes by playing with some interesting object;
look at images in books and magazines;
lying on your stomach, raise your upper body with outstretched arms.

Everyday skills

Child development also includes everyday skills. Every month the baby should become more and more independent, try to take care of himself without outside help. Living skills for 23 months include:

using a fork, spoon;
drinking liquids from a cup or glass;
attempts to put on clothes (not all children are successful);
washing hands with soap and water (parental assistance may be required);
putting toys back into place;
helping parents with household chores or attempting to do so (dusting, sweeping, fulfilling simple requests, for example, getting laundry out of the washing machine);
all possible assistance in caring for pets (the child can offer food, let the pet in from the street);
using the potty (not all children demonstrate this skill at 1 year and 11 months).

What should a 2 year old child be able to do?

Over the course of a whole year, children actively develop their speech and movement, which parents cannot always keep an eye on.

What should a 2 year old child be able to do:

run;
go up and down stairs without assistance;
step over a hole or puddle;
try to draw;
kick the ball;
be able to eat carefully;
play with plasticine, cereals;
name several colors and geometric shapes;
show how old you are on your fingers;
go to the potty independently;
continue the verse that you learned with your parents, if you name the first lines to the rhyme;
listen to stories that are read to him and remember some parts.

Psychic achievements

What a child will understand and demonstrate in a year directly depends on the relationship with his parents, the time they devote to him, correctly selected exercises, activities and toys.

One of the most important skills that a one-year-old baby begins to develop is speech. The ability to speak gives a powerful impetus to mental development. At this age, the vocabulary is still small, from 2 to 15 simple words.

Many parents are frightened by the child's prolonged “silence.” The reason for contacting specialists should be the absence of babbling, humming, or communication using gestures or facial expressions. In order for a child to speak at the age of one year, he must have a sufficiently developed speech center of the brain and accumulate the necessary passive vocabulary. If the speech center can be successfully trained with the help of toys that develop fine motor skills, then vocabulary depends on the intensity of communication with the baby.

In addition, the list of what a child should be able to do at 1.5 years or even earlier includes the ability to:

smile;
respond to your name;
express feelings emotionally (kissing, hugging relatives, favorite toys);
recognize loved ones from a distance, including in photographs;
respond with interest to new toys;
imitate the facial expressions and sounds of others;
understand parents' speech, prohibition;
point with your finger at images of familiar objects in a book;
move rhythmically to the music;
fulfill requests “give”, “put down”, “open-close”;
rejoice at the arrival of parents or become wary when strangers appear.

If your baby does not show any of the abilities listed above, do not be upset. All in your hands. Buy suitable toys and introduce exciting and useful activities into your daily routine.

What should a 3 year old child be able to do?

Another crisis occurs during this period of childhood. Boys and girls clearly understand themselves as separate individuals. Therefore, they often contradict their parents, trying to establish themselves.

What a 3 year old child should be able to do:

speak in short sentences;
recite a short poem;
know your first and last name;
look for differences between objects;
draw lines and color;
quietly stay without your parents for several days;
eat, dress, brush teeth and wash hands independently;
play the ball confidently.

Crying is the only way to communicate

A newborn screams at the top of his lungs in any position if he feels pain, hunger, or cold. The cry in this case has a nasal and “squeezed” character. The baby should calm down when the mother takes him in her arms, as she feels contact with warm skin. Crying stops in this case if its cause is not hunger or pain.

Towards the end of the first month of life, the baby, upon seeing a person speaking to him, immediately stops moving for a moment. This is a natural reaction to the human face.

Advice In order for the baby to develop harmoniously immediately after birth and in the first few months, you should immediately respond to his crying. Children at this age are not yet capricious and begin to cry only if they feel discomfort or pain.

is your child ready for school?

Children who will be at least six and a half years old on September 1 are accepted into first grade. If the child is younger, the decision on his enrollment is made by the district department of education. When preparing for school, how much effort parents spend on teaching their treasure to write, count and, of course, read. But, as life shows, this is not the most important thing for successful adaptation. The main thing is whether the child can ACCEPT the demands that the school immediately makes on him from the very first days (sit in class, listen to the teacher, complete assignments), whether he knows how to control his behavior and SUBJECT it to the established rules. This is the main criterion for a child’s readiness for school.

Basics of mathematics

Before entering first grade, you must: • be able to count from 1 to 10 and back, restore a number series in which some numbers are missing; • perform counting operations within ten, increase/decrease the number of objects “by one”, “by two”; • know the concepts of “more-less-equally”; • know simple geometric shapes, be able to make applications from geometric shapes; • be able to compare objects by length, width and height; • solve simple arithmetic problems; • be able to divide an object into two/three/four equal parts.