Baby Milestones: Month-by-Month Guide (0–12 Months) + Free Tracker

In one year, your baby goes from a newborn who can’t hold up their head to a little person who waves bye-bye and cruises along the couch. It happens fast; however, every baby does it on their own schedule. This month-by-month guide to baby milestones walks you through what to expect from 0 to 12 months, based on the CDC’s milestone checklists, with a free printable tracker to record each first.

What are baby milestones?

Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age: how they play, communicate, learn and move. In 2022, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics updated the checklists so that each milestone reflects what 75% or more of babies can do at that age. As a result, they are useful for spotting delays, not for comparing your baby to the neighbor’s.

Milestones fall into four areas: social and emotional, language and communication, cognitive (learning and problem-solving) and movement. The CDC checklists are set for 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months; the months in between describe skills that are typically emerging.

1 month: getting to know you

Newborns spend most of their time sleeping and eating. Even so, they’re already learning. You may notice your baby:

• Turns toward familiar voices and focuses on faces up close.
• Startles at loud sounds and brings hands toward the mouth.
• Briefly lifts their head during tummy time.

2 months: the first real smile

By 2 months, the CDC says most babies:

• Social: calm down when spoken to or picked up, look at your face, seem happy to see you and smile when you talk or smile at them.
• Language: make sounds other than crying and react to loud sounds.
• Cognitive: watch you as you move and look at a toy for several seconds.
• Movement: hold their head up when on their tummy, move both arms and legs, and open their hands briefly.

3 months: more control

Head control improves quickly. In addition, many babies now hold their head steadier, push up on their forearms, follow moving objects with their eyes and start “talking” back with coos.

4 months: cooing and chuckling

• Social: smile on their own to get your attention, chuckle when you try to make them laugh, and look, move or make sounds to keep your attention.
• Language: coo (“oooo,” “aahh”), make sounds back when you talk, and turn toward your voice.
• Cognitive: open their mouth when they see the breast or bottle if hungry, and look at their hands with interest.
• Movement: hold their head steady when held, hold a toy placed in their hand, swing at toys, bring hands to mouth and push up onto elbows or forearms on their tummy.

5 months: reaching and rolling

Babies grab for everything and bring it straight to their mouth. At the same time, many start rolling, blowing bubbles and squealing. Read more in our guide on when babies roll over.

6 months: laughing out loud

• Social: know familiar people, like to look at themselves in a mirror and laugh.
• Language: take turns making sounds with you, blow “raspberries” and squeal.
• Cognitive: put things in their mouth to explore them, reach for toys they want and close their lips to show they don’t want more food.
• Movement: roll from tummy to back, push up with straight arms on their tummy and lean on their hands when sitting.

7–8 months: sitting and exploring

Many babies sit steadily, pass toys from hand to hand, babble strings of sounds and start to crawl or scoot. Also, stranger anxiety can appear around now. See when babies crawl for the stages.

9 months: mamamama and peek-a-boo

• Social: may be shy or clingy with strangers, show several facial expressions, look when you call their name, react when you leave and laugh at peek-a-boo.
• Language: make lots of sounds like “mamamama” and “bababababa” and lift their arms to be picked up.
• Cognitive: look for objects dropped out of sight and bang two things together.
• Movement: get to a sitting position alone, move things from one hand to the other, rake food toward themselves with their fingers and sit without support.

10–11 months: on the move

Now many babies pull up on furniture, cruise along the couch, point at things they want, and understand simple words like “no” and their own name. Finger foods and the pincer grasp take off.

12 months: hello, toddler

• Social: play games with you, like pat-a-cake.
• Language: wave bye-bye, call a parent “mama,” “dada” or another special name, and understand “no.”
• Cognitive: put something in a container, like a block in a cup, and look for things they saw you hide.
• Movement: pull up to stand, walk holding on to furniture, drink from an open cup you hold, and pick up small bits between thumb and pointer finger.

First independent steps often come between 9 and 18 months, so don’t worry if walking isn’t here yet.

Free printable baby milestone tracker (0–12 months)

Our free tracker lists every CDC milestone for 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months with a checkbox and a space for the date, plus a page for the big firsts: first smile, first laugh, first roll, first food, first word and first steps. Then print it and keep it on the fridge, or bring it to well-baby visits.

Download the free milestone tracker (PDF)

When to talk to your pediatrician

Missing one milestone by a few weeks is common. Still, the CDC encourages you to act early and talk to your baby’s doctor if your baby:

• Is not meeting one or more milestones for their age.
• Has lost skills they once had.
• Worries you in any way, even if you can’t explain why.

In fact, pediatricians screen development at well-child visits, and the AAP recommends formal developmental screening at 9, 18 and 30 months. You can also contact your state’s early intervention program for a free evaluation without a referral.

This guide is for general information and doesn’t replace advice from your pediatrician.

Record the moments behind the milestones

A checklist tells you that your baby smiled. A memory, on the other hand, tells you how: the afternoon, the song you were singing, the way their whole face crinkled. So add a date, a photo and one sentence for each first, and you’ll have the story of their first year. Need prompts? Try our guide on what to write in a baby book.

Frequently asked questions