Find information about child development and play based on your child's age. Remember that all children are unique and will reach development milestones at a time and rate that’s unique to them.

Read more about child development and play for children aged:

• 1-month-old
• 2 months old
• 3 months old
• 4 months old
• 5 months old
• 6 months old

1-month-old

Physical development:

• your baby will be able to lift their head briefly
• bring their hands to their face
• suck well
• grasp a finger

Social and emotional development:

• stop crying to listen to a sudden noise
• your baby will begin a bond with you

Cognitive, communication and speech development:

• gaze at a toy when moved towards and away from their face
• focus on a face
• turn towards a light

Ideas to encourage your baby to learn and play:

• gently clap your baby’s hands together
• rattle a toy for your baby to focus on and follow
• gently move your baby’s legs as if they were pedalling a bicycle
• read to your baby
• skin-to-skin contact will help soothe your baby

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2 months old

Physical development:

• your baby’s arm and leg movements will become smoother
• pushing up while lying on their tummy

Social and emotional development:

• your baby will begin to smile

Cognitive, communication and speech development:

• your baby will make a cooing noise
• your baby will start to track people with their eyes
• becomes fussy when they’re bored

Ideas to encourage your baby to learn and play:

• while awake, let your baby spend some time on his or her tummy to help strengthen the neck and shoulders. Always supervise your infant during "tummy time" and be ready to help if they get tired or frustrated in this position. Never put a baby to sleep on their stomach. Infants should sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• talk to your baby, your baby will begin to respond
• read to your baby
• make facial expressions for your baby to imitate
• hold your baby close to your face and make eye contact

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3 months old

Physical development:

• when pulled to the sitting position your baby will be able to hold their head steady for a few seconds
• your baby will kick their legs vigorously
• they will be able to push down on their legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
• open and close their hands
• your baby will begin to try and hit dangling objects with their hands

Social and emotional development:

• your baby will fix their eyes on you when being fed
• beginning to react to familiar situations by smiling, cooing and using excited movements
• enjoys a bath. Always supervise your baby in or around water

Cognitive, communication and speech development:

• your baby can hold a toy but will not be able to coordinate their hands and eyes
• watches the movement of their hands during finger play
• vocalises delightfully when spoken to or feeling pleased
• cries when annoyed or uncomfortable
• sucks or licks lips when they know a feed is coming

Ideas to encourage your baby to learn and play:

• move safe toys around your baby to encourage head, legs and arms movement
• help your baby to hold objects by giving them a toy
• read to your baby
• sing to your baby

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4 months old

Physical development:

• your baby will push up onto their elbows when lying on their stomach
• can shake a toy they’re holding
• beginning to roll onto their back
• hold their head up without support

Social and emotional development:

• your baby will try to copy facial expressions and movements
• enjoys playing with others and may become upset when the play stops
• your baby will smile spontaneously

Cognitive, communication and speech development:

• your baby will begin to babble and copy sounds they hear
• they will have different cry sounds for feeling hungry, tired or in pain
• recognise familiar people and objects

Ideas to encourage your baby to learn and play:

• when your baby cries, responding to the different cries
• share your baby’s interests by looking and pointing
• smile at your baby and talk to them with a kind voice
• repeat the sounds your baby makes back to them
• read to your baby
• sing songs to your baby
• give a rattle to your baby to build hand eye coordination
• talk to your baby about what you’re doing in everyday routines

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5 months old

Physical development:

• your baby will begin to put their arms out to be picked up
• your baby will be starting to sit up unaided, they will still need cushions to support them
• they will be able to push up onto their elbows from their stomach

Social and emotional development:

• your baby will smile at familiar faces
• they will show delight when playing
• your baby will respond to affection with a smile

Cognitive, communication and speech development:

• your baby will be constantly putting objects in their mouths to explore what the object feels like
• read information about how to protect your baby or toddler from some of the commonest accidents
• your baby will now be recognising moving objects
• they will be using different sounds such as, growling, gurgling and blowing raspberries

Ideas to encourage your baby to learn and play:

• pull funny faces or make funny sounds to encourage your baby to laugh
• encouraging sitting up by moving your baby’s legs into a V shape which will help them to balance
• give your child a small toy in one hand and then another. They will soon learn to pass a toy from one hand to another by themselves
• begin to put some toys out of reach while your baby is lying on their tummy. This will encourage them to reach out for objects
• encourage rolling by lying your baby on a hard surface
• playing peek-a-boo. Put a toy under a blanket, then remove the blanket quickly. Your baby will learn that objects which disappear can magically reappear
• read and sing to your baby

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6 months old

Physical development:

• your baby will begin to pass objects from one hand to the other
• they will begin to roll from front to back and back to front
• sit up without support
• beginning to rock back and forth when in the crawling position

Social and emotional development:

• your baby will enjoy looking into a mirror
• still friendly with strangers, may start to show signs of shyness

Cognitive, communication and speech development:

• responds to their name
• responds to noises by making sounds
• makes sounds to represent positive and negative emotions
• turns their head to the direction of sound

Ideas to encourage your baby to learn and play:

• use your baby’s name frequently to help them familiarise their name
• engage in playful conversations, repeating the sounds they make back to them
• read and sing to your baby
• provide toys that are easy for your baby to pick up with one hand
• leave toys out of reach for your baby, to encourage rolling
• support your baby in the standing position

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