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0-2 months
Your child's development
Each child is unique and grows best with loving care and chances to explore.
In your child’s personal health record book, you will find checklists such as:
- Learn the signs
- Act early.
Baby development
Video by Raising Childrens Network: Baby development at 0-6 months | Raising Children Network
What can my baby do from birth to two months?
Hearing
- notice (be startled by) sudden or loud sounds
- hear and recognise a parent or carer’s voice
- prefer their own mother’s voice and native language rather than unfamiliar voices and languages
- turn eyes and their head in the general direction of a sound.
Vision
- blink when light is flashed in their eyes
- recognise and respond to your facial expression such as a smile by two months
- follow objects or your face
- turn toward light coming through a window
- prefer colours (but they don’t see colours clearly until around 4 months of age).
- babies from birth can see as far as 18 to -20cm away.
Taste and smell
- tell the difference between different tastes
- tell the difference between smells
- recognise smell of their mother’s breast milk
Touch
- respond to touch and pain
- identify the shape of objects placed in their palm
- turn their head when their cheek is stroked or touched (this is called the rooting reflex).
Physical development
- hold their head up and begin to push up when lying on their tummy
- make smoother movements with arms and legs
- grab finger automatically
- can roll from their side to their back (during awake times)
- lift one foot after another in a stepping pattern when held up under their arms
- suck on finger or when feeding.
Language/communication
- coo, make sounds
- turn head toward sounds
- show signs of hunger, fullness and tiredness.
Social/emotional
- begin to smile at people
- briefly calm themselves (may bring hands to mouth and suck on hand)
- try to look at parent
- start to recognise facial expressions and tone of voice.
Cognitive (thinking, problem-solving)
- pay attention to faces
- begin to follow things with eyes and recognise people at a distance
- begin to act bored (by crying or being fussy) if activity doesn’t change.
Help your baby learn by giving loving care and new experiences when awake.
Newborns are only awake for 1-1.5 hours between sleeps. Follow what interests your baby during this time. This can help with their development.
If you are worried, watch Baby Development Issues to help you decide when to seek help.
Video by Raising Childrens Network: https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/videos/baby-development-issues
Last updated: 23 Jul, 2024 - 05:22
