Your baby’s first year will be filled with a myriad of milestones and teething is one of them.

Many new parents don’t know when to expect the first teeth and don’t know what to do when their happy, gurgling baby turns into a screaming monster.

Most babies begin cutting the first of their teeth between the ages of four and seven months.

As all babies are different they may get their teeth earlier or they may come in later.

Moms and dads should quickly get their camera to snap a picture of the new porcelain beauty.

When Teeth Start Developing

Before you even see that first hint of white on your baby’s gums the teeth are already developing in the gums. They actually start their development in the womb. Baby teeth will break through over a period of months one at a time.

Typically the first teeth you will see are the bottom front two followed by the top front two but this is not a hard and fast rule as all baby’s develop at their own pace.

Lots of times parents worry that their baby’s teeth are not coming in straight, but don’t be alarmed as usually they will straighten as the rest of the teeth come in.

Along with being told your child’s weight, head circumference and length or height (depending on the child’s age) at well-child visits, you will probably be told what growth chart percentile those numbers fall in.

What exactly do those numbers mean, and what is normal?

Growth chart percentiles are a way at looking at how a child is growing. To develop these charts, thousands of children were weighed and measured and the results recorded. [Infant growth chart]

When the first charts were developed, infants who were fed formula were used as the norm; newer charts are now available which use breastfed infants as the norm.

There are four different charts: girls from birth to 3 years old, boys from birth to 3 years old, girls from ages 3 to 18 years, and boys from ages 3 to 18 years. Special charts are also available for premature infants.

The 50th percentile divides the groups in half: half of the children fell above this point, while half fell below. The same goes for the other percentiles.

For example, 25% of the children were above the 75th percentile, while 75% of the children fell below that number. The typical percentile points are 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th. Healthy children can be found anywhere on this scale.

It is a fact that even the youngest of babies are busy learning how to communicate with their parents or guardians, and even though they may not be familiar with language, they are learning, and learning fast!

The better you respond to her, the faster her communication and language skills will improve.

Have you noticed, for instance, that your baby has already started waiting for her turn at communicating with you when you are playing with her or simply holding her?

Have you noticed that she says “Coo” and looks intently at your face to see what your reaction will be? When you “Coo” back at her, she understands that these are the basic rules of a conversation, and that she will wait for her turn when the other person is saying something, and only then she will be able to understand the conversation.

If you are a concerned parent who wants to improve your baby’s language skills, then read on for tips on how to go about it:

• Talk constantly and naturally to her when you are with her. This will help her absorb the language, even if she hasn’t learned to speak as yet. A language rich household does wonders for a growing child.

As your baby approaches two years of age, you will begin to realize what the word “terrible twos” means. The more your baby wishes to exert his independence, the greater will be your need to wield your authority.

Though it may disturb you, remember that this is completely normal behavior for a two-year-old child, who is about to reach a new milestone in development.

Independence:

The main reason for the sudden change in behavior and seeming rebellion is that your child is ready to make decisions for himself. Most of the decisions won’t be of your choice, so you will need to learn to handle the situation.

Though you set limits for your child, s/he disregards them and does what s/he wants. If you continue the battle, both you and your child will wind up more than a little aggravated. Offering your baby a few simple choices every day can dilute his frustration to some extent.

If your baby insists on clothing himself, try to negotiate that he doesn’t wear stripy sweaters with plaid shorts, for example. Keep numerous outfits, but let him know that he does have some choice.

The second year of your baby’s life offers more freedom for him/her.

While every developmental phase offers new achievements, s/he still has a lot of learning and growing to do.

Baby development from 13 to 15 months:

Once your baby reaches his/her first birthday, s/he will be able to walk effortlessly without your assistance.

If your baby is not yet able to walk, there is no need to worry as this developmental stage varies greatly. Over the next couple of weeks, the baby will catch up easily.

As your baby matures and tries to understand about the new things around him/her, s/he will gradually start to move away from you. Until that time, ensure that you are there right by their side.

Babies at this stage become fascinated by small toys in the form of animals and cars, so make sure you give them a wide selection which are age-appropriate. During this time, your baby tries to keep everything in his/her mouth. So, be aware of choking hazards and continue reading and singing to him/her.

This is also the time to switch over from breast milk or formula milk to whole milk. It is essential that your baby gets lots of vegetables and fruits as well as some meat in small quantities.

A period of rapid growth for your baby, you will observe various changes for the next months in your baby’s life as he gains new skills and learns more about the world.

While there is a general growth curve for children of this age, remember that each baby’s development will not be the same. If you think your baby’s development is not up to the mark, contact a pediatrician for a second opinion.

Baby development during 7th and 8th months:

By this stage, your baby will be able to move for some distance. While he won’t be able to crawl, your baby will try to find another way of reaching the desired destination. Some babies scoot along with the help of their bottoms and push themselves backwards by staying on their tummies, roll or raise their knees and hands and then droop forward.

These are the initial crawling movements. Generally, the baby will grow from crawling to dragging up and then walking. The baby’s age and the kind of the movement the baby uses will greatly vary from each child.

From the day of birth, your baby’s development is an adventure, as s/he learns something new on a daily basis, for the first six months of life.

Each new developmental phase offers an opportunity for celebration which can be recorded in various ways.

Because every child has an individual learning curve, it is a good idea to store the memories in the form of photographs or videos. However, important milestones do follow a general trend:

Baby development during first and second months

Most mothers don’t realize how much their new little baby is aware of the world around them during the initial few weeks of life. While babies spend most of the day sleeping, when they wake, they want to learn about all the new things around them, including family members and other people in the environment.

At this time, your baby’s eyesight still needs to develop and can only see things that are six inches away.

Because people’s faces are the most interesting objects your baby sees, when you talk and sing, make sure that you are close enough for your child to notice. Though it may look strange, it is completely normal for your baby’s eyes to become crossed when s/he tries to look at you.

Infants learn a great number of skills throughout their initial two years of life.

They not only try to learn new information, but also their brains physically develop at an amazing rate and that varies the kind of attention and knowledge they are capable of.

The cognitive development of your infant from birth to two years of age:

Stage 1:

This stage is the period from birth to one month of age. During this stage, your infant purely responds by reflex, for instance, sucking in response to the nipple. Frankly speaking, there is not any cognitive development in these reactions.

Infants imitate the observed mouth actions. This is the first language objective; along with this your infant vocal cords also develop in order to make language-like sounds.

Stage 2:

This stage is the period from one to fours months of age. During this stage, your infant can understand the patterns, like the existence of a bottle means it is the time for feeding.

Your baby begins to select to do the activities because he/she can expect the outcome. Babies try to learn, trust or mistrust. They start to coo and make vowel noise. By the end of this stage, the babies learn to make some constant sounds.