The most important developmental leaps in the first year of life

I’m writing this text exactly one week before baby Anna turns 1 year old. Yes, Yes, incredible! She’s already turning one! I remember the day of the delivery and when we came back home from the hospital. I recall her first smile at 6 weeks old and her first tooth at 6 months. Also she started to crawl at 8 months and tried to stand up at 9. Now she is walking around the house holding hands and does more and more “free” standing on her own. It has been a memorable and beautiful journey and maybe I will describe it more in detail later on, but now let’s talk about the leaps that accompany it all year long.

In the first year, the child develops very dynamically. While the infant’s physical development is fluid, the nervous system develops by leaps and bounds. During this period, there are several developmental leaps, during which the child begins to notice a lot more and learn new things. What are developmental leaps related to and what new skills can we expect?

Babies go through seven developmental leaps. This is when the baby’s brain and nervous system develop very intensively. The child begins to understand more and acquires new skills, etc. Each developmental leap brings a huge change and pushes the child’s development, and the pace of change often amazes the parents.

In this text, I will answer the following questions: when do the next developmental leaps appear in an infant and what new skills should be expected in each of the leaps of infants and slightly older children?

The developmental leap lasts a week or several weeks (each successive leap is longer and longer). Due to the intensive development of the brain, the child receives much more stimuli and impressions with the help of his developing senses than before and has to cope with them. Before or during the developmental leap, parents sometimes feel that their little one has lost the skills they had previously acquired.

However, an intense process takes place in the child’s brain and the child perceives much more than before. Fortunately, when the leap is over, it turns out that not only do the previously mastered skills return and the child did not retreat in development, but he learned new things in a surprisingly fast time.

How do you know when a development leap is imminent?

The development of the nervous system makes the infant perceive stimuli from the environment very intensively. Before learning how to deal with them, he can be restless and irritable. A development leap is usually preceded by characteristic behaviors, often referred to collectively as “whining“. This whining is a sign that the little man is trying with all his might to cope with the increasingly felt world around him and that he needs the understanding and support of his parents very much. His brain and nervous system overwhelm these changes at first, so it’s worth being gentle with them and making it easier for your child to reach the next milestone in his development.

Developmental leaps – symptoms

1- difficulty falling asleep
2- restless sleep,
3- lack of appetite
4- more frequent crying,
5- increased need for closeness.

The developmental leap schedule is only an approximate guide. You have to remember that each child develops at its own pace and does not always fit perfectly into the table. Not all children are able to do everything assigned to a given leap at the same time, they also have individual preferences and sometimes they focus on practicing new skills that are more interesting to them at the moment, slightly neglecting others. Some children go through development spikes faster, others a little slower.

So remember not to compare children – sometimes it is enough to wait a bit or, knowing what a given period requires, stimulate the development of skills a bit, e.g. by playing. (In case of serious doubts, it is worth consulting a specialist).

First developmental leap: 5 weeks after birth

1 leap is the first big change in the life of an infant and his parents.

After the first month of life – around five weeks of age – the baby, who has been eating and sleeping so far, becomes more active after waking up. His senses sharpen, he perceives the environment more intensely and more consciously than before. The child is able to focus on the face tilted over him for a moment, and the image he sees is sharper. Even though he has not been bothered by light or loud noises so far, now the intense stimuli make him agitation.

After the first developmental leap, the infant:

• is more aware of touch, sounds, smells,
• extends the time of activity between naps,
• she looks and listens with greater concentration,
• she starts smiling
• real tears when crying,
• better digesting food

Second developmental leap: 7-9 weeks after birth

At the turn of the second and third months of life, the baby begins to recognize repeating patterns: for example, that after bathing, there is sleep, and in mum’s arms – feeding. The baby begins to control his body movements – this is the time when he discovers that he has hands and can move them (imperfectly at first). With a similar delight, he explores the possibilities of his voice, makes various sounds and listens to them very intensively. She begins to notice the facial expressions of the caregivers and stares intently at the faces.

After the second developmental leap, the child:

• tries to raise his head,
• she looks at the faces,
• makes short noises and listens to himself.

The third developmental leap: 11–12 weeks after birth

The 3 leap means, among other things, that a three-month-old baby begins to notice details. She notices differences in the tone of voice and the intensity of light. She has mastered the ability to coordinate the movements of the head and eyes, and to follow the toy with her eyes. Better coordination allows him to catch objects, he tries to explore the world by putting everything in his mouth.

After the third developmental leap, the child:

• can follow a moving person or object by twisting his head,
• pushes off your feet while lying on the blanket,
• grabs objects with two hands,
• discovers squeak and stomp
• makes bubbles of saliva,
• she can show that he is bored

Fourth developmental leap: 14–19 weeks after birth

Between the fourth and fifth months, the 4th jump occurs and the baby begins to understand that some events result in others. The toddler consciously repeats a sequence to get a specific effect – e.g. he drops a toy because he knows that his mother will pick it up, shakes the rattle to make a sound, or pulls out his hands because he wants to be picked up. The baby begins to connect the sounds into sequences – this is how a mamamama, a babababa is created, although at the moment it is not speaking consciously, but playing with the voice.

After the fourth developmental step, the child:

• can twist from the back to the tummy or vice versa,
• tries to crawl,
• she rests on his hands and lifts the torso,
• shifts objects from hand to hand,
• consciously drops toys on the floor,
• begins to react to his name,
• reacts to its reflection in the mirror,
• can express his will, e.g. by pushing the breast away when it is full.

The fifth developmental leap: 22–26 weeks after birth

Around the sixth month, the baby is 5th leap – this is when the baby begins to see and understand relationships between people. A conscious smile is not directed at everyone anymore. Consequently, the child may be distrustful of strangers or be afraid of them, reacts with fear to the disappearance of parents. Separation anxiety is very characteristic of this developmental leap. The little one cannot understand yet that the parent who disappears from sight (even in the next room) does not disappear forever and will come back soon. Instead, he begins to notice that he has an influence on what happens – for example, when he presses a switch, a light comes on. The child coordinates his movements better and better, he likes to put items in and out of boxes, takes off his socks, tries to move around, waves his handle goodbye or claps his hands.

After the fifth developmental leap, the child:

• she sits down by herself,
• grabs small objects with the index finger and thumb,
• holds objects in both hands and hits them against himself,
• she looks from one picture to another in the book.

Sixth developmental leap: week 33–37 after birth

6 leap, between the ninth and tenth month way, means that the child’s way of thinking begins to be similar to the way of adult reasoning. The toddler divides the world into categories, notices that some things may have common features: e.g. a dog in the picture, a cuddly toy dog and a dog – an animal met on a walk belongs to a common group of dogs. The child begins to understand the names of objects and enjoys taking things apart to examine them. Some researchers believe that intelligence begins to develop at this age.

After the sixth developmental jump, the child:

• shows and recognizes shapes,
• manifests his sense of humor,
• makes faces to his reflection in the mirror,
• takes the initiative in play.

Seventh developmental leap: 41–46 weeks after birth

In the eleventh month of life, the 7th jump appears – the child begins to understand that certain events take place one after another, e.g. that the dolls are collected in a box after play, and dirty clothes are first taken off and then thrown into the laundry basket. He likes toys that need to be matched, such as blocks or simple puzzles. He repeats the words and sounds of animals, tries to imitate the household activities performed by his parents. The almost one-year-old toddler consciously and firmly uses the word “no”.

Developmental leaps – after the seventh developmental leap, the child:

• points out things and asks to name them,
• mimics the voices of animals,
• knows how to match shapes,
• tries to draw on paper,
• climbs when he wants to reach something,
• goes backwards from the couch,
• tries to take the first steps.