From months 1 to 12, a baby’s overall development progresses at an astonishing rate. More changes will occur during this first year than at any other point in their life.

From the start of pregnancy to baby’s first birthday, all areas of a child’s development—from cognitive and motor skills to pre-linguistic, social, and emotional aspects—are gradually coming together like the pieces of a puzzle.

But while a baby’s growth is measured using milestones, every child develops at their own pace. That’s why it’s helpful to think of their progression as more of a spiral than a ladder.

As a result, while major milestones like sitting, standing, and walking need to be fully mastered for a child to develop newer, more advanced skills, this doesn’t mean they can’t still use their earliest skills (e.g., by continuing to crawl even if they can already walk). Some children may also skip certain steps, such as crawling on their bellies or on all fours.

How do parents determine how best to raise their little bundle of boundless potential and curiosity? Where do they start? Ultimately, raising your child is about the little things you do every day to take care of them. Each action has an effect on their development.

Every baby is different. The ages indicated for each stage of development are for reference purposes only; they do not represent strict timelines. However, if your baby appears to have significant delays in any area, don’t hesitate to consult a health care professional.

9 precious months

A fetus experiences many things during those 9 months in the womb. At 20 weeks, they start to suck their thumb. They can grab and hold their umbilical cord. They can “walk” on the walls of the uterus. They can yawn. They’re already sensitive to sounds, music, and tastes. Although it’s difficult to measure things like hearing, vision, or taste inside the womb, we know that all five senses are active by the time a baby is born. The same goes for a number of primitive reflexes that are essential for survival, such as rooting (turning the head to the side of the cheek that’s been stimulated), sucking and swallowing, and grasping.

From controlling head movements and turning over to sitting up and crawling, all motor skills depend on the strength of major muscle groups as well as on the brain, which must mature before it can send the right messages to the muscles.

The first part of the brain to develop is the area that controls head and neck movement, followed by the area that controls the arms and torso (the upper body). The region that controls leg movement develops last.

Accordingly, your baby must learn to control their head (around 4 months) before they can sit upright (around 7 to 9 months) and before they can walk (around 11 to 18 months). Little by little, their motor skills will extend out to their fingertips.

Activities to encourage your baby’s development

Your baby enjoys . . .

• Following you with their eyes or following a mirror that catches their attention and compels them to turn their head in different directions, even though they won’t recognize themself until they reach 15 months. (From the first week)
• Being laid on their tummy when they’re awake. This encourages your little one to lift their head (for a second at first, then for a few minutes at a time), exercise their neck muscles, and eventually roll over, crawl toward toys, etc. (From 1 month)

• Being pulled gently by the hands while in a sitting position, with their head well supported. (2 to 3 months)
• Trying to roll towards you or towards a toy that’s nearby, first from tummy to back (around 4 months), then from back to tummy (around 6 months).
• Bouncing gently on your knees, sometimes getting up on their feet. (From 6 months)
• Sitting up with your help and reaching for toys that are near them (from 6 months). When your little one stretches out one arm while leaning on the other for balance, they’re taking the first step towards crawling. Doing this while on their tummy will also encourage them to start crawling.
• Climbing over obstacles, especially if they’re trying to get to a toy. The obstacle might be you lying on the floor, for instance, or a pile of pillows. (From 9 months)
• Learning to stand up, but also how to land gently on their behind (from 10 months). Make sure your baby has a low surface to lean on without any risk of hurting themself, such as a coffee table. They’ll soon learn how to move their feet.

Fine motor skills require very precise hand and finger movements. They depend on the development of the small hand and arm muscles, the right messages being carried to the brain to trigger these movements, hand-eye coordination, and spatial awareness. With practice, your baby will learn to judge distances more accurately and move their little hands where they want them to go.

Fine motor skills develop in a logical order: from the upper body to the lower body, and from the centre of the body out to the extremities. Before 2 months, a baby’s movements primarily involve bending and extending their arms and reflexively opening and closing their hands. After about 2 months, they become aware of their hands, play with them, and bring them together. Their hand and finger dexterity is also rapidly improving.

Activities to encourage your baby’s development

Your baby enjoys . . .

• Opening their hands with your help and exploring their sense of touch by feeling different materials, such as stuffed animals, corrugated cardboard, or feathers. (From 1 month)
• Grasping textured objects in their hands. They’re slowly learning to wrap their fingers around things. From the age of 2 months, your little one can hold objects and shake them (from 3 or 4 months, they can do this with a rattle).
• Trying to grab a toy that’s just out of reach. Applaud them if they stretch out their hand! (Around 6 months)
• Passing a toy from one hand to the other when they’re holding it and you pass them a second one. (Around 7 months)
• Practising grabbing small objects, like a piece of banana or a crumb, with their thumb and forefinger—their own magic “claw”! (8 or 9 months)
• Giving you a toy and then taking it back multiple times. (Around 9 months)
• Clapping their hands, waving goodbye, and pointing to things they want. (Around 9 or 10 months)
• Placing objects in a container and then taking them out. (Around 11 or 12 months)

From the moment a baby is born, they’re able to use all five senses to react to their surroundings. If a bright light hits their eyes, for example, they shut them tight until it disappears.

In addition, babies can recognize their mother’s voice from birth. They can also recognize the smell of their mother’s milk, among other scents, and may even spit out the milk they’re fed if it’s not what they’re used to.

When your baby interacts with you or explores their environment, they use several senses. When they play with their rattle, for example, they‘ll hold it (touch), look at it (sight), shake it, and listen to the sound it makes (hearing). They may even bite it (taste) and smell it (scent). All of these actions will give them an overall sense of the object.

Activities to encourage your baby’s development

Your baby enjoys . . .

• Getting massages. Massages soothe them, comfort them, and communicate your love for them. (From birth.)
• Listening to different sounds, types of music, and even ways of speaking. (From birth.)
• Being rocked, because it stimulates the vestibular sense (perception of motion).
• Playing airplane when you lie on your back and hoist them up on your feet. (From 4 months.)

• Watching you clown around! When you make silly faces, you stimulate their visual abilities. (From 1 month)
• Following brightly coloured objects with their eyes. From the age of 3 months, babies can differentiate between bright colours like blue and red.
• Playing hide-and-seek. Hide your face behind a small blanket, then uncover it and say: “Peek-a-boo!” This classic game exercises your baby’s visual skills. (From 6 months)
• Touching different textures, like crumpled paper, food, and sticky things. They also like to put their bare feet on carpet, wood, ceramic tiles, sand, and other surfaces. (From 9 months)
• Discovering smells like fresh bread, peeled oranges, and soap. (From 1 year)
• Looking at books with you and hearing you read. (Any age)

When your baby discovers that wailing (rather than simply whimpering) makes you come feed them more quickly, they’re already starting to figure out cause and effect and learning to problem-solve. This is the first component of cognitive development: when faced with a new problem, babies will try things out and eventually draw conclusions that they can apply in future situations.

The second component of cognitive development is communication and language. These skills develop first through gestures, facial expressions, crying, babbling, and other sounds, and later through speech.

Over time, cognitive development will allow your baby to make sense of the world, reuse strategies, and communicate their ideas. In just one year, your child will go from a tiny newborn to a sturdy baby who proclaims their independence with actions like attempting to feed themself by pointing to what they want.

Cognitive and emotional development is therefore closely linked to other types of learning, particularly sensory development. All of your baby’s senses are used to help them quickly develop an increasingly complex understanding of the world around them.

Activities to encourage your baby’s development

Your baby enjoys . . .

• Hearing you talk, but also hearing you repeat the sounds they make when you talk to them. From the age of 1 month, your little one can recognize where a sound is coming from, and they watch closely when you feed or speak to them. At around 2 months, they answer you by making sounds.
• Listening to you describe their surroundings and what you’re doing, whether at home or outside. At about 3 months, your baby already reacts with excitement in anticipation of familiar situations, like feedings and bathtime. They also show excitement in other situations, such as when they hear you sing the different parts of their body.
• Looking at books, toys, and objects with you. From the day they’re born, you can show your baby small toys and book illustrations while telling them little stories. As of 4 months, they’ll start to demonstrate curiosity for new things and sensations.
• Learning to associate the names of objects, animals, and other things with the sounds they make with the help of books and nursery rhymes (e.g., “What sound does a doorbell make? Ding dong!” or “What noise does a snake make? Ssss . . .”). Babies 9 months and older love this game.
• Playing peek-a-boo games (by hiding behind a towel, for example). Your baby is starting to understand the concept of object permanence. Soon, seeing your face reappear will make them burst into giggles. At 9–10 months, they’ll also enjoying looking for their toys in corners or boxes, pointing at things they want, waving with their hands, and more. You’ll likely hear them say their first words around their first birthday.
• Dancing and listening to music. Your baby likes being with you and feeling the rhythm of the music. When you put on some tunes and dance with your baby, you’re helping them develop their senses and, to some degree, their coordination.
• Following along with you during activities like massages and baby gymnastics. These activities allow your little one to discover the world around them while strengthening their bond with you (from 9 months).
• Being around older children. They like to watch the “big kids” play or bring them toys.

Scientific review: Solène Bourque, psychoeducator Research and copywriting: The Naître et grandir team Updated: October 2021

Photos (in order) : GettyImages/SeventyFour, GettyImages/aywan88, GettyImages/Drazen Zigic, GettyImages/Mladen Zivkovic, GettyImages/Birdland, GettyImages/Wavebreakmedia, GettyImages/Serhii Sobolevskyi