Developmental Delay

 

Infant and Toddler Delay

 

How We can Help!

Understanding your child’s development and behaviors can be challenging and overwhelming. With many different opinions and suggestions on what your child should or shouldn’t be doing can be stressful and confusing. Although, having the proper resources and education is important to improve your knowledge on ways to help your child develop to the best of their ability and Kids in Motion/Ivy Rehab for Kids is here to help. 

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Your baby is growing a lot the first 24 months of their life. They are adjusting to the big world around them, creating pathways in their brain, and growing smarter every day as they learn new critical skills. As new parents, or maybe even seasoned parents, sometimes it is hard to determine whether your little one is on the right track with development. What are the red flags, and when should you be concerned?

 

Gross Motor Skills

Refers to using large muscles to move and coordinate the body. In the first two years of life, your baby will be learning many new coordination moves as their muscles develop and strengthen.

 

At 3-6 months your child should:

  • Be moving their arms and legspediatric developmental delay
  • Lift their head when on their stomach and moving their head side to side
  • Begin to sit with little support at the waist
  • Attempt to roll over, reach for toys, and put toys in their mouth

 

At 6-9 months your child should:

  • Rolling front to back and vice versa
  • Be able to sit on their own
  • Creep on their stomach
  • Begin to stand while holding onto furniture

 

At 9-12 months your child should:

  • Be able to crawl over and around objects
  • Pull to stand while holding onto furniture
  • Cruise along furniture
  • Be able to walk with two hands held

 

At 13-18 months your child should:pediatric developmental delay

  • Begin standing on their own and taking their first steps
  • Begin creeping up/down the stairs
  • Squat to pick something up
  • Try to run stiffly

 

At 18-24 months your child should:

  • Hold your hand while walking up/down stairs
  • Be able to kick a ball
  • Jump with 2 feet

 

At 2-3 years old your child should:

Be fine tuning their coordination skills by

  • catching a large ball with two hands
  • jumping down from a bottom step
  • beginning to ride a tricycle with pedaling
  • standing on one foot
  • walking on their tiptoes

 

Fine Motor Skills

As their large muscles develop, your child’s small muscles strengthen in their arms and hands as well.

 

At 0-4 months, your child should:

  • Stare and follow objects with their eyespediatric developmental delay
  • Bring their hands to their mouth
  • Begin to suck on their fingers
  • Turn their head towards voices

 
At 4-8 months, your child should:

  • Grab objects within reach
  • Begin exploring objects
  • Prop themselves up on their arms when laying on their stomach
  • Pass objects from one hand to the other hand

 
At 8-12 months, your child should:

  • Begin pinching small objects with their thumb and index finger
  • Voluntarily grasp and release items
  • Bang objects together
  • Hold their own bottle
  • Wave hello/goodbye

 
At 12-18 months, your child should:

  • Begin to point to pictures in bookspediatric developmental delay
  • Scribble with a crayon
  • Build a tower with 2-3 blocks

 
At 18-24 months, your child should:

  • Put shapes into a shape sorter
  • Turn 2-3 pages of a book
  • String large beads
  • Paint/color using their whole arm to move the utensil
  • Begin to imitate a vertical line with a writing utensil

 
At ages 2-3 years old, your child should:

  • Begin drawing lines and circles
  • Demonstrate a dominant hand
  • Use scissors to snip and cut
  • Uine-tune their grasp on a writing utensil by holding it with their fingers instead of their palm

 

Independent Living Skills

Though your child is still young, they are always learning the foundation for self-care independence.

 
At 5-6 months, your child should:

  • Begin to show interest in placing their hands around the bottle/breast during feedings

 
At 6-9 months, your child should:

  • Begin to self-feed by holding a bottle more independently
  • Pick up small items and attempt to put it in their mouth
  • Eat a cracker independently

 
At 9-12 months, your child should:pediatric developmental delay

  • Be exposed to holding and playing with a spoon although they cannot feed themselves yet
  • Finger feed independently
  • Bite and chew food
  • Move their jaw/tongue around while eating
  • Hold their arms/legs out to assist with dressing

 
At 12-18 months, your child should:

  • Begin using a spoon and cup with some spillage
  • Remove their socks
  • Put a hat on their head

 
At 18-24 months, your child should:

  • Use a fork and a spoon to feed themselves
  • Pull up a large zipper
  • Turn knob doors

 
At 2-3 years, your child should:

  • Begin dressing with supervision and fastening large buttons

 

Communication Skills

As an infant, your child has their own way of communicating their wants and needs. Over time, this progresses from body language and non-verbal communication to verbal expressions and cognition.

