The transformation you will see in your baby from a newborn into a confident, communicating and social 12 month old child is amazing! Physically in this first year you will see your baby mature from a tiny being with very little control of his/her head making lots of random leg kicking and arm flailing movements, to a mobile traveller who is crawling with speed and agility, can stand and may even be able to walk a few steps alone. Sitting up is easy and offers exciting possibilities to observe the world and engage with it. Your baby is learning from the very start. Exploring and playing are important ways for this to happen. Early learning uses all the senses and by 12 months you can see increases in memory, concentration and a focussed approach to learning. Many language milestones are achieved by the end of this first year. Your baby is communicating all the time, soaking up new words at a tremendous rate. The first word is spoken! The one year old is a social baby who enjoys interacting with you. Sometimes slight dips in self confidence with new people may need extra reassurances from you. He/she likes meeting other babies too and finds them fascinating. Your baby will achieve a huge number of important milestones during this first year but it is important to remember that all children do so at their own pace. The milestones below will give you an idea of what progress you can expect but please do not worry if your baby takes a little longer or indeed achieves some of these earlier than indicated. As a parent you have a very important part to play in supporting this development within a loving and caring relationship. The ideas below will help you to support your baby’s development.
For everything that matters in early years