Developmental Charts

[AFWife]

I'm sorry, but I find myself laughing when I try to pull one up to see where my son is at the moment. He's 16.5 months right now. He has most of the skills that come up as "some may" (the third column). That's great, I know. What makes me laugh is that he also has some of the "some may" in the 17 and 18 month old sections as well. (Like, being able to kick a ball in a forward motion is an advanced 18mo thing??) However, in the first "most should" column on these ages he doesn't necessarily fall into those. Uhm, how does that even happen?

Anyone else have a kid that's all over the place?

[shanniesue2]

all I can say is that development can be such an individual thing. Yes, there are some general norms... but that doesn't mean that kids can't be all over the place. DS for example has always been really smart and very verbal. But he couldn't jump until he was several months past his second birthday.

Also, I know this doesn't pertain to toddlers, but in elementary school, a child can qualify for both gifted and talented as well as special ed. (doesn't mean this will be your child... just saying that growth and development is often not uniform in an individual child)

[AFWife]

I don't worry about it. I like to look at the charts occasionally just for fun. DS has always been advanced physically (He decided at 5mo he was going to sit up on his own and had it mastered in a couple of weeks) I just find it interesting because I was the opposite as a child: Advanced verbally and right on track or slightly behind physically. *shrugs*

[swd12422]

Yes, our son was all over the map. He was several months ahead of his age for the "should be able to"s but then there were things that he couldn't do that seemed far less advanced. Other kids his age were doing them, but not him. But he was doing all these other things that older kids he knew weren't doing. It is a very individual thing, and I think it's good to check in with those lists to see where your kid falls, but not necessarily to use them to gauge "normal." I don't worry about what he's not up to, nor do I think he's going to be extremely gifted and successful just b/c he acquired a skill that most kids several months older don't have.

[Abraisme]

Oh yes, I totally know what you mean. My 12mo DD has some of the 18mo milestones, but not all of the 12mo ones. Each kid develops on their own track, but all seem to pretty much catch up in the end.

[katmann]

Ha Ha! This is so funny because I've never checked a chart before, but because of your post, I went to babycenter's website and looked at the 19-24 month page. My ds is 19 months, and for 20 month olds, they list "exploring genitals" as advanced. Ds has been doing this for months now, so I guess he's really advanced!

Giggles aside, there's probably not even a sound medical basis (i.e., research) for these types of things. Take them with a HUGE grain of salt.