# Developmental milestones and surveillance Care topic · id `maternal:developmental-surveillance` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Browse, life stage: Infant follow-up Browse, care area: The baby's first year ## In plain language During the first year babies start to learn skills they will use all their lives: moving, using their hands, sensing, communicating and playing with others. Babies do not all develop at the same rate, and a wide range is normal. MedlinePlus advises parents who are worried about possible delays to talk to their baby's health care provider. ## Technical summary This page rests on the MedlinePlus summary on infant and newborn development (public domain), which divides normal development into gross motor, fine motor, sensory, language and social areas and lists CDC's developmental milestones first among its links. The 2022 evidence-informed milestones paper in the journal Pediatrics was not fetched (this atlas treats Pediatrics articles as identity-only), so no milestone age, screening tool or surveillance schedule is recorded here. CDC's milestone pages were not read (cdc.gov returns HTTP 403 to scripts, per the plan's host checks). The recipient is the baby; parents and clinicians watch for milestones. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Babies in their first year (MedlinePlus development summary) Recipient: Child; Population: Babies in their first year of life and the families who care for them, as the MedlinePlus health topic on infant and newborn development addresses them.; Care setting: Home and well-baby care; the page is general health information.; Geography: Not stated (a US government health information site); Life stage: Infants in the first year of life; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) ### MedlinePlus says that during their first year babies start to develop skills they will use for the rest of their lives, and that normal growth of babies can be divided into gross motor, fine motor, sensory, language and social areas. It says babies do not develop at the same rate, that there is a wide range of what is considered normal, and that a baby may be ahead in some areas and slightly behind in others. Parents who are worried about possible delays are advised to talk to their baby's health care provider. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Babies in their first year of life and the families who care for them, as the MedlinePlus health topic on infant and newborn development addresses them.; Care setting: Home and well-baby care; the page is general health information.; Geography: Not stated (a US government health information site); Life stage: Infants in the first year of life; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) - Limitations: A plain-language health topic summary. It gives no ages for particular milestones and no screening schedule; the milestone lists it links to (CDC's page and Nemours pages) were not read. The 2022 evidence-informed milestones paper in Pediatrics, an AAP journal, was not fetched or read, so no milestone age or surveillance advice from it is recorded here. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, paragraph 1, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 2. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, list item 1 (gross motor). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 3. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, list item 2 (fine motor). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 4. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, list item 3 (sensory). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 5. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, list item 4 (language). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 6. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, list item 5 (social). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 7. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, paragraph 3, sentences 1 and 2 (part). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 8. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, paragraph 3, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 9. Supports: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, paragraph 3, sentence 4. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 10. Background: Infant and Newborn Development (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The request URL infantandtoddlerdevelopment.html returned the page whose own address line reads infantandnewborndevelopment.html, which is used as the canonical address. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Start Here, first link. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 8571e120195e03234a7a532cb8111efb9f4bf051d310e58133adb025076a1be5. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary (context for the claim). ## Connected pages - Follow-up after preterm birth (existing page): Care of the preterm or low-birth-weight infant (`maternal:preterm-lbw-care`) - Retinopathy of prematurity, an eye condition of very preterm babies (page on the condition): Retinopathy of prematurity (`maternal:retinopathy-of-prematurity`) - Chronic lung disease of prematurity (page on the condition): Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (chronic lung disease of prematurity) (`maternal:bronchopulmonary-dysplasia`) - Filed under this front: Screening and tests (`maternal:front-screening-and-tests`) ## Provenance Content hash: 2a1505ebbad54cc82d4ed92b027f47cdf55a6cb2396343181bf9383776923463 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15