Social
Social Milestones For Your Child
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Social and Emotional: Overview (0-6 Months)
Do babies have feelings? Do they have the ability to understand the feelings of others? The surprising answer from the
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Book of Jenny: How Babies Communicate
Babies try to tell us what they want or need before they can talk. Part of the fun of parenting
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Responding to Baby (0-12 Months)
What is your baby thinking? Well, the answer is – A LOT! That’s right, from the minute your baby is
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Goodnight, Baby (0-14 Months)
Will your baby ever sleep through the night? The answer is yes! Some nights you need to get up and
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Able to Cry in Response to Another’s Cry (0-3 Months)
Babies treat the sounds of crying differently from other sounds. In one study with 34-hour-old infants, infants cried often when
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Can Display the Emotions of Distress and Sadness (0-3 Months)
When they feel “distress” or are uncomfortable or in need, even newborn babies have ways of letting their caregivers know,
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Capable of Showing Contentment and Joy (0-3 Months)
At birth, infants begin to show basic emotional behaviors. To demonstrate this, researchers carefully studied infants’ facial expressions as they
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Capable of Showing Interest (0-3 Months)
At birth, infants begin to show basic emotional behaviors, including interest. Interest expressions include wide eyes, focused attention to something,
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Expresses Disgust (0-3 Months)
Babies will generally show disgust in response to unpleasant tastes. Disgust expressions, which begin in the first few months, can
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Shows Frustration and Anger (0-4 Months)
Very young babies demonstrate frustration when they are struggling to complete a developmentally difficult task or when they are prevented
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Capable of Imitating Emotional Facial Expressions of Others (0-5 Months)
Soon after birth, babies are already capable of imitating the emotional expressions they see on the faces of others. In
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Born to Feel (0-6 Months)
Learn what a sad face means It’s a beautiful summer day. Dad and his 10-week-old son Ryan are relaxing on
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Reading to Babies (0-6 Months)
It’s never too early to begin reading to your child. Reading together not only helps your child learn the sounds
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Recognizing Baby Cues (0-9 Months)
In your first 6 months together, getting to know your baby means learning to read their cues. Some cues can
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Bubble Talk: Why Caring Responses Make a Difference (1-12 Month)
Babies communicate with their parents and caregivers in many ways. Responding to your baby’s cues positively will help you create
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Begins to Develop Social Smile (1-3 Months)
Babies are capable of smiling at birth. At first, these expressions are not truly “smiles” in response to social interactions
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Enjoys Social Play with Caregivers (4-7 Months)
Infants are interested in human faces shortly after birth, and they take huge steps in their abilities to interact with
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Social and Emotional: Overview (6-12 Months)
Are you my mother? Between 6 and 12 months, most babies show signs of fear around strangers. They also are
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Becomes Interested in Mirror Images (5-7 Months)
Visual awareness increases during months 4 through 7, and babies begin to notice new aspects of their environment. During this
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Begins to Show the Emotion of Fear (6-8 Months)
Around 6 to 8 months, most children begin to show fearfulness. Fear develops later than other “basic” emotions because certain
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Develops Stronger Preferences for People and Toys (7-12 Months)
Between 8 and 12 months, babies begin displaying stronger preferences for certain people and select their favorite toys, which they
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Imitates People during Play (8-12 Months)
Although babies are capable of imitating some facial expressions at birth, they become increasingly able to copy adult actions and
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Becomes Increasingly Shy or Anxious with Strangers (8-13 Months)
At around 7 to 8 months, most children begin to show fearfulness around unfamiliar people. This is called stranger anxiety
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Begins to Test Parental Responses to Behavior (8-15 Months)
Babies are intensely curious about parental responses to their behavior. At this young age, babies begin to do things around
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Begins to Look to Others’ Emotions before Acting, Termed “Social Referencing” (9-15 Months)
Starting around 8 to 10 months, children begin to look at the facial expressions of others to help themselves decide
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Prefers Primary Caregiver above All Others (9-15 Months)
As babies approach their second year of life, they show sustained preferences for the mother and/or regular caregiver above all
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Separation Anxiety Increases (10-18 Months)
Around 6 to 8 months, most children begin to show distress when they are away from their primary caregivers. This
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I Want My Mommy
I don’t know you! Scotty is eight months old, and he’s a cheerful and outgoing baby. He always smiles at
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Social and Emotional: Overview (12-24 Months)
In their second year, children take a big step in self-awareness. They begin to understand that they are different from
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Give Your Child Wings
Why is it important to build a connection? The world can be a very scary place for a toddler unless
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I’m Embarrassed
I’m not too young to be embarrassed Sammy is 20 months old, and he just got a new outfit from
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Safari: Making Your Child Feel Secure
Your toddler wants to be independent, but the world can be a scary place. Having you close gives him the
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It’s a Stressful Life
How do you teach your child to handle everyday stress? Let’s face it – stress is a part of life.
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Four Parenting Styles
When dealing with the up-and-down world of emotions, your children naturally take their cues from you. That’s why it’s helpful
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Learning from Dad: How Children Feel About Themselves
Your toddler wants to be independent, but the world can be a scary place. Having you close gives him the
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Baby Begins to Develop Self-Awareness (15-24 Months)
Sometime between 15 and 24 months, children take a large step in self-awareness. In an experiment known as the “rouge
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Begins to Show Defiant Behavior (16-24 Months)
As children grow closer to their second birthdays, they take big steps in learning about the desires and feelings of
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Learning from Dad
Handling big emotions. Tommy: “I hated striking out!”Dad: “I know, but you did a good job of handling your emotion.”Tommy: “It wasn’t easy!”
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Rough Day: How Children Learn about Stress
Let’s face it, stress is a part of life. And modern life seems to present us with more of it
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Demonstrates Increasing Independence from Parents and Caregivers (17-26 Months)
Throughout the second year, toddlers will constantly swing back and forth between fierce independence and a desire to cling to
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Starts to Display Feelings of Envy (18-24 Months)
Between 15 and 24 months, children take big steps in self-awareness and become more aware of themselves as individuals. They
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Imitates the Behavior of Others, Especially Adults and Older Children (18-27 Months)
Imitation is a powerful way toddlers learn from others. Instead of simply manipulating household objects as they did during the first
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Separation Anxiety Fades (19-24 Months)
Around 6 to 8 months, most children begin to show distress when they are away from their primary caregivers. Children
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Begins to Show the Emotion of Embarrassment (19-25 Months)
Before they’re about 15 months old, children don’t show the signs of embarrassment–the blushing, smiling, and nervous touching that often
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Shows Evidence of Empathy (20-24 Months)
During the second year, children begin to show empathy to others who are upset or hurt. By 18 months, children
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Social and Emotional: Overview (2-3 Years)
New feelings develop in the third year as children become more aware of the expectations and rules around them. Children
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Begins to View Own Behavior against a Standard (24-35 Months)
Sometime between years 2 and 3, children gain the ability to evaluate their own behavior against a standard. As children
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Can Take Turns in Games (24-35 Months)
At age 3, children are becoming more independent and more secure. When children learn about taking turns and cooperation from the
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All About Praise
Is there a right way to praise a young child? Is there such a thing as too much praise? Researchers
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Recognizing Emotions
Connecting through giggles and tears. Emotional moments, whether happy, sad, or fearful, are when kids naturally turn to you for
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Tantrums Happen
Here Comes a Tantrum! When you least expect it…Tantrums happen! No matter how hard you try to understand your child’s
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Tantrums Happen: Connecting during Emotional Moments
Temper tantrums are a normal and very common part of growing up. Ignore those eye-rolling critics. Your child’s extreme display
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Life with Baby Brother
New Baby is Home! When a new baby arrives, life changes for everyone. These changes are especially big for an
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Morning Madness: Valuing a Child’s Emotions
Learning how to communicate and handle feelings are big skills for young children. Sometimes those feelings are hard to recognize,
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May Experience and Express Guilty Feelings (27-36 Months)
Sometime between years 2 and 3, children gain the ability to evaluate their own behavior against a standard. As children
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Are You Okay, Daddy?
Big feelings from little ones Some days, it just doesn’t pay to be an adult. Your boss gives you another
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Shows Evidence of the Emotion of Pride (30-36 Months)
Sometime between years 2 and 3, children gain the ability to evaluate their own behavior against a standard. As children
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All About Play
Is there a link between how children play and how they learn? Decades of research show that play is important
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Social and Emotional: Overview (3-5 Years)
“I want to do it myself!” Children are becoming increasingly independent between ages 3 and 5. They are also taking
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Capable of Dressing and Undressing Self (36-48 Months)
Coordination and the ability to use their hands are almost fully developed by age 4, and preschoolers are gradually learning
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Demonstrates an Increasing Ability to Share (36-48 Months)
Although sharing is a foreign concept for toddlers, many preschoolers are gaining an understanding of and appreciation for the feelings
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Cooperates More with Other Children (36-50 Months)
Preschoolers enjoy the company of other children and interact with them instead of playing side by side like they did
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Five Steps of Emotion Coaching
Emotions…we all have them. Everything we do and everything we learn is shaped in some way by the way we
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Shows Increasingly Independent Behaviors (36-51 Months)
Preschoolers are becoming increasingly independent and want to make more of their own choices. Eager to prove how capable and
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Begins to Negotiate Solutions to Conflicts (38-48 Months)
As children gain an understanding of and appreciation for the feelings and actions of others, they will gradually stop competing
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Views Self as a Whole Person–Body, Mind, and Feelings (40-49 Months)
Three-year-olds are gradually learning to use pronouns such as “I,” “me,” “mine,” and “you.” Although they’re still struggling to comprehend
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More Likely to Agree to Rules (48-59 Months)
Children still have a simplified sense of morality as they approach their fifth birthdays, but they are exploring the concepts
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Wants to Please Friends (49-59 Months)
For 4-year-olds, friends aren’t just playmates – they’re examples of different behaviors, values, and ways of life. Preschoolers want to invite
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Sometimes Demanding, Sometimes Eagerly Cooperative (50-60 Months)
Preschoolers gain more control over their unpredictable emotional responses by age 4, but they’re still struggling to manage their feelings