Mnemonics DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

Developmental milestones mnemonic (finally!) Birth to 1 Year: Remember that the goal of the first year is to be able to walk (walk at 12 months). At six months you are halfway there (remember “sit at six”). Just with these two milestones you can pretty much fill in everything else. Remember that everything is from head to toe. So 2 months (the first time we really check milestones) you check for head lifting (neck control). You roll at 4 months (at level of shoulders and chest). Then, again, at six you sit. You crawl at 9 months and pull to stand (crawl, pull to stand at 9 months) which makes sense as being between sitting and walking. In Review: 2 months: lift head 45 degrees 4 months: roll over (front to back first, then back to front, easier if you can push off with hands) 6 months: sit (halfway to goal, halfway through year, “sit at six”) 9 months: crawl, stand (halfway between sitting and goal) 12 months: walk (the goal) 15 months – 5 years: Memorize these milestones in a story as they are harder to associate with particular months like the first year. Using this progression story may help you. 15 months: walks well 18 months: throws objects 24 months/2 years: up and down stairs (one foot at a time); run 3 years: Tricycle (3 wheels, 3 years), jump in place 4 years: up and down stairs alternating feet (2 feet x up/down = 4), balance on 1 foot for 4 seconds (legs look like a 4 when on 1 foot), hop 5 years: skip (5 looks like an “S”kips) Story: a child on the 1st floor of her house sits up, crawls, cruises, then 1) WALKS to stairs, 1.5) THROWS object up stairs, 2) CLIMBS up the stairs and RUNS to his trike, 3) RIDES a trike upstairs, JUMPS off, 4) RUNS down the stairs, HOPS off the stairs and 5) SKIPS away 3. Once you’ve memorized the months of well child checks and corresponding gross motor milestones, begin to memorize the archetype babies for each age group. These little stories incorporate all the other milestones into a single image which is much easier than trying to memorize many unrelated facts. There are some ways to conceptually link milestones across categories, but they are not frequent enough to be useful for fast recall and the salient milestones and timing which is what happens on tests and during morning report. Here are all the babies with milestones listed: 2 months: lift head 45 degrees (when laying on face), turns to sound, follows objects past midline, social smile Parent’s Little Baby: looks up to sound, smiles because he sees both his parents, one on either side of midline 4 months: lift head 90 degrees/raise up to chest, roll over, find midline, reach for objects, puts objects in mouth, coos (these are vowel sounds), and laughs Fat Happy Baby: baby is rolling and laughing and cooing because he just discovered midline and is reaching for cake that he will cram into his mouth 6 months: sit up with no head lag, raking grasp, transfer objects between hands, babbles (consonants), recognizes familiar faces Street-Corner Baby: sitting up on sidewalk, transferring a rake from hand to hand while babbling at people he thinks he recognizes 9 months: Crawl, pull to stand, point, specific babbling (mama, dada), stranger anxiety Watch Dog Baby: crawls to window, pulls to stand to see out, points at stranger in yard and says “mama” to get attention of parents. 12 months: Walk, pincer grasp, 1 word, patacake, bye bye, peekaboo Playful Zombie Baby: walking at you, snapping pincers, repeating one word over and over (brrraaaaains), and just wants to play patacake and peekaboo before waving bye bye. 15 months: walks well, imitates, controlled release of blocks (can stack 2) Little Sister Baby: wants to be just like big sister, walks confidently to the blocks and imitates making a 2 block tower 18 months: Throw, scribble, 4 block tower, 1 step command, uses spoon/cup, points to parts of body Sir Charming Baby: needs to get note to Rapunzel so scribbles note on paper to throw into high 4 block tower, catapult has cup on end, shoves note in with spoon, and throws note at tower, hitting Rapunzel in the face 2 years: Run, stairs (1 foot at a time), 20-50 words, 2 step command, parallel play Bad Twins: mom gives two commands to twin boys to run to the stairs, then walk up the 25 stairs. Each walks up the 25 stairs not helping the other. 3 years: Jump, Tricycle, dresses self (shirt, pants, shoes), full name, “you, me, I” James Bond Baby: springs into action … jumps into 3-piece suit, stands in front of mirror and says full name, jumps on tricycle. “You.Me. I,” is his pickup line. 4 years: Stairs (alternating feet), hop, undresses, 1 foot (4 seconds), 4 word phrases (complete sentences), cooperative play Bedtime Story Baby: really wants story time, so runs up stairs, hops on one foot to undress, so she and mom can read a story together. A Wrinkle in Time. 5 years: Skip, Tie shoes, Difference between reality/fantasy Oz Baby: ties ruby shoes, skips down Yellow Brick Road back to Kansas.

Source: nakimedicalblog