Baby Developmental Milestones: What to Expect in the First Year

A developmental milestone is a skill most babies reach at around a certain age: holding the head steady, sitting unsupported, a first word. They are guidelines rather than deadlines. Babies develop at their own pace and there is a wide range of normal, and knowing the typical shape of a first year helps you support your baby and notice a concern early. LifeWell records a milestone on the day it happens. There is no schedule inside it, nothing to be behind on and no list waiting to be ticked off.

Every Baby Is Unique

Developmental milestones are guidelines, not deadlines. Babies develop at their own pace, and there is a wide range of normal. That said, understanding typical milestones helps you support your baby's development and identify potential concerns early.

Month-by-Month Guide

1-2 Months

Physical: Lifts head briefly during tummy time, makes jerky arm movements
Social: Begins to smile at people, can briefly calm themselves
Cognitive: Pays attention to faces, begins to follow objects with eyes

3-4 Months

Physical: Holds head steady, pushes down on legs when feet are on a hard surface, may roll from tummy to back
Social: Smiles spontaneously, enjoys playing, copies some facial expressions
Cognitive: Reaches for toys, recognizes familiar faces from a distance

5-6 Months

Physical: Rolls both ways, begins to sit without support, may start crawling
Social: Responds to own name, shows curiosity, reaches for objects
Cognitive: Brings things to mouth, begins to pass things from one hand to another

7-9 Months

Physical: Sits without support, may pull to stand, crawls
Social: May be clingy with familiar adults, plays peek-a-boo
Cognitive: Watches the path of falling objects, looks for hidden things, uses pincer grasp

10-12 Months

Physical: Pulls to stand, cruises along furniture, may take first steps
Social: Waves bye-bye, plays pat-a-cake, explores objects by shaking and banging
Cognitive: Follows simple directions, says one to two words, points to things

Tracking Milestones With LifeWell

The baby tracker's milestone feature lets you:

Record when milestones are reached with the date you noticed. There is no photo on a milestone; photos live in Memories
View the whole list with the typical age range beside each one. Nothing is sorted to the top for being late, and LifeWell never tells you a child is behind
Compare with typical ranges without causing unnecessary worry
Share progress with your pediatrician during checkups
Create a beautiful timeline of your baby's development

When to Talk to Your Doctor

Contact your pediatrician if your baby:

Does not respond to loud sounds by 1 month
Does not follow moving objects by 2-3 months
Does not smile at people by 3 months
Cannot hold head steady by 4 months
Does not bring objects to mouth by 5 months
Does not sit with help by 6 months
Does not babble by 7 months
Does not crawl or show interest in movement by 10 months

Early intervention makes a significant difference. Trust your instincts as a parent and always feel comfortable raising concerns with your child's doctor.

Elsewhere on LifeWell

Privacy — What LifeWell stores, where it sits, and who can read it back.
Plans — What the free plan includes, and what each paid one adds.
Export everything — Your whole record leaves in one file, on any plan, without giving a reason.

What people use it for

Note what happened

Note what happened at `/baby/milestones` in your own words, pick roughly what kind it was, and put a date on it. Nothing is checked against a list.

When the weeks have blurred into one another

When the weeks have blurred into one another, read the year back as what your child is doing, each recorded entry marked Noted with its date.

Keep the questions for the next appointment in a note

Keep the questions for the next appointment in a note at `/notes` as they occur to you.

Add weight and length

Add weight and length at `/baby/growth`, read against the WHO Child Growth Standards, which LifeWell plots and does not interpret.

Take a PDF from `/health/export` to the appointment so…

Take a PDF from `/health/export` to the appointment so the dates come with you instead of your memory of them.

Questions

When do babies typically sit, crawl and walk?

On this post's month-by-month guide: rolling both ways and beginning to sit without support between five and six months, sitting unsupported and possibly pulling to stand between seven and nine, and cruising along furniture with first steps possible between ten and twelve. It calls every one of these typical rather than required.

Is my baby behind?

Milestones are guidelines rather than deadlines, and the range of normal is wide. That is this post's first sentence, and the app's own page puts it in one line: the ranges are wide because children are. It is not a score, and LifeWell will never tell you a child is behind. A milestone you have not written down is not a milestone missed.

When should I talk to a doctor?

The post gives a specific list. No response to loud sounds by one month, not following moving objects by two to three months, no smiling at people by three months, the head not held steady by four, nothing brought to the mouth by five, not sitting with help by six, no babbling by seven, and no crawling or interest in moving by ten. Raising a concern early is never wasted.

What does LifeWell do with a milestone?

It keeps what you wrote, roughly what kind it was, the date, and a note if you added one. The page is headed with your child's name and what they are doing. Each recorded entry reads Noted with its date, and anything you have not tapped reads Not noted yet, which means exactly that. Nothing is compared with another baby and nothing is graded. An entry written three weeks late is as good as one written the same evening.

What happens in the first three or four months?

The first two months, as this post describes them: lifting the head briefly during tummy time, jerky arm movements, the first smiles at people, and attention paid to faces. By three or four months the post expects a steady head, spontaneous smiling, copied facial expressions and reaching for toys. Social and thinking milestones sit beside the physical ones, because a baby watching a face is already doing something.

Can I share this with my baby's doctor?

Yes. Export a PDF at `/health/export` and take the dates with you, since the dates are the part a doctor can actually use. It is deliberately a summary rather than everything, which is what makes it readable in a ten-minute appointment, and your journal is never in it.

What if I stopped recording after four months?

Then you have four months written down, which is four months more than memory would have kept. Add whatever you remember whenever you like, and record the next one on the day it happens. There is no streak to keep and nothing to catch up on.

By Ahsan Mahmood · updated 2025-10-05

Open Baby Developmental Milestones: What to Expect in the First Year on LifeWell