 

At 0-3 months, your child should:pediatric developmental delay

  • Cry, smile, and coo
  • Listen to your voice
  • Look and focus on faces

 
At 3-6 months, your child should:

  • Begin to laugh
  • Cry to get comfort
  • Show excitement with movement
  • Like to be near people they love

 
At 6-9 months, your child should:

  • Begin to babble using at least four different sounds
  • Laugh, giggle, and gurgle for attention
  • React to noises
  • Respond to their name
  • Play games like peek-a-boo

 
At 9-11 months, your child should:

    • Begin imitating sounds and facial movements
    • Say few short words
    • Repeat syllables and babble to sound like real speech; this is called jargon
    • Show their emotions through body language.pediatric developmental delay

 

At 12-18 months, your child should:

  • Understand “no” and simple directions
  • Imitate familiar words
  • Point to show/tell you something

 

At 18-24 months, your child should:

  • Use 10-20 words
  • Start to combine two words
  • Communicate wants/needs (more, juice, done, etc.)
  • Sing simple songs
  • Point to several body parts

 
At 24-30 months, your child should:

  • Demonstrates “conversations” with self and toys
  • Have 2-3 word sentences
  • Asks for itemspediatric developmental delay
  • Name pictures/actions
  • Have around 200 words in their vocabulary

 
At 30-36 months, your child should:

  • Identify their first name
  • Enjoy hearing stories
  • Use past tense words
  • Match objects to pictures
  • Understand simple time concepts such as ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’
  • Use phrases to get attention (i.e. “watch me!”)
  • Can answer ‘where’ questions

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Kids in Motion Pediatric Therapy clinic provides services in all areas from speech, occupational, and physical therapy to address the signs/symptoms stated above related to developmental delay. 

 

 

Speech therapy will help improve your child’s communication skills by learning verbal and/or nonverbal skills. A speech therapist will engage your child in a variety of auditory and verbal stimuli such as story books, picture cards, interactive games, actual objects, etc. using different approaches and techniques to improve language skills. A speech therapist can also teach the use of an augmentative communication devices, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), and American Sign Language. These devices and techniques can improve communication by using pictures and symbols to ask and answer questions when interacting with others.
  

Occupational therapy will use creative therapeutic activities to increase independence and success in ADL, fine motor, visual motor, and sensory processing skills. Occupational therapist will introduce innovative methods to improve self-dressing, self-hygiene and self-feeding skills. Your child will engage in client centered activities to increase strength and coordination/control in hands and upper extremities to complete age appropriate fine motor and visual motor skills with greater success. Occupational therapist will demonstrate and educate family on variety of sensory diet strategies specific for your child’s needs to improve regulation to perform optimally in everyday activities.
  

Physical therapy will help improve your child’s strength, coordination, and balance through therapeutic exercise and activities to increase success in age appropriate gross motor skills. Child will also engage in tasks such as obstacle courses incorporating variety of gym equipment to improve motor planning skills. Physical therapist may target gait retraining if toe-walking is present by working on your child’s range of motion, strengthening and incorporating different sensory techniques. Consultation with an orthotist can also be provided if needed.
  

Still have questions and concerns?

We are committed to helping children of all abilities achieve and live their full potential. With experienced and compassionate Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists and four locations to serve you, we feel confident that you will be more than satisfied with the care and support your child receives.  
 

Check out our free Interactive Online Screener – once completed, it will respond with ideas to help your child in the areas you specify they might be having trouble with or contact us at 248-684-9610.

 

2636 South Milford Road
Milford
Michigan
48357
United States