There a few things in life more gripping than your child's development. From their earliest moments, we parents obsess about what our children are thinking, seeing, hearing and feeling. What parent has not agonised over whether an early smile was a sign of genuine contentment or the result of some digestive process?
That's why we commissioned Dr Luisa Dilner, one of Britain's leading health and parenting writers, to create a developmental calendar which charts your child's progress from birth to five years old. It will help you to understand what your child understands, and answer questions like "How far can my newborn see?" and "When does my toddler understand the concept of others people's feelings?"
your child at three months
your child at six months
your child at nine months
your child at one year
your child at eighteen months
your child at two years
how to survive potty training
your child at two and a half
your child at three years
your child at four years
your child at five years
A word on reading our development calendar
It will save a lot of heartache if you bear in mind that milestones of development are not carved in granite, but widely variable. It is not uncommon to have isolated pockets of late development, such as late walkers and talkers, and much of the individual differences between the development of babies and children is genetically programmed - so try and resist the temptation to be a competitive parent. And bear in mind that some babies will be slower to develop in certain areas because they were born prematurely or because they are twins (or triplets).
A minority of babies and children do have delays in development that may need specialist help. Doctors' textbooks tell them to take a parent's concerns about their child seriously. No health professional should ever trivialise a worry that you have about your child. If you are at all concerned, take her to see your GP.
We are also obviously aware that some children have special needs and the information in our developmental emails may not be relevant to them. We have included some site recommendations that may be useful in our web guide but the list is by no means exhaustive and we would really welcome other suggestions.
Luisa Dilner is a qualified doctor, mother of three and former health editor of The Guardian. She is currently assistant editor at the BMJ.