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Every Move Baby Makes

Tracking Baby's Milestones

By Renee Roberson

Heather White, mom to Skylar, uses a baby's first year calendar that she put up beside the changing table to help keep track of her daughter's milestones. "When I did her scrapbook I included monthly calendar pages with square punches for the dates we had doctor appointments, visited grandparents and when she spoke her first word," says the Mooresville, N.C., resident, who planned ahead and made a scrapbook template with pages set aside for milestones while she was on bed rest before Skylar was born.

So have fun tracking your baby's progress, but don't be rigid when it comes to expecting your little one to hit certain milestones. If your instinct tells you that your baby seems to have a delay in a certain area of development, share your worries with your pediatrician.

In the meantime, get creative when it comes to making memories out of your infant's progress. In today's high-tech society, that could include keeping an online blog to share with your family and friends, chronicling development through digital camcorder or simply putting together a scrapbook or journal.

And when you decide to add to your family, remember that every child is different and may not hit milestones such as crawling, cruising and walking at the same times.

Want to see more?

• Check out our Article Library.
• Baby's First Words: Speech Milestones to Look For
• Rolling: A Key Stage in Motor Development
• Walking the Walk: When Babies Start Discovering the World on Two Legs
• Talk about it!
• Baby Daily Calendar