Developmental milestones: I’m on a schedule, Ummi!

Abang Yousof; always first

He grew up too fast. My eldest son, Yousof, started walking at age 9 months and started talking at 11 months. At the time I was a houseman at probably the busiest hospital in the country (Hospital Sultanah Aminah, JB). I practically missed it since I was out of the house at the crack of dawn and back after he had already gone to sleep (not counting the many on calls that meant I was away from him days at a time). Each time I caught a breath it seemed as if he was able to do something new, turning, crawling, walking. I sadly do not remember what his first words were (it was as if he could always speak).

My second child, my princess Aishah, took her own sweet time. She was a year old and still had no inclination to take her first steps or form her first words. My parents were already worried. “Why can’t she walk yet? Why can’t she talk yet? Yousof was already speaking in sentences at that age…etc..etc“.

In the end she decided to end our misery when she was 14 months old. A few weeks after that she began to talk. Ever since then, she has not stopped. Forever chatting and amusing us with her stories, at age 2  1/2 years, sometimes she talks like an old lady! Hehe.

“Hamzah! Jangan main dengan buaya tu!” Of course, that had me running from the kitchen. “Oh, bukan bua-ya lah Aishah, wa-yer (the telephone wire).”

When her grandfather scolds her, she will quite innocently ask “Tokki, tokki marah Aishah ye?” “Marah.” my dad would answer. “Tokki marah banyak ke, sikit jer?” Only if my father answers “sikit” will she smile, if not she will look at him with those huge eyes until he concedes defeat..hehe.

Hamzah; have to be fast to keep up with me

My youngest, Hamzah, is now 16 months old. He started walking when he was 14 months old. Currently he can climb anything, literally, that boy fears nothing. He has yet to start talking but I am not worried because he understands very well, interacts actively with his siblings and adults and shows problem solving skills that sometimes truly amazes me. I think he will start talking soon, and I can’t wait!

I have learnt that each child has their own schedule, their own pace. It doesn’t do us any good to compare them with each other. That only tends to put unnecessary stress on us as parents. However, it is also important, as a parent to have some basic knowledge of a child’s developmental milestones.

Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can do at a certain age range. These are important and helpful to doctors (and parents) to assess the development of a child. The skills fall into several categories such as:

1. Gross motor: using large groups of muscle to crawl, sit, stand, walk, balance etc
2. Fine motor and co-ordination: Using hands to grasp objects, pinch, hold a pencil etc
3. Language: speaking and communicating with gestures or body language
4. Cognitive: thingking skills like remembering and understanding, problem solving etc
5. Social: Interacting with others and responding to other people’s feelings etc

See them grow *pic Googled

The time frame in which each child reaches eah milestone varies because each child is unique. However, if you are worried or concerned that your child may have a developmental delay in one area or all (Global Developmental Delay), it is important to discuss these issues with a Paediatrician. He/She can then properly assess your child and conduct some simple tests. For example, delay in speech may be caused by a hearing defect.

Sometimes when the worries are shared, he can help to dispell your unfounded fears or detect the problem early in order to take the necessary steps. If a genuine developmental delay is detected then the relevant people will need to join your team depending on which one it is. Click here for more details and here for some red flags to watch out for if you suspect developmental delay.

Excuse me while I go home and child-proof my fridge. Hamzah may not be able to talk yet but he’s the first one to discover how easy it is to open the door and explore the wonderful cool world of refridgerators.

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Tags: developmental milestones, Parenting