The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics have updated their developmental milestones for children under five for the first time in years.
Sarah Ryan is a mother to a 6-week-old and a 2-1/2-year-old, so she is no stranger to the milestone survey at her pediatrician’s office.
“I think definitely filling out that survey at the doctor’s office gets my brain working, like has he started jumping?” Ryan said.
But the next time Ryan takes her children to the doctor, that survey may look a little different since the CDC just updated the checklist of development milestones.
“I wondered why they were doing it. But when I looked it into, it looked like they were trying to get the right kids in for early intervention,” Ryan said.
Dr. Charles Williams, a pediatrician at Atrium Health, said one of the biggest milestone questions he gets had to do with a child walking.
Before, 50% of kids would be expected to walk by 1 year. Now, 75% of kids should be walking by 15 months.
“If you’re not walking by 12 months, do I need to send you to early intervention? Absolutely not,” Williams said. “But if you’re not walking by 15 months, and about 75% of kids are walking, meaning you’re in the lower 25%, it’s a bit more clear for parents and for providers to know exactly what to do and when to do that referral for early intervention.”
Early intervention is so important, especially for toddlers who are learning to speak. It was expected that a 24-month-old would know at least 50 words. Now, the CDC said it’s more important that the child can put two words together.
“Sometimes it’s easy to ask them simple things. Is your kid putting two words together at our visit, rather than go through an exhaustive list of all the words they know and counting to see,” Williams said.
Ryan said her children are meeting milestones, but she understands why these changes could clear up confusion for other families.
“I’m glad the resources are available for parents that do need it,” she said.
An easy way for parents to check and see if their child is meeting milestones is on the milestone tracker app. After you’re done answering questions on the checklist, you have the option to send the report directly to your pediatrician.
Williams said if parents have questions about the milestone changes or are worried about their child’s development, they should speak with their doctor.
He said it’s important that children seek early intervention so that can receive services before 36 months. After that, he said it could be harder to get children assessed before they start school.
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