From rolling over and sitting up to babbling, grasping and those exciting first steps, here’s what to expect as your baby starts reaching for and hitting first-year milestones.

Parents spend a lot of time wondering if their baby’s growth and development are on track. And while every baby develops at their own pace, it can be helpful to have a general idea of what to expect. With that in mind, we’ve collected the first-year milestone info you’ll need as the months fly by.

Your child's growth

Weight: A baby’s birth weight usually doubles by about four to six months and triples by the end of the first year.

Height: By 12 months, babies are about 70 to 80 centimetres long, on average.

Head: A baby’s head grows quickly during the first year to accommodate their rapidly developing brain.

Remember, growth rates are only a guide. Genetics, birth size and other factors can all influence how quickly your baby grows. Your healthcare provider will track your baby's growth over time using a growth chart, which is a much more useful measure than any single number. Talk to your doctor if your baby isn't gaining weight as expected or appears to be losing weight.

Your child's development

During the first year, babies gradually gain strength and control over their movements.

Neck: Your baby’s neck muscles become progressively stronger, and most babies have good control over their head and neck movements by about six months.

Body: As your baby's core muscles become stronger, they'll gain more control over how they move and position their body.

  • By three or four months, some babies can roll from belly to back.
  • By around four to six months, they may begin rolling from back to belly.
  • By six to seven months, your baby may be able to sit for short periods, often with their legs spread apart for balance.
  • By eight to nine months, many babies can sit steadily and move between sitting and other positions.

Arms and legs: Movements become stronger and more purposeful throughout the first year.

  • Around five months, your baby may straighten their legs while lying on their back.
  • Around six months, they may bring their feet up far enough to grab one and bring it to their mouth.
  • Around eight to nine months, your baby may begin moving across the floor commando-style.
  • Around 10 months, their arms and legs may be strong enough to creep on hands and knees and pull themselves up to stand.
  • Around 10 to 11 months, your baby may cruise along furniture while holding on for support.
  • Around 12 months, your baby may take their first independent steps.

Hands: Over the first 12 months, babies make a fascinating progression from reflexive grasping to deliberately reaching for and picking up objects.

  • Around three to four months: Your baby may reach out to grasp a toy.
  • Around six months: They may hold a rattle or toy and pass it from one hand to the other.
  • Around seven months: They'll become increasingly interested in reaching for smaller objects.
  • Around eight months: They may pick up small objects using their whole hand.
  • Around nine months: They'll begin using their thumb along with the rest of their hand to pick up small objects.
  • Around 11 to 12 months: They may be able to pick up small objects using the tips of their thumb and forefinger, known as the pincer grasp.

Speech and language

Long before babies say their first words, they're listening, experimenting with sounds and learning the back-and-forth rhythms of conversation.

  • Around one to two months: Your baby recognizes and pays special attention to your voice. As the muscles of their lips, tongue and mouth develop, they'll begin making a wider range of sounds, including coos and squeals.
  • Around two to three months: They may start making more sounds when you talk to them, creating the beginnings of a back-and-forth conversation.
  • Around eight months: They may start making “Mama” and “Dada” sounds, although they may not yet connect those sounds with a particular person.
  • Around nine to 10 months: Those sounds may begin to have more specific meaning as your baby uses them to get your attention or greet familiar people.
  • Around 12 months: Your baby may have other sounds or early words with meaning, such as “ba” for bottle or “do” for dog. You'll also become very good at reading the meaning behind their different sounds and tones.

By 12 months, your baby may understand the names of several familiar people or objects and demonstrate that understanding by looking toward them when they're named. They'll also respond to your tone of voice and may react when it becomes louder or sharper.

Talk to your healthcare provider if your baby doesn't seem interested in communicating, doesn't respond or turn toward sounds or if you're concerned about how their communication skills are developing.

Emotional development

During the first year, your baby begins forming strong attachments to the people who consistently care for them.

Between about two and seven months, babies increasingly recognize that there are special, familiar people in their lives who are there when they need them. As the year progresses, they begin to understand that these people are separate from them and discover all the ways they can communicate and connect through looks, touch, sounds and play.

By one year, your baby may be moving around independently, reaching for the things they want and communicating through changing facial expressions, gestures, sounds and early words.

You'll likely notice your baby becoming increasingly social: smiling, looking at and playing with you, showing preferences for familiar people and perhaps becoming upset when you leave. They may also “make strange” or become wary around unfamiliar people.

Cognitive development

Babies are natural explorers, learning about the world by looking, listening, touching—and putting an astonishing number of things in their mouths.

As the months go by, your baby will become increasingly skilled at following people and objects with their eyes and locating sounds, first with eye movements and later by turning their head.

Once they can grasp objects, the experiments really begin. Your baby may examine a toy, mouth it, shake it, bang it, throw it and pass it from one hand to another. These repetitive actions help them learn about cause and effect, texture, sound and how objects behave.

They'll also begin developing object permanence—the understanding that something still exists even when they can't see it. Hide a favourite toy and your baby may remember where they last saw it and go looking for it. (There's a reason peekaboo is such a hit.)

As their problem-solving skills develop, babies may bang two toys together, experiment with putting one object inside another or repeat an action over and over just to see what happens. It may look like play—and it is—but your tiny scientist is learning all the time.

Nipissing District Developmental Screen The NDDS, now called the Looksee Checklist, is often touted as the Canadian standard for milestone assurances. The NDDS is a series of checklists designed to give parents a sense of whether their child is hitting age-appropriate developmental milestones, and, should there be a concern, directing parents when to have their child seen by a paediatrician or GP. Parents can register for monthly prompts up to 30 months, and then yearly prompts up to age six, at lookseechecklist.com.