By: Paige Martin, Impact Monadnock Program Manager
Parents of young children often find themselves having to wear multiple hats to meet all of their children’s needs - nutritionist, teacher, nurse, child development expert, you name it! But this can be overwhelming and no one has expertise in every area, so it’s important to know what resources exist to help you navigate these early years.
That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed the Milestone Tracker App. The first five years of a child’s development are extremely important, and although every child grows at his or her own pace, there are milestones that we expect to see all children start to demonstrate during certain periods of their development.
For instance, did you know that at as early as two months old there are milestones we expect to start seeing from infants? At this age we typically start to see babies exhibiting behaviors like putting their hands in their mouths to calm themselves when they are upset, and turning their heads to look when they hear a new sound.
The CDC’s Milestone Tracker app contains developmental information for children from two months to age five, and illustrates the kinds of milestones we anticipate to see from young children as they grow and progress.
Some of the cool and user-friendly features of this app include:
- Add a Child – enter personalized information about your child or multiple children
- Milestone Tracker – track your child’s developmental progress by looking for important milestones using an interactive, illustrated checklist
- Milestone Photos and Videos – know what each milestone looks like so that you can better identify them in your own child
- Tips and Activities – support your child’s development at every age
- Milestone Summary – get a summary of your child’s milestones to view, and share with or email to your child’s doctor and other important care providers
For more information about the app, click here. Or to further explore developmental milestones, click here.