Developmental Milestones

CDC developmental milestones: things most children (75% or more) can do by each age. For developmental surveillance; not a substitute for standardized, validated developmental screening tools. Nothing entered here is saved or sent.

CDC's advice to families: “If your child is not meeting one or more milestones, has lost skills he or she once had, or you have other concerns, act early. Talk with your child's doctor, share your concerns, and ask about developmental screening.” Early intervention programs: cdc.gov/FindEI.

Child's age

Years

Months

Weeks (optional)

Born at (weeks' gestation), optional

Enter gestational age at birth for babies born before 37 weeks: the checklist then uses corrected age until 24 months.

Get checked soon if…

Your child loses skills they once had (talking, walking, gestures or social skills), at any age. This needs a prompt check; some children need a neurology or genetics review.

You or your child's clinician are worried about development. Worry alone is a reason to screen.

Doesn't respond to sounds, or any worry about hearing or speech: ask for a hearing test.
Doesn't smile or engage with people, or has little back-and-forth interaction.
Autism signs: not responding to their name by 12 months, not pointing to show you things by about 14–18 months, no pretend play by 18 months, poor eye contact.
Movement: not sitting by 9 months, not walking by 18 months, a strong hand preference before 18 months, stiffness or floppiness, or using one side of the body more than the other.
Talking: no babbling with consonant sounds (like “ba” or “da”) by 9 months, fewer than about 6 words by 18 months, no two-word phrases by 24 months, or speech still hard to understand after age 2.

Babies born before 37 weeks: judge the age-based signs by corrected age until 24 months corrected age. Losing skills and being worried count at any age. Correction can make some babies look further along than they are, especially for talking, social and movement skills, so don't wait if you're worried.

Developmental screening

Checklists like these help watch development; a standardized screening questionnaire is recommended at these visits:

Visit	General development screen	Autism screen
9 months	Yes	–
18 months	Yes	Yes
24 months	–	Yes
30 months	Yes	–

Also screen at any visit when there's a concern. The autism screen (M-CHAT-R/F) is for ages 16–30 months (corrected age for babies born early).

If a milestone is missed

These steps happen at the same time. No diagnosis is needed to start.

Do a standardized developmental screen now (for example ASQ-3, PEDS or SWYC; add the M-CHAT-R/F if autism is a concern).
Get a hearing test for any delay in talking or any worry about hearing, even if the newborn hearing screen was passed.
Depending on the pattern, the clinician may refer to developmental-behavioral pediatrics, neurology or genetics; promptly if skills have been lost.

Clinicians: refer within 7 days of identifying a concern. Early intervention vs school district follows the child's actual (chronological) age, not corrected age.

All ages

Show the checklist for

About these milestones

Source: CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. The milestone wording is CDC's, unchanged. The checklists, with photos and videos, are available free at cdc.gov/actearly.

Use of this material does not imply endorsement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services or the U.S. Government of this site or its author.

Copy for the EMR

A table to paste into a note as a template. "Yes" marks milestones ticked on this page; the rest are left blank to fill in.

Checklist