Every child is special, and their growth journey is heart-warming for parents. The first year of a child is extremely precious since the baby starts recognising faces, starts blabbering, rolls over and grows in height and weight in these 12 months. It is also extremely essential for parents and guardians to keep track of their milestones in the second year of life and ensure the vaccination schedule is maintained.
Let’s dive deeper to understand further what are the various motor, sensory, communication and weight and height milestones for babies above 12 months. Also, let us know the important vaccinations in the second year of life that help protect your little munchkin’s growth!
Milestones are the physical or behavioural checkpoints in children’s development as they grow. These are the key skills infants and toddlers should achieve around a certain age.
| Age | Motor Milestones | Sensory & Communication Milestones | Vaccination* | Height & Weight Chart |
| 15 months | · Starts taking a few steps on their own · Uses fingers to feed food by themselves · Can stack simple objects like blocks | · Looks at familiar objects when named · Starts following gestures and words · Points to ask for something or get help · Copies others and claps when excited | · MMR – 2 · Varicella – 1 · PCV Booster | · Boys – 10.3 kg & 79.2 cm · Girls – 9.5 kg & 77.5 cm |
| 18 months | · Copies parents’ activities – like sweeping broom · Plays with toys – pushes the car, picks up toys and puts them in a basket · Starts walking without support · Scribbles · Tries using a spoon | · Looks at a few pages in a book · Helps dressing by pushing the arm through a sleeve or lifting the foot · Shows affection in the form of hugs and kisses | · IPV Booster · DTP Booster · Hib Booster · Hepatitis A – 2^ | · Boys – 10.9 kg & 82.3 cm · Girls – 10.2 kg & 80.7 cm |
| 24 months | · Kicks a ball · Starts running · Walks a few stairs with/without help · Starts eating with a spoon · Tries to use switches and knobs · Uses both hands in co-ordination to play or perform activities | · Points to things when asked · Starts making simple sentences · Starts understanding body parts · Uses more gestures and expressive eyes · Notices when others’ emotions (upset, angry, happy) · Looks at your face to see how you react in a new situation | · Meningococcal Vaccine (A, C, W, Y)# | · Boys – 12.7 kg & 90.6 cm · Girls – 12.1 kg & 86 cm |
* – Information about Vaccination mentioned above is based on recommendations received from Health Experts. For any further information, please consult your infant’s paediatrician.
IPV – Inactivated Polio Vaccine, DTP – Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, PCV – Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Hib – Haemophilus influenzae type B
# – Meningococcal Vaccine (A, C, W, Y) can also be given as 2 doses below 1 year
^ – Hepatitis A Vaccine can be given as 1 or 2 dose schedule depending upon the brand used
It is important not to compare your baby with other kids. As long as they are growing steadily and are responsive and healthy, there’s no need to worry. However, one thing you may take care of is your child’s timely immunisation against vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccination helps protect your child from several infectious diseases, strengthens their immune system, and makes way for a safe and secure future.
To know further about baby growth charts, please consult your paediatrician.
You can check the vaccination schedule for your child and track their upcoming vaccinations on MyVaccinationHub.
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Disclaimer: Issued in public interest by GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited. Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 030, India.
Information appearing in this material is for general awareness only. Nothing contained in this material constitutes medical advice. Please consult your doctor for any medical queries, any question or concern you may have regarding your condition. The disease list indicated for vaccination is not complete, please consult your doctor for the complete vaccination schedule. Views/opinions expressed by the doctor are independent and not influenced in any way by any organization.
NP-IN-ABX-OGM-220076, DoP Feb 203
References:
https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/who_charts.htm
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/growth-charts.html
https://www.medicinenet.com/growth_charts/article.htm
This post was last modified on April 25, 2023 6:58 pm
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