First Year Baby Milestones: Month-by-Month What to Expect

First Year Baby Milestones: Month-by-Month What to Expect

The first year moves impossibly slow and impossibly fast at the same time. Your tiny potato will become a walking, babbling, opinionated tiny human. Here's the roadmap.

This guide shows what to expect month by month—with the crucial reminder that all ranges are approximate. Your baby is not failing a test if they're on the later end of normal.

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Month 1: The Potato Phase

What They Can Do:

• See faces up close (8-12 inches away)
• Recognize your voice and smell
• Turn toward sounds
• Reflexive grasping (not intentional)
• Lots of sleeping (16-17 hours daily)

What They're Working On:

• Learning to eat (breastfeeding/bottle)
• Brief moments of alertness
• Beginning head control during tummy time

What You're Surviving:

• Sleep deprivation
• Figuring out feeding
• The "why is the baby crying" guessing game

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Month 2: First Smiles

Big Milestone:

The social smile—a real smile in response to you, not just gas. This usually emerges between 6-8 weeks. It changes everything.

Other Developments:

• Following objects with eyes
• Cooing sounds (first non-crying vocalizations)
• Better head control
• Recognizing familiar faces
• Brief attention to dangling objects

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Month 3: Personality Emerges

Physical:

• Can hold head steady when upright
• Pushes up on arms during tummy time
• Opens and closes hands intentionally
• Brings hands together
• May bat at dangling toys

Social/Cognitive:

• Laughing (the best sound ever)
• More interactive—cooing back and forth
• Distinct awake/alert periods
• May start self-soothing (hand-sucking)

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Month 4: The Great Awakening

Big Changes:

• Rolling (some babies—usually back to front first, but varies)
• Grasping objects intentionally
• Bringing toys to mouth (everything goes in the mouth now)
• Sleep regression (brain development disrupts sleep patterns)

Communication:

• Babbling begins ("ba," "ma," "da" sounds)
• Responds to own name (sometimes)
• More expressive—happy, frustrated, bored

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Month 5: Almost Mobile

Motor Skills:

• Rolling both directions (usually)
• Sitting with support
• Reaching accurately for objects
• Transferring objects hand to hand
• Some babies start scooting or pivoting

Feeding:

• May show signs of readiness for solids (sitting well, interested in food, tongue thrust reflex gone)
• Pediatrician may discuss starting around 6 months

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Month 6: Half Birthday Milestone

Big Developments:

• Sitting independently (or close to it)
• First foods (if not already)
• Beginning stranger anxiety
• Responds clearly to name
• Passing toys between hands easily

Feeding Transition:

• Iron stores from birth start depleting—time for iron-rich foods
• Purées, baby-led weaning, or combination
• Breast milk/formula still primary nutrition

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Month 7: On the Move

Mobility:

• Crawling begins for many (army crawl, traditional, or scooting)
• Some babies skip crawling entirely—goes straight to walking later
• Can get into sitting position independently
• Pulling up to stand (on furniture, people)

Communication:

• Babbling with more variety
• Understanding "no" (responding to it is another matter)
• Waving bye-bye (sometimes)

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Month 8: Separation Anxiety Peak

Emotional:

• Separation anxiety intensifies—may cry when you leave the room
• Strong preference for primary caregivers
• Stranger wariness at its peak
• This is normal and healthy attachment—not a problem

Cognitive:

• Object permanence developing (knows things exist when hidden)
• Points at things
• Understands simple words and commands

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Month 9: Little Explorer

Physical:

• Cruising (walking while holding furniture)
• Pincer grasp (thumb and finger pick up small objects)
• Banging objects together (loud)
• Into EVERYTHING—baby-proofing is urgent

Communication:

• "Mama" and "Dada" emerging (not always to the right person)
• Follows pointing
• May have first words

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Months 10-11: Almost Walking

Mobility:

• Standing alone briefly
• Taking steps while holding hands
• First independent steps (some babies—12-15 months is also normal)
• Climbing (stairs, furniture, everything)

Behavior:

• Tests limits ("what happens if I do this?")
• Shows preferences strongly
• Imitates actions
• Plays simple games (peek-a-boo, patty-cake)

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Month 12: Happy Birthday, You Made It

By First Birthday, Many Babies:

• Walk (or are close)
• Say 1-3 words meaningfully
• Understand simple instructions
• Wave, clap, point
• Show attachment to specific people and objects
• Feed themselves finger foods
• Have preferences and a budding personality

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The Bottom Line