The way your child learns, plays, and acts shows you important steps in development. All children grow and develop at their own rate. However, most follow a predictable skill path along the way. These skill paths are called developmental milestones; skills that most children can perform by a certain age. Refer to the checklist below to determine what milestones your child has completed by two months of age.

By two months most babies: 

Fine Motor (skills that require balance and movement of small muscle groups)

_ Grasp your finger when you touch their palm.

_ Bring their hands to their face.

_ Grab or scratch at clothes.

Social-Emotional

_ Cry when hungry, wet, or tired.

_ Quiet when picked up.

_ See the bottle or breast and seem to know they are going to be fed.

Cognitive (memory, problem solving, thinking, and overall play)

_ Focus on faces while feeding or playing.

_ Follow objects with eyes: up/down and left/right.

_ Wave their arm to a dangling toy above them.

Communication

_ Make sounds.

_ Smile back at you when you talk.

_ Begin to giggle softly.

Gross Motor

_ While on their back, they wiggle and wave their arms and legs.

_ Hold their head up for longer than a few seconds while on their tummy.

_ Move their head from side to side.

Self-Care

_ Suck well from the bottle or breast (without choking or gagging).

Talk to your doctor or contact an early intervention program in your community if you notice any of the following signs of a possible developmental delay in your child at two months of age:

_Doesn’t respond to loud sounds.

_ Doesn’t watch things as they move.

_ Doesn’t smile at people.

_ Doesn’t bring hands to mouth.

_ Can’t hold head up when pushing up on the tummy.

ASQ. Ages and Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ – 3)

CDD. Centers for Disease Control <www.cdc.gov>

D’Eugenio, Diane and Rogers, Sally J. Early Intervention Developmental Profile (EIDP). 1981. University of Michigan.