Baby milestones month by month, 0–24 months
What to expect at each age across movement, communication, social skills and problem solving — and, more usefully, the specific signs that warrant a conversation with your paediatrician.
Milestone charts are useful and also the source of a great deal of unnecessary anxiety, because they're read as deadlines when they're actually ranges. The published age for a milestone is typically when most babies have reached it, not when yours is late.
The more useful way to read this: the milestones matter less than the red flags. Skim the chart; read the red flags carefully.
The milestone chart
| Age | Movement | Communication & social |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | Moves arms and legs, brings hands near face, head flops without support | Calms when picked up, looks at your face, reacts to loud sounds |
| 2 months | Holds head up briefly on tummy, opens hands briefly | First social smile, makes cooing sounds, watches you move |
| 4 months | Steady head control, pushes up on elbows, holds a toy, may roll front to back | Laughs, babbles, turns to your voice, chuckles when you try to make them |
| 6 months | Rolls both ways, sits with support, passes a toy hand to hand | Takes turns making sounds, blows raspberries, knows familiar faces |
| 9 months | Sits without support, gets to sitting alone, may crawl, pulls to stand | Babbles strings like "mamama", looks when you call their name, plays peekaboo |
| 12 months | Pulls to stand, cruises along furniture, pincer grasp, may take steps | Waves bye, says one or two words, understands "no", hands you a book to read |
| 15 months | Walks alone, stacks two blocks, drinks from a cup with help | Two or more words besides mama/dada, points to ask, copies you doing chores |
| 18 months | Walks well, climbs, scribbles, tries to use a spoon | At least three words, points to show you things, follows simple instructions |
| 24 months | Runs, kicks a ball, walks up stairs holding on, stacks four blocks | Two-word phrases, around 50 words, points to things in a book when named |
A baby born ten weeks early should be assessed at their corrected age until around two years. Judging a preterm baby against their birth date makes normal development look delayed for no reason.
Red flags: when to raise it
These are the signs that justify a conversation with your paediatrician rather than watchful waiting. None of them means something is wrong — they mean it's worth looking.
By 2 months
- Doesn't respond to loud sounds
- Doesn't watch things as they move
- Doesn't smile at people
- Doesn't bring hands to mouth
By 4 months
- Doesn't hold head steady
- Doesn't make sounds back at you
- Doesn't push down with legs when feet are on a firm surface
- Doesn't follow moving objects with the eyes
By 6 months
- Doesn't roll in either direction
- Seems unusually stiff, or unusually floppy
- Shows no affection towards caregivers
- Doesn't laugh or make squealing sounds
By 9 months
- Doesn't sit even with help
- Doesn't babble
- Doesn't respond to their own name
- Doesn't recognise familiar people
- Strongly favours one hand — hand preference before 18 months can indicate a problem on the other side
By 12 months
- Doesn't crawl or move to get something
- Doesn't say any single words
- Doesn't use gestures like waving or shaking the head
- Doesn't point at things
- Loses skills they previously had
By 18–24 months
- Doesn't walk by 18 months
- Fewer than six words by 18 months, or no two-word phrases by 24 months
- Doesn't copy what others do
- Doesn't notice or mind when a caregiver leaves or returns
- Loses skills they previously had
A child who was babbling and stops, or who was waving and no longer does, should be seen regardless of age or of how they score on everything else. Regression is treated differently from delay.
Milestones, without the chart-huntingAraia surfaces the milestones due for your baby's exact age, lets you mark and date them, and suggests activities that support what they're working on right now.
Get Araia freeThings worth knowing about the ranges
- Not every baby crawls. Some bottom-shuffle, some roll everywhere, some go straight to walking. Crawling is not a required stage.
- Walking has a wide window. Anywhere from 9 to 18 months is normal. Late walking with otherwise normal development is usually just late walking.
- Bilingual homes don't cause language delay. Children in multilingual households — most Indian homes — may have fewer words in each language early on, but their total vocabulary across languages is comparable. Count words across all languages.
- Tummy time drives the early motor milestones. Babies who get very little of it commonly reach rolling and sitting later. Start with a few minutes several times a day from the first weeks.
- Screens displace the interaction that builds language. The concern at this age is less the screen itself than the back-and-forth conversation it replaces.
Frequently asked questions
When do babies start sitting up?
When should a baby start walking?
Is it a problem if my baby doesn't crawl?
Does growing up bilingual delay speech?
What is the biggest developmental red flag?
This guide is general information for Indian parents, written from published paediatric guidance (IAP, WHO, AAP). It is not medical advice and cannot account for your baby specifically. Anything that worries you — feeding, breathing, fever, weight, a rash — is a call to your paediatrician, not a search. In an emergency, go to a hospital.
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