A typical physical milestone for a child that is

two months old, is increased head and body control.

For instance, while on tummy baby can hold head up,
and make attempts to push up. While at about six
months old, an infant will start to sit up without
support. According to Pathways (n.d.), Babies grow at
an amazing rate. Besides increasing weight and height,
they also grow in physical development. Although
children at this age are still very immobile, their
developmental strides are rapidly progressing.
While language has not been master yet,
infants a continually observing and processing language within their environment. A typical language
milestone for a child that is six months old is making deliberate sounds to show pleasure and
unhappiness. This development aids infants in early communication skills with caregivers. Often children
will coo or babble to express communication to caregivers to express themselves. Over the first year,
infants learn much about the organization of sounds in their native language. As they listen to people
talking, they learn to focus on meaningful sound variations (Berk, 2013, pg. 156). At nine months old,
an infants milestone will consist of actively mimicking sounds and gestures of others. Through each
achieved milestone skill, infants are continually gathering
and processing language for future use.
A typical cognitive development at four months old,
consists of an infant recognizing and responding to familiar
people and objects at a distance. While at nine months
toddlers have the ability to react and identify familiar
melodies. As stated by Berk (2013), And by the end of the
first year, infants recognize the same melody when it is
played in different keys (pg. 154). A childs cognitive abilities
within the infant stage are evolving and enhancing with each
and every experience.
Signs of atypical development within the infancy and toddler stage, is if a child does not
respond to loud noises within their environment. Responsiveness to sound provides support for the
young childs exploration of the environment. Infants as young as 3 days old turn their eyes and head in
the general direction of a sound (Berk, 2013, pg. 155). If infants are showing no response to noises
within the infant stage, it can hinder their physical, emotional, social and cognitive development if left
untreated. Another sign is if by nine months that child is making attempts at speech such as babbling,
mimicking or making syllable combinations. The lack in speech development at this stage could be
detrimental towards a toddler language acquisition skills.

Social-emotional milestones that are typical within infant and toddlerhood are emotional expressions
and signals. Infants engage in social expression such as laughter, smiles and happiness when interacting

with familiar people. Toddlers begin to detect the meaning of others emotional signals and engages in
social referencing. Developments in moral reasoning such as shame/guilt and secure base emotions
develop in toddlerhood to further support self-regulation skills. Quality of adult feedback influences
these early self-evaluative reactions (Berk, 2013, pg. 109). These first emotions begins and set the stage
for self-awareness later on in childhood.
A social factor that could influence children in the
infancy and toddlerhood stage is the way a parent chooses
to nurture their child. Forming a healthy secure attachment
with children, will support how a child interacts and
communicate with others. A cultural factor that can impact
this stage of development is childrearing beliefs and
practices. Culture, religion and lifestyles all play a role in how
a parent chooses to structure their family dynamic. All
families and cultures have different backgrounds,
experiences, dreams for their children, habits, and customs
that guide their thinking about raising children.
One strategy families can utilize to foster their childs development within the infancy and
toddlerhood stage, is to be active and expressive when interacting with their child. Parents are a childs
first teachers, and each interaction play a significant role in their development. By taking an interest in
your childs physical development and providing opportunities to be involved in physical activity, you are
not only investing well in the future of your childs health, but also creating a way to strengthen the
bond between you and your children (Information sheet 6, pg.2 ). When parents responds actively to
their childs needs it enhances their relationship and bond with their child. Another effective strategy is
to encourage children attempting and applying new skills. Children at this stage are learning and
observing rapidly, it is very important for parents to support development by praising and guiding their
children to foster their problem solving and autonomy skills